A nurse who contracted COVID-19 last year is finally home, months after he was admitted to hospital with complications related to the illness that left him paralyzed. Last summer, Desmon Silva, 23, was working on the frontlines of the pandemic at a hospital in Tampa, Florida when he became infected with the virus. On July […]
The ear isn’t just the hearing organ. It is a complex system of parts that not only allows humans to hear, but also makes it possible for humans to walk. How big are human ears? Ears come in many shapes and sizes. Typically, men’s ears are larger than women’s, according to a study in the […]
In 1993, scientists discovered that a single mutated gene, HTT, caused Huntington’s disease, raising high hopes for a quick cure. Yet today, there’s still no approved treatment. One difficulty has been a limited understanding of how the mutant huntingtin protein sets off brain cell death, says neuroscientist Srinivasa Subramaniam, Ph.D., of Scripps Research, Florida. In […]
Consumption of a high fat diet may be activating a response in the heart that is causing destructive growth and lead to greater risk of heart attacks, according to new research. In a paper published in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, researchers looked at the effect of feeding mice a high fat diet on oxidative […]
Disorders of cellular energy supply can cause a number of serious diseases, but also seem to be connected to aging. More research is needed on mitochondrial function to find future treatments. A new study involving researchers at Karolinska Institutet shows how an important molecule inside the mitochondria affects their function in mice and fruit flies. […]
Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have launched a first-in-human Phase I clinical trial to assess the safety and efficacy of a gene therapy to deliver a key protein into the brains of persons with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), a condition that often precedes full-blown dementia. The […]
Studying mice modeling a human genetic disease that causes irregular heartbeats and can lead to sudden death, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have shown that emotional stress seems to promote symptoms of the disease and worsens its progression. The researchers say in their study, published Nov. 24, 2020, in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, that physicians […]
A new study found that treating obstructive sleep apnea with CPAP therapy increased self-reported physical activity in adults with a history of heart disease. During a mean follow-up period of 3.7 years, the group treated with CPAP therapy reported approximately 20% higher levels of moderate physical activity compared with the control group. The study also […]
A method that instructs immune system cells to help repair damaged tissues in the intestine has been developed by researchers at KU Leuven and Seoul National University. This opens the way for more effective treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. The study was carried out on humans and mice. When […]
A new process for inserting synthetic gene circuits into host cells, developed by a team of bioengineers at Arizona State University, has broad implications for improving the effectiveness of a range of disease therapies. Synthetic biology is an interdisciplinary research field that uses engineering principles to create biological components that don’t exist in the natural […]
