The notice from the federal health insurance marketplace grabbed Andrew Schenker’s attention: ACT NOW: YOU’RE AT RISK OF LOSING FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE STARTING JANUARY 1, 2021. As he read the notice, though, the Blacksburg, Virginia, resident became exasperated. Schenker, his wife and their teenage son have a bronze-level marketplace plan. Based on their income of about […]
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Why can’t Bertrand Might cry? Scientists offer an answer: missing water channels
Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have shown that cells from children with NGLY1 deficiency—a rare disorder first described in 2012—lack sufficient water channel proteins called aquaporins. The discovery was published in Cell Reports and may help explain the disorder’s wide-ranging symptoms—including the inability to produce tears, seizures and developmental delays—and opens new […]
Widely used reference for the human genome is missing 300 million bits of DNA
For the past 17 years, most scientists around the globe have been using the nucleic acid sequence, or genome, an assembly of DNA information, from primarily a single individual as a kind of “baseline” reference and human species representation for comparing genetic variety among groups of people. Known as the GRCh38 reference genome, it is […]
A single missing gene leads to miscarriage
A single gene from the mother plays such a crucial role in the development of the placenta that its dysfunction leads to miscarriages. Researchers from the Medical Faculty of Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) have observed this in so-called knockout mice that were specifically modified for this purpose. These mice lack the gene for the transcription factor […]
Team finds missing immune cells that could fight lethal brain tumors
Glioblastoma brain tumors can have an unusual effect on the body’s immune system, often causing a dramatic drop in the number of circulating T-cells that help drive the body’s defenses. Where the T-cells go has been unclear, even as immunotherapies are increasingly employed to stimulate the body’s natural ability to fight invasive tumors. Now researchers […]
New method adds missing functionality to brain organoids
In a collaborative study between Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute, and George Washington University, researchers have developed a new procedure for generating miniature 3-D versions of the brain called “organoids” from human stem cells. By providing an environment for cells to interact the way […]