Health News

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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]