A new cancer vaccine platform works by enhancing the ability of the immune system to recognize cancer by leveraging anti-viral memories it already has - due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the worst outbreak of the last 70 years.
Autism affects as many as 1.5 million Americans, and the number is increasing, according to the Autism Society of America. It is estimated that 1 in 150 births involve children with some form of autism.Autism can be caused by a variety of genetic factors, but a new Brown University study focused on one particular area — the Fragile X protein. If that protein is mutated, it leads to Fragile X syndrome, which causes mental retardation and is often accompanied by autism.
Women who stopped taking the postmenopausal hormone combination of estrogen plus progestin experienced a marked decline in breast cancer risk which was unrelated to mammography utilization change, according to a study from the Women's Health Initiative led by a Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) investigator that was published today in The New England Journal of Medicine.Breast cancer in the United States began to decline in 2003, after the Women's Health Initiative's initial findings that combined hormone therapy was related to higher risk of breast cancer and heart problems.
Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine say they have discovered a gene that when mutated causes obesity by dampening the body's ability to burn energy while leaving appetite unaffected. The new research could potentially lead to new pharmacologic approaches to treating obesity in humans that do not target the brain, according to study senior author Yi Zhang, Ph.D., Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and professor of biochemistry and biophysics in the UNC School of Medicine. Zhang is also a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Two newly described fossil whales---a pregnant female and a male of the same species--reveal how primitive whales gave birth and provide new insights into how whales made the transition from land to sea.
An international team of researchers has discovered a new chemical compound that consists of a single element―boron. Chemical compounds are conventionally defined as substances consist of two or more elements, but the researchers found that a high pressure and temperature pure boron can assume two distinct forms that bond together to create a novel 'compound' called boron boride.
COROT has found the smallest terrestrial planet ever detected outside the Solar System. The amazing planet is less than twice the size of Earth and orbits a Sun-like star. Its temperature is so high that it is possibly covered in lava or water vapour. About 330 exoplanets have been discovered so far, most of which are gas giants with characteristics similar to Jupiter and Neptune. The new find, COROT-Exo-7b, is different: its diameter is less than twice that of Earth and it orbits its star once every 20 hours. It is located very close to its parent star, and has a high temperature, between 1000 and 1500°C. Astronomers detected the new planet as it transited its parent star, dimming the light from the star as it passed in front of it.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine are one gene closer to understanding schizophrenia and related disorders. Schizophrenia is a varied condition with a number of symptoms not shared by all affected. This could be one reason why it's been difficult to identify genes that contribute to the condition. To address this, the team first rigorously separated the 73 different symptoms into nine distinct factors associated with the condition—prodromal, negative, delusion, affective, scholastic, adolescent sociability, disorganization, disability, hallucination.
Green tea products have become regarded as a valuable health supplement and studies have shown evidence of its benefit against a variety of diseases, including cancer. In animal studies, an antioxidant compound in green tea called the EGCG polyphenol (epigallocatechin gallate) has been shown to be a potent anticancer agent, with effects demonstrated against leukemia, as well as lung, prostate, colon, and breast cancer. Among other properties, EGCG binds to a common protein in tumors called GRP78 (which is responsible for preventing cell death) and inhibits its function, thereby assisting in the death of tumor cells.
Gardening can offer enough moderate physical activity to keep older adults in shape but Kansas State researchers writing in the journal HortScience say that among the other health benefits of gardening is keeping older hands strong and nimble."One of the things we found is that older adults who are gardeners have better hand strength and pinch force, which is a big concern as you age," said Candice Shoemaker, K-State professor of horticulture.
A study reveals that the severity of learning disorders may depend not only on the child's environment but also on the mother's environment when she was young. The researchers studied the brain function of pre-adolescent mice with a genetically-created defect in memory. When these young mice were enriched by exposure to a stimulating environment – including novel objects, opportunities for social interaction and voluntary exercise – for two weeks, the memory defect was reversed. The work showed that this enhancement was remarkably long-lasting because it was passed on to the offspring even though the offspring had the same genetic mutation and were never exposed to an enriched environment.
A new testosterone patch, designed to pep up a woman's flagging sex drive after womb and ovary removal, may not work, and its long term safety is not proven, says the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB).Intrinsa was recently licensed in the UK for the treatment of women, who have gone through the menopause as a result of womb and ovary removal, and who are subsequently experiencing a drop in sex drive. The condition is referred to as hypoactive sexual desire disorder or HSDD for short.There is some evidence to suggest that a fall in sex drive after the menopause might be linked to low levels of circulating testosterone.
A study by UC Davis researchers published in Archives of Pediatric&Adolescent Medicine has found that most of the healthy children and teenagers in the United States who are taking daily vitamin and mineral supplements probably don't need them. The study also found that the children who most need to take vitamins aren't getting them.
