Culture
PHOENIX, Ariz. -- June 22, 2020 -- Precision medicine, using the power of the human genome to diagnose and treat patients, is about to get even more precise.
A new program called PATRIOT, developed by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, is using organoids -- laboratory cultures derived from samples of patient tumors -- to provide a whole new level of accuracy in prescribing anti-cancer treatments.
Adenovirus, which typically can cause a common cold, has a far more dangerous impact if it reaches the heart.
When the virus commandeers gap junctions, it can slow production of connexin43, disturbing the electrical system that keeps a heart beating properly, leading to arrythmias and sometimes sudden cardiac death.
AMHERST, Mass. - Over the last 20 years, many academic institutions have conducted surveys in STEM disciplines, seeking ways to address and increase awareness of discrimination and racism that are major obstacles to attracting and retaining women - particularly underrepresented minority women - to diversify the STEM workforce.
Most traditional cancer therapies target either the tumor cells themselves or indiscriminately kill any rapidly dividing cell. New findings by researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine indicate that manipulating macrophages, a type of immune cell found abundantly in the tissues surrounding a tumor, could also be a viable strategy for treating cancer.
Even the toughest coffee trees may be no match for climate change. A new study of the plant that produces robusta coffee suggests its heat tolerance has been consistently overestimated. Worse yet, when temperatures just slightly cross this point, yields plummet. The findings suggest the multibillion-dollar coffee industry could be facing a much tougher future on even a slightly warmer planet.
What did the very first proteins look like -- those that appeared on Earth around 3.7 billion years ago? Prof. Dan Tawfik of the Weizmann Institute of Science and Prof. Norman Metanis of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have reconstructed protein sequences that may well resemble those ancestors of modern proteins, and their research suggests a way that these primitive proteins could have progressed to forming living cells. Their findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
During the pandemic lockdown, as couples have been forced to spend days and weeks in one another's company, some have found their love renewed while others are on their way to divorce court. Oxytocin, a peptide produced in the brain, is complicated in that way: a neuromodulator, it may bring hearts together or it can help induce aggression. That conclusion arises from unique research led by Weizmann Institute of Science researchers in which mice living in semi-natural conditions had their oxytocin producing brain cells manipulated in a highly precise manner.
New research indicates that taking vitamin D supplements may help prevent a potentially serious side effect of a revolutionary form of anti-cancer therapy. The findings are published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society (ACS).
Capital funding of health care, used to build new hospitals, redesign or upgrade existing facilities and invest in new technologies, has declined in Canada over the last 20 years, according to an analysis in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic has not led to an overall increase in loneliness among Americans.
That's the takeaway from a comprehensive, nationwide study by Florida State University College of Medicine researchers who surveyed more than 2,000 people before and during the enactment of stay-at-home policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study on how loneliness and perceived support has changed from before to during the pandemic is published in American Psychologist.
*CORRECTION, 6/22/20, 3 p.m. CT: The estimated number of cardiovascular events that could be prevented with an absolute sugar content tax is 1.8 million.
Researchers behind the report - Uncharted Territory: Universal Credit, Couples and Money [released Monday 22 June, 00.01] - say the way Universal Credit is designed and delivered does not fit the way modern couples and families live their lives.
When cells don't divide into proper copies of themselves, living things fail to grow as they should. For the first time, scientists now understand how a protein called TANGLED1 can lead to accurate cell division in plants.
Inside cells are structures called microtubules, which act like highways for moving proteins and organelles. They're also critical for separating DNA after it has been duplicated to eventually make two cells from one.
The virus SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the known cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The "spike" or S protein facilitates viral entry into host cells.
June 22, 2020-- In a new article, scientists provide an exhaustive, evidence-based review of how COVID-19 droplets from infected patients spread through the air and describe how health care professionals can protect themselves. This Pulmonary Perspective is published online in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.