Scientists have reported that an experimental vaccine targeting one of the most common genetic drivers of pancreatic cancer, called mutant KRAS, is safe and generated a durable immune responses aimed at preventing the cancer.
An analysis of e-cigarette uptake across 27 European countries published in Tobacco Control finds that they are mostly used by current smokers or would-be quitters - approximately 29 million people.
Some basic biology may need revising. It's broadly assumed that cells degrade and recycle their own old or damaged organelles, but researchers writing in PNAS say that some neurons transfer unwanted mitochondria, the tiny power plants inside cells, to supporting glial cells called astrocytes for disposal.
The researchers looked specifically at the axons of retinal ganglion cells in mice, a type of neuron that transmits visual information from the eye to the brain. The investigation was prompted by observations while studying a mouse model of glaucoma that protein products from the retina were accumulating in the optic nerve head (ONH) just behind the eye.
A new poll by The Boston Globe and Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) finds, eight years into the state's universal health insurance legislation enacted in 2006, 63% of Massachusetts residents support the law and 18% oppose it, while 7% are not sure, and 12% have not heard or read about the law. The percentage of residents supporting the law remains unchanged since a 2011 Boston Globe/HSPH poll. Support for the law varies by party affiliation, with 77% of Democrats, 60% of Independents, and 49% of Republicans saying they support the legislation. The poll was conducted May 27-June 2, 2014.
Marketing academics, the group who brought us the notion that hurricanes with female names are more dangerous because the patriarchy just assumes the little ladies are being hysterical and won't knock down houses, are back with the conjecture that your gambling style is genetic.
It's not as crazy as the stuff years ago that claimed liberals and conservatives were born that way, or that your grandfather's diet changed your genes enough to make you fat, but it isn't good science either. Thus, look for it on the Dr. Oz show by next week.
Investors and gamblers take note: your betting decisions and strategy are determined, in part, by your genes.
The kidney, unlike its neighbor the liver, was once understood to be a static organ once it had fully developed, but doctors have observed patients with kidney disease experiencing renal regeneration.
A new study conducted by researchers at Sheba Medical Center, Tel Aviv University and Stanford University have pinpointed the precise cellular signaling responsible for renal regeneration and exposing the multi-layered nature of kidney growth. The research was conducted by principal investigators Dr. Benjamin Dekel of TAU's Sackler School of Medicine and Sheba Medical Center and Dr. Irving L. Weissman of Stanford University's School of Medicine, working with teams of researchers from both universities.
What do you get when you mix theorists in computer science with evolutionary biologists? You get an algorithm to explain sex.
A fascinating mystery of evolution is how sexual recombination and natural selection produced the teeming diversity of life that exists today. The answer could lie in the game that genes play during sexual recombination, so computer scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, created an algorithm to describe the strategy used by these genes in this game.
Obesity has become a worldwide epidemic and with it comes the potential for complications like Type 2 Diabetes. Researchers at the University of Montreal and CHUM Research Centre (CRCHUM) recently demonstrated the potential of retinoic acid (RA), a derivative of Vitamin A, in treating obesity and type 2 diabetes and preventing their cardiovascular complications.
The smoothness of a ball’s surface is a critical factor in how a ball swerves, according to a new study. And if you know soccer (football) you know every year the ball in the World Cup is different - and invariably the source of complaints.
The World Cup 2014 is off to a roaring start - not a single 0-0 tie game - which is great for fans but terrifying for goalies. Yes, it's the ball. The “Jabulani” used at the 2010 World Cup was reviled while the new ball used at this year’s tournament in Brazil, the “Brazuca,” has a slightly rougher surface, and may be more predictable. The results so far still can't be making goalies happy.
The process of blood glucose control could improve dramatically with a bionic pancreas, according to a new study. Currently, people with type 1 diabetes maintain a constant vigil because their pancreas doesn't make the hormone insulin and so they need to manually insure that blood glucose levels don't get dangerously high and low. Several times a day they must use fingerstick tests to monitor their blood glucose levels and manually take insulin by injection or from a pump.
Western journalists dutifully issue accolades for friends in the business who are killed covering military conflicts - but they are primarily highly-paid elites and very much do not want to take unnecessary risks.
When you add in the complexities of a dictatorship, where corporate and local journalists who want to remain out of jail only go where they are told to go, the coverage becomes even more pointless. But citizen journalists in places like Syria can go places corporate journalists won't, or can't, according to a paper in the Index on Censorship magazine. It found more reports were coming from citizen journalists than traditional media, in all areas of the country, with the exception of Homs.
Due in large part to the popularity of energy drinks and chain coffee shops, caffeine intake by children and adolescents has risen substantially - some drinks are marketed to children as young as four.
Unlike nicotine, caffeine has slipped under the cultural radar as a harmless drug, even for kids, but some research is happening. A new paper about a small study says that after puberty, boys and girls experience different heart rate and blood pressure changes after consuming caffeine. Girls also experience some differences in caffeine effect during their menstrual cycles.
Though mainstream journalism likes to link every bit of weather, even a deep freeze last winter, to global warming, the "Arctic amplification phenomenon" is unlikely to lead to more days of extreme cold, new research has shown.
The Arctic amplification phenomenon refers to the faster rate of warming in the Arctic compared to places further south. It is this phenomenon that has been linked to a spike in the number of severe cold spells experienced in recent years over Europe and North America.
New research by University of Exeter expert Dr James Screen has shown that Arctic amplification has actually reduced the risk of cold extremes across large swathes of the Northern Hemisphere.
