Scientists at the University of York have revealed that there are two separate ‘pathways’ for seeing 3-D motion in the human brain, which allow people to perform a wide range of tasks such as catching a ball or avoiding moving objects. The new insight could help further understanding into how to alleviate the effects of […]
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Discovery in cell development changes understanding of how genes shape early embryos
Our bodies hold roughly 14 trillion cells, each containing a nucleus with DNA measuring two meters long by 20 atoms wide. To fit inside each nucleus, DNA coils around specialized proteins. These spools of wrapped DNA inhibit gene regulatory proteins from binding to protein-coding stretches along the genome, which help keep genes in the “off” […]
New understanding of mysterious ‘hereditary swelling’
For the first time ever, biomedical researchers from Aarhus University, Denmark, report cellular defects that lead to a rare disease, hereditary angioedema (HAE), in which patients experience recurrent episodes of swelling requiring immediate treatment. This new understanding is an important step toward gene therapy for patients. Symptoms include an upper arm swelling to twice its […]
Genetic study improves lifespan predictions and scientific understanding of aging
By studying the effect of genetic variations on lifespan across the human genome, researchers have devised a way to estimate whether an individual can expect to live longer or shorter than average, and have advanced scientific understanding of the diseases and cellular pathways involved in aging. Their findings were presented at the American Society of […]
Health Tip: Understanding Auditory Processing Disorder
— Auditory processing disorder (APD) is a hearing problem that affects about 5 percent of school-aged children, the Nemours Foundation says. When a person has APD, the brain and ears do not work well together to process what is heard. The person typically doesn’t recognize slight differences between sounds in words, even when the sounds […]
Call for research to address significant gaps in understanding Parkinson’s disease
An analysis published in Drug Discovery Today reveals the gap between animal models of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and our understanding of the neurodegenerative processes underlying the disease, and calls for the implementation of modern, human biology-based technologies to better understand pathological processes and improve treatment outcome. While current approaches to drug discovery for PD have […]
Health Tip: Understanding Vasectomy
— A vasectomy is a method of birth control that involves minor surgery to prevent sperm from reaching semen. More than 500,000 men in the United States have the procedure each year, the Urology Care Foundation says. The procedure can be done in a urologist’s office, a hospital or a surgery center. Most men recover […]
Understanding drug resistance in ovarian cancer
Work just published in Cancer Research by Drs. Hugo Wurtele and Elliot Drobetsky (Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Center- CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal and Université de Montréal) sheds new light on the origins of chemotherapy drug resistance in ovarian cancer. This discovery, made in collaboration with researchers at the Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montreal (CHUM), Université Laval […]