As 2012 has come to a close we begin to look back at what we have and haven’t accomplished over the past year. It’s a common tradition to make a New Year’s Resolution for yourself. You may think that you need to live a healthier lifestyle by exercising more and eating better, or maybe you’re […]
Ebola virus experts discover powerful, new approach for future therapeutics
A one-two punch of powerful antibodies may be the best way to stop Ebola virus, reports an international team of scientists in the journal Cell. Their findings suggest new therapies should disable Ebola virus’s infection machinery and spark the patient’s immune system to call in reinforcements. “This study presents results from an unprecedented international collaboration […]
Eye conditions provide new lens screening for Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease is difficult to diagnose as well as treat, but researchers now have a promising new screening tool using the window to the brain: the eye. A study of 3,877 randomly selected patients found a significant link between three degenerative eye diseases—age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma—and Alzheimer’ disease. The results offer physicians […]
Researchers look to worms for a new model of a peripheral nervous system disease
Studying transthyretin amyloidoses-a group of progressive nerve and cardiac degenerative diseases caused by the buildup of misfolded transthyretin (TTR) proteins in the body-has long been hampered by the lack of animal models of the disease. Mice, for instance, don’t show the same symptoms as humans, even when misfolded TTR accumulates in their organs. Now, scientists […]
Got the ‘drunchies’? New study shows how heavy drinking affects diet
They’re called the “drunchies,” or drunk munchies. It’s the desire one has to eat salty, fatty, unhealthy foods during or after a night of heavy drinking. With obesity continuing to rise in America, researchers decided to look at a sample of college students to better understand how drinking affects what they eat, both that night […]
New regulator in aggressive breast cancer cells discovered
Triple-negative breast cancer is a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer. Here, important receptors are missing, which often serve as targets for treatments. Thus, these tumors are unlikely to respond to current therapies. Researchers from the Leibniz Institute on Aging – Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI) in Jena now identified the protein TRPS1, which is commonly […]
New antibiotic found in common weed
Researchers in Switzerland made this suggestion after discovering a compound with a new type of antibiotic activity on the leaf of the thale cress, a common weed. Many of today’s antibiotics stem from natural compounds made by bacteria that live in soil. The bacteria produce them to defend against other microorganisms. But the new study […]
A new climate model can predict dengue outbreaks in the Caribbean region
Changes in climate, such as rain and drought, can affect the risk of mosquito-borne diseases including dengue, chikungunya and Zika. An international team comprising the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) has developed a new tool to predict the impact of droughts and extreme rainfall on the risk of dengue outbreaks. In recent years, the […]
New ceria nanoparticles attack Parkinson’s disease from three fronts
Researchers at the Center for Nanoparticle Research, within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS, South Korea), have developed a set of nanoparticles for Parkinson’s disease treatment. Tested in mice and published in Angewandte Chemie as a “hot paper,” this study represents the first biomedical application of nanoparticles in the clearance of reactive oxygen by-products in […]
Alzheimer’s Drug Trial Offers New Hope, But Uncertainty, Too
THURSDAY, July 26 — There have been many setbacks on the long road to finding a treatment that might slow or stop Alzheimer’s disease, but a new trial offers a glimmer of hope. Researchers report that an experimental drug called BAN2401 slowed mental decline by as much as 30 percent in Alzheimer’s patients. It also […]