Why diagnosing Alzheimer’s today is so difficult.
“Bill Gates believes we need a better way of diagnosing Alzheimer’s before we’re able to slow the progression of the disease.” | learn more
Category: under the microscope
Researchers discover why CRISPR gene editing sometimes fails.
“The CRISPR gene editing revolution is less than a decade old and scientists are still learning how best to deploy this ground-breaking technique. A team has recently discovered why the technique sometimes fails, uncovering a…
Fat-burning drug derived from chili pepper chemical.
“An interesting new anti-obesity drug has demonstrated exciting results in early mouse studies. The drug is based on the same compound notable for giving chili peppers their characteristic burn.” | learn more
The hunt for unknown genetic mutations.
“Mayo Clinic researchers are using precision genomics to search for undiscovered, inheritable genetic mutations that cause accelerated aging.” | learn more
A bacteria may help immunize against stress and anxiety.
“Intriguing new research suggests that a particular bacteria may have beneficial anti-inflammatory effects on the brain. Early studies in rodent models found that through injections of the bacteria the animals can be ‘immunized’ against displaying…
Meet the microbe whose DNA is open to interpretation.
“It’s long been thought that one DNA sequence would always create the same protein, but now researchers have found the first exception to this “universal rule,” a microbe that chooses between two different translations each…
Natural selection plays out in real-time on California starfish.
“Starfish are again brightening up tide pools along the California coast after being ravaged by a mysterious wasting disease, and the colorful invertebrates have undergone a remarkable genetic adaptation that is protecting them from the…
You can grow new brain cells.
Until I read the transcript of this TED talk, I was under the mistaken impression that humans do not grow new brain cells as adults. Well not only do we grow new brain cells, but…
Emulate makes “Organ on a Chip” technology.
I recently found out this existed, and I’m still stunned. “The translucent Emulate chips, roughly the size of a AA battery, have tiny channels lined with human cells and tissue. These chips are engineered to…
Study verifies accuracy of autism blood test.
“Last year an impressive study suggested a reliable set of blood biomarkers has been isolated that could successfully diagnose Autism Spectrum Disorder in children. Now a follow-up study has verified those results pointing towards further…
The Mediterranean diet study retracted.
“In 2013, the New England Journal of Medicine published a landmark study that found that people put on a Mediterranean diet had a 30% lower chance of heart attack, stroke, or death from cardiovascular disease…
Leg exercise has impact on brain and nervous system health.
Don’t skip leg day! “‘Our study supports the notion that people who are unable to do load-bearing exercises—such as patients who are bed-ridden, or even astronauts on extended travel—not only lose muscle mass, but their…
MIT study finds fasting doubles stem cell regenerative capacity.
“Researchers at MIT have discovered that fasting for 24 hours flips a metabolic switch in mice, causing their guts to enhance their intestinal stem cells.” | learn more
Blocking anti-aging enzymes makes cancer die of old age.
“The mechanism that limits a cell’s lifespan can be slowed down, but that can turn them cancerous, as they divide unchecked. Now, scientists at EPFL have found a way to manipulate that mechanism to effectively…
Largest-ever microbiome study publishes first results.
While we know that microbes are critical to many functions of life, we’ve still only begun to scratch the surface of understanding. “The American Gut Project – a global, crowdsourced citizen science effort – has…
Scientists transferred a memory from one snail to another.
The work needs to be replicated, but if confirmed it flies in the face of the long-accepted view that memory is stored in synapses between neurons. Instead, this research points to memory being stored in…
Bacteria are eating antibiotics.
“As if it’s not bad enough that bacteria are increasingly becoming resistant to our best antibiotics – some bugs are even eating the drugs. An international team of scientists has now examined just how the…
The corruption of evidence based medicine.
I’m still digesting this post by Dr. Jason Fung about Evidence Based Medicine (EBM). Though the name sounds great, apparently the evidence is incredibly biased, leading to bad conclusions. It’s not just this guy who…
Peanut allergies in mice alleviated by vaccine.
“Just three monthly doses of a nasal vaccine protected the mice from allergic reactions upon exposure to peanut, according to research from the Mary H. Weiser Food Allergy Center at the University of Michigan.” | learn more
Epigenetic inheritance confirmed in mice.
A new study “provides clear evidence that some kinds of epigenetic markers can be passed on to a new generation.” This lends some credibility to a 2015 study “claiming that the children of Holocaust survivors…
Do vitamins and supplements work?
“During the past 2 decades, a steady stream of high-quality studies evaluating dietary supplements has yielded predominantly disappointing results about potential health benefits, whereas evidence of harm has continued to accumulate.” | learn more
Allergies are triggered by perfect storm of environmental & genetic factors.
New research from Northwestern Medicine has found the “recipe” for developing food allergies. “The factors contributing to food allergy include the genetics that alter skin absorbency, use of infant cleansing wipes that leave soap on…
Assessing cardiovascular risk factors with computer vision.
Researchers at Google Brain are doing some very neat work that crosses both computer vision & health. “Using deep learning algorithms trained on data from 284,335 patients, we were able to predict CV risk factors…
New synthesized antibiotic is “game-changing”.
“In 2015, an exciting new antibiotic called teixobactin was discovered. Now, for the first time, the compound has been successfully synthesized and used to treat a bacterial infection in mice, marking an important milestone in…
New AI tool has ingested almost every chemical reaction ever.
“The new AI tool, developed by Marwin Segler, an organic chemist and artificial-intelligence researcher at the University of Münster in Germany, and his colleagues, uses deep-learning neural networks to imbibe essentially all known single-step organic-chemistry…