Category: 5. Health

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have mapped how small RNA molecules, such as the recently Nobel Prize-awarded microRNAs, control cell development in the human embryo during the first days after fertilisation. The findings, published in Nature Communications, may eventually… Continue Reading

With heart attacks, every second counts. A new blood test diagnoses them in minutes rather than hours and could be adapted as a tool for first responders and people at home. “Heart attacks require immediate medical intervention in order to improve patient outcomes, but while early diagnosis is… Continue Reading

Standing has gained popularity among people looking to offset the harms of a sedentary lifestyle often caused by spending long days sitting in front of the computer, television or driving wheel. Standing desks have become a popular option among office workers, and in other industries like… Continue Reading

A study led by researchers from RMIT University and the Doherty Institute has provided the first detailed analysis of how mRNA vaccines circulate and break down in the human bloodstream. The research aimed to help improve the safety and effectiveness of these vaccines, including reducing the… Continue Reading

In a new study evaluating meditation for chronic lower back pain, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that men and women utilize different biological systems to relieve pain. While men relieve pain by releasing endogenous opioids, the body’s… Continue Reading

Nager syndrome, or NS, is a rare genetic disease that affects the development of the face and limbs, usually causing anomalies in the bone structures of the jaws, cheeks, and hands. With a prevalence of less than 100 cases ever reported, not much is known about the disease except the fact that… Continue Reading

Columbia researchers have engineered probiotic bacteria that educate the immune system to destroy cancer cells, opening the door for a new class of cancer vaccines that take advantage of bacteria’s natural tumor-targeting properties. These microbial cancer vaccines can be personalized to attack… Continue Reading

Each year, roughly the same numbers of boys and girls are born. But in individual families, some couples have four or more daughters and no sons, and some have all male children and no female children, points out University of Michigan evolutionary geneticist Jianzhi Zhang. This has led some… Continue Reading

Development of B cells, white blood cells that make antibodies, follows a progression of stages: common lymphoid progenitors, pre-pro-B cells, pro-B cells, pre-B cells, immature B cells, and then more mature and specialized B cells. By the time the development hits the pro-B stage, the cell is… Continue Reading

Scientists in Trinity College Dublin have discovered a new process in our immune systems that leads to the production of an important family of anti-viral proteins called interferons. They hope the discovery will now lead to new, effective therapies for people with some autoimmune and infectious… Continue Reading