Must be licked the pacifier to Clean it? For many parents is quite clear: no. Finally, dentists have advised against it a long time. However, according to a study from the United States, the Lick could even have benefits for the immune system of the children. Of the recommendation that pacifier use by infants due […]
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New platform based on biology and nanotechnology carries mRNA directly to target cells: Combined platform provides safe, effective passage for therapies treating cancer and other diseases, researchers say
Delivering an effective therapeutic payload to specific target cells with few adverse effects is considered by many to be the holy grail of medical research. A new Tel Aviv University study explores a biological approach to directing nanocarriers loaded with protein “game changers” to specific cells. The groundbreaking method may prove useful in treating myriad […]
Repeated interferon stimulation creates innate immune memory
The innate immune system may be able to be trained to react to viral infections more efficiently by repeated exposure to anti-viral signaling molecules. Mammalian cells seem to be able to memorize anti-viral stimulation at the level of DNA-packaging molecules, enabling faster and greater activation of anti-viral genes in subsequent stimulations, according to a study […]
The immune system of the alpaca reveals a potential treatment for cancer
The natural world often provides the answer to unsolved medical problems. On this occasion, the solution to a challenge posed by cancer has come about from the immune system of camelids. A study headed by the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), in Belgium, describes a number of […]
Doctors issue caution over missed cancer diagnoses tied to immune disorder: Study shows HLH diagnosis may obscure underlying malignancies
Physicians who specialize in a devastating and aggressive immune disorder called hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) report in a new study that extra care should be taken to ensure an HLH diagnosis doesn’t obscure possible underlying cancers. Because HLH is dangerously aggressive in its progression and attack on vital organs — often causing death — doctors frequently […]
Particles surf their own waves, reveal how microbes and cells move through human body
Surf’s up for microbes swimming beside red blood cells. New calculations and experiments model for the first time how spherical particles submerged in gooey liquid travel along a flexible rubber sheet; comparable conditions are common in the human body, such as blood cells flowing through a capillary or the journeys of self-propelled microbes. (Although blood […]
Disrupting genetic processes reverses aging in human cells
Research has shed new light on genetic processes that may one day lead to the development of therapies that can slow, or even reverse, how our cells age. A study led by the University of Exeter Medical School has found that certain genes and pathways that regulate splicing factors — a group of proteins in […]
Heart attack: Substitute muscle thanks to stem cells
Myocardial infarction — commonly known as a heart attack — is still one of the main causes of death. According to the Federal Statistical Office, more than 49,00 people died of its consequences. And yet the mortality after heart attack has greatly decreased over the past decades: As compared to the early 1990s, it has […]
Farewell flat biology: Tackling infectious disease using 3-D tissue engineering
In a new invited review article, ASU Biodesign microbiologists and tissue engineers Cheryl Nickerson, Jennifer Barrila and colleagues discuss the development and application of three-dimensional (3-D) tissue culture models as they pertain to infectious disease. They describe these models as predictive pre-clinical platforms to study host-pathogen interactions, infectious disease mechanisms, and antimicrobial drug development. The […]
How our immune system detects broken DNA: Skin cells alert the immune system, when their DNA is damaged in the absence of infection
Our immune system is working every day to protect us from bacteria, viruses, and parasites, but it can also detect when our own cells are damaged. Research led by Lancaster University has now discovered how skin cells alert the immune system, when their DNA is damaged in the absence of infection. This DNA damage can […]