News Articles

DURHAM, N.C. -- Chronic inflammation in the gut increases the risk of colon cancer by as much as 500 percent, and now Duke University researchers think they know why.
Their new study points to a biomarker in the cellular machinery that could not only serve as an early warning of colon cancer, but potentially be harnessed to counteract advanced forms of the disease, the second-largest cause of cancer death in the U.S.
In the study, published online on February 4 in the journal Cell Stem Cell, Duke biomedical engineers show how colon cancer development is intricately linked to a specific microRNA that dictates how cells divide.

Immunotherapy is one of the hottest emerging areas of cancer research. After all, using the body's own cells to fight cancer can be more effective and less invasive than flooding the entire system with toxic chemicals.
Yubin Zhou, Ph.D., assistant professor at the Center for Translational Cancer Research at the Texas A&M Health Science Center Institute of Biosciences & Technology, is studying how to use light to control the immune system and induce it to fight cancer.

The battery life of implantable heart monitors must be improved to reduce the need for replacement and the risks this carries for patients, argue two senior doctors in The BMJ today.
Cardiologists John Dean and Neil Sulke say over half of patients with pacemakers will need new batteries and many need several replacements.
Not only is money wasted replacing batteries before they've expired, this "exposes patients to risk of serious complications, including life threatening infection," they warn.

FRANKFURT. In contrast to animals, plants form new organs throughout their entire life, i.e. roots, branches, flowers and fruits. Researchers in Frankfurt wanted to know to what extent plants follow a pre-determined plan in the course of this process. In the renowned journal "Current Biology", they describe the growth of secondary roots of thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana). They have observed it cell by cell in a high-tech optical microscope and analysed it with computer simulations. Their conclusion: root shape is determined by a combination of genetic predisposition and the self-organization of cells.

When we look at the night sky, we see stars as tiny points of light eking out a solitary existence at immense distances from Earth. But appearances are deceptive. More than half the stars we know of have a companion, a second nearby star that can have a major impact on their primary companions. The interplay within these so-called binary star systems is particularly intensive when the two stars involved are going through a phase in which they are surrounded by a common envelope consisting of hydrogen and helium. Compared to the overall time taken by stars to evolve, this phase is extremely short, so astronomers have great difficulty observing and hence understanding it. This is where theoretical models with highly compute-intensive simulations come in.

Diatoms are unicellular algae that are native in many waters. They are a major component of marine phytoplankton and the food base for a large variety of marine organisms. In addition, they produce about one fifth of the oxygen in the atmosphere and are therefore a key factor for our global climate. However, these algae, which measure only a few micrometers, have yet another amazing ability: they can "smell" stones.

Our ability to cope with stress depends on how efficiently our body and mind regulate their response to it. Poor recovery from extremely stressful encounters can trigger post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, or even chronic somatic dysfunction (such as pain and fatigue) in some people. Insight into the multi-level sequence of events -- from cellular changes to brain function, emotional responses, and observed behavior -- will help medical professionals make more informed decisions concerning interventions.

Okay, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, here are two words that can help your investment in a startup business succeed: direct flights.
A new study co-authored by an MIT professor shows that venture capitalists do help startup firms by closely monitoring their development, and that the availability of direct airplane flights between the two parties helps improve that oversight.

Researchers have constructed the first comprehensive model of how neurons in the brain behave when faced with a complex decision-making process, and how they adapt and learn from mistakes.
The mathematical model, developed by researchers from the University of Cambridge, is the first biologically realistic account of the process, and is able to predict not only behaviour, but also neural activity. The results, reported in The Journal of Neuroscience, could aid in the understanding of conditions from obsessive compulsive disorder and addiction to Parkinson's disease.

In a paper published today in Nature: Scientific Reports a group of researchers led by LSTM have found that the key to an inherited deficiency, predisposing people to emphysema and other lung conditions, could lie in their Viking roots.
Archaeological excavations of Viking latrine pits in Denmark have revealed that these populations suffered massive worm infestations. The way that their genes developed to protect their vital organs from disease caused by worms has become the inherited trait which can now lead to lung disease in smokers.

Similar to stem cells differentiating to make your body's tissues, the immune system's macrophages pick a life path, differentiating into macrophages that recruit resources for wound repair or macrophages that recruit resources for wound sterilization. An article in the journal Cancer Research describes the relevance of macrophages to cancer: Cancers encourage macrophages to pick the path of wound-repair, making what are called "M2" or "repair-type" macrophages. Cancers use these M2 macrophages to promote their own growth. However, researchers can now successfully flip M2 macrophages into their wound-sterilizing cousins, called "M1" or "kill-type" macrophages, which, contrary to promoting the growth of new tissue, may aid the immune system in clearing the body of cancer.

An international team led by a researcher from Hiroshima University has succeeded in revealing the detailed structure of a massive ionized gas outflow streaming from the starburst galaxy NGC 6240. The team used the Suprime-Cam mounted on the 8.2-meter Subaru Telescope on Maunakea in Hawaii.
The ionized gas the astronomers observed extends across 300,000 light-years and is carried out of the galaxy by a powerful superwind. That wind is driven by intense star-forming activity at the galactic center. The light-collecting power and high spatial resolution of Subaru Telescope made it possible to study, for the first time, the complex structure of one of the largest known superwinds being driven by starbirth - and star death.