A new saliva test for COVID-19 that can be completed in just a few hours has been authorized for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The test has several advantages over traditional nasal swab tests: It’s cheap, less invasive and can be performed without the need for certain testing components that have […]
Exploring connections between ovarian cancer and blood cells
Dr. Abhishek Jain, assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Medical Physiology in the College of Medicine, collaborated with researchers from the Departments of Gynecologic Oncology and Cancer Biology at MD Anderson Cancer Center to gain a better understanding of the interaction among ovarian cancer tumors, blood vessels and platelets. […]
Loss of a specific enzyme increases fat metabolism and exercise endurance in mice
Sugars and fats are the primary fuels that power every cell, tissue and organ. For most cells, sugar is the energy source of choice, but when nutrients are scarce, such as during starvation or extreme exertion, cells will switch to breaking down fats instead. The mechanisms for how cells rewire their metabolism in response to […]
Multiple sclerosis drug blocks HIV infection and transmission in human immune cells
An immunomodulatory drug called fingolimod, which is approved for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, blocks human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and transmission in human immune cells, according to a study published August 13 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Postdoctoral Fellow Rachel Resop and Assistant Professor Alberto Bosque of The George Washington University, and […]
Maternal obesity and the risk of early-onset hypertensive disorders of pregnancy
Pregnant obese women were more at risk of experiencing early and late-onset hypertensive disorders, and that risk progressively increased in women with higher body mass indexes (BMI), according to a study led by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). The retrospective cohort study was recently published in Obstetrics and […]
US tops 5 million coronavirus cases, continues to lead world in infections and deaths
US surpasses 5M coronavirus cases More than 97,000 children tested positive for coronavirus in last two weeks of July; Bryan Llenas reports on the latest. The U.S. reached five million coronavirus cases on Sunday, continuing to lead the world as the nation with the highest number of infections. The milestone came fewer than three weeks since […]
Organoids help bridge gap between laboratory study and animal modeling of colorectal cancer
Scientists at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) have biofabricated human colorectal cancer miniature organs, called organoids, to better understand how a tumor grows in its natural microenvironment and its response to therapies. This new study is the first to replicate observations of native tumor tissue in a laboratory model and validate it […]
When does life end? World Brain Death Project seeks clarity and consensus
Before ventilators and CPR came along in the 1950s, declaring death was simple: A person with no heartbeat or respiration was dead. With technology that can restart the heart or keep the heart and lungs going, determination of death moved to the brain—unleashing ethical dilemmas, lawsuits and confusion among doctors and families. A landmark consensus […]
Pseudoislet system expected to advance pancreas and diabetes research
The multicellular, 3-D structure of human pancreatic islets—the areas of the pancreas containing hormone-producing or endocrine cells—has presented challenges to researchers as they study and manipulate these cells’ function, but Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers have now developed a pseudoislet system that allows for much easier study of islet function. A pancreatic islet is composed […]
Precision medicine identifies key recurring mutation in head and neck cancers
Head and neck cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide, and squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) account for the majority of these cases. In a new study, based on preclinical research and published July 29, 2020 in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, researchers at University […]