The demand for the widely used cancer drug Taxol is increasing, but it’s difficult and expensive to produce because it hasn’t been possible to do it biosynthetically. Until now, that is. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have cracked the last part of a code that science has struggled…
Category: 5. Health
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A first blueprint of chemical transport pathways in human cells
An unprecedented international effort to decode how cells manage the transport of chemical substances has culminated in four groundbreaking studies published in Molecular Systems Biology. Led by Giulio Superti-Furga at CeMM, the Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of…
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Changes in the aging heart may lessen the risk of irregular heartbeats
Virginia Tech researchers at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC have discovered that microscopic structural changes in the aging heart may reduce the risk of irregular heartbeats.
Medically known as arrhythmias, irregular heartbeats become more common with age and can lead to health…
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New protein target for childhood medulloblastomas
Medulloblastomas are one of the most common childhood brain cancers.
Particularly, Group-3 medulloblastomas are aggressive and incurable, contributing to childhood cancer deaths.
Led by University of Michigan researchers, a study in Cancer Cellidentified a new target for Group-3…
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Gut bacteria and acetate, a great combination for weight loss
Researchers led by Hiroshi Ohno at the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences (IMS) in Japan have discovered a new way to reduce obesity. Their study shows that supplying the gut with extra acetate reduces fat and liver mass in both normal and obese mice, as long as bacteria of the…
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Could nanoplastics in the environment turn E. coli into a bigger villain?
Nanoplastics are everywhere. These fragments are so tiny they can accumulate on bacteria and be taken up by plant roots; they’re in our food, our water, and our bodies. Scientists don’t know the full extent of their impacts on our health, but new research from University of Illinois…
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Maintaining balance in the immune system
Researchers from the Turner lab have published the first description of the role of the ZFP36 family of RNA binding proteins in regulatory T cells (Tregs). Tregs are key to maintaining balance in the immune system and essential to preventing autoimmune disease.
Immunologists from the Institute…
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New research highlights health benefits of using heritage art practices in art therapy
Heritage art practices include indigenous and traditional arts practices — such as fiber arts, clay work, distinct painting styles etc. — handed down in families or communities across generations. The fact that they have been sustained for generations, and helped to serve the expressive and…
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Sophisticated data analysis uncovers how city living disrupts ADHD’s path to obesity
A hidden link between impulsivity and obesity may not be fixed in human biology but shaped by the cities we live in.
Using a novel engineering-based approach, researchers from NYU Tandon School of Engineering and Italy’s Istituto Superiore di Sanità found that attention-deficit/hyperactivity…
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Experimental painkiller could outsmart opioids — without the high
An experimental drug developed at Duke University School of Medicine could offer powerful pain relief without the dangerous side effects of opioids.
The drug, called SBI-810, is part of a new generation of compounds designed to target a receptor on the nerves and spinal cord. While opioids flood…
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