Articles in News
Up Close With Opioid Receptors Researchers have taken the closest-yet look at the structures of opioid receptors, which play key roles in pain relief and addiction. The findings might aid development of safer painkillers and addiction-fighting medications. Structure of the κ-opioid receptor bound to the experimental drug JDTic is shown resting in a poppy […]
Risk in Red Meat? A new study adds to the evidence that eating red meat on a regular basis may shorten your lifespan. The findings suggest that meat eaters might help improve their health by substituting other healthy protein sources for some of the red meat they eat. Past research has tied red meat to […]
Carnivores Lack Taste for Sweets Some meat-eating mammals have lost their ability to taste sweetness in foods, and those that swallow their food whole may lack bitter and savory tastes. These new findings suggest that certain unneeded taste receptors may be lost through evolution. Cat-like fossa, a carnivorous mammal. Humans and other omnivores that eat […]
Worms Yield Insights into Brain Development Acorn worm embryos don’t have anything resembling a human brain. But researchers have found that developing worms have patterns of gene activity similar to those that direct our own brain development. The discovery suggests that genetic programs in creatures living more than 600 million years ago formed a scaffold […]
Continue reading "Worms Yield Insights into Brain Development" >>
Gorilla Genome Yields Surprises Researchers have completed a draft sequence of the gorilla genome. Their analysis reveals that people may be more closely related to gorillas than we realized. Kamilah. Image courtesy of the San Diego Zoo. Comparing the human genome sequence with those of other organisms helps us understand how we evolved and what […]
Nanocomplexes Label Cells for MRI Tracking Nanocomplexes can be used to label transplanted cells so they can be tracked by MRI, according to a new study. In the future, the technique might be used to monitor whether transplanted immune or stem cells reach their targets. Cell-based therapies have become a major focus in regenerative medicine […]
Continue reading "Nanocomplexes Label Cells for MRI Tracking" >>
Organ Transplants Without Life-Long Drugs A new method allowed kidney transplant recipients to eventually stop taking harsh immune-suppressing medications, even though they’d received mismatched organs. These preliminary findings may one day reduce the need for anti-rejection drugs and lead to more options for patients awaiting organ transplants. Organ transplants are life-saving, but finding well-matched donor […]
Continue reading "Organ Transplants Without Life-Long Drugs" >>
Video of killer T cell of the immune system battling a cancer cell … … This brief video from Cambridge University’s Under the Microscope series shows a killer T cell, which measure 10 microns in length, identifying and attacking a cancer cell. The microscopic footage was captured by Alex Ritter, a PhD student in the lab of Gillian Griffiths, PhD. Griffiths […]
Continue reading "Video of killer T cell of the immune system battling a cancer cell" >>
Study suggests yoga may help caregivers of dementia patients manage stress Using yoga to engage in brief, simple daily meditation could lead to improved cognitive functioning and lower levels of depression for caregivers of patients with dementia, according to findings published this week in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. In the study (subscription required), UC Los Angeles […]
Continue reading "Study suggests yoga may help caregivers of dementia patients manage stress" >>
How pediatrics could help adult medicine improve quality of care for patients There’s a thought-provoking perspective today on the Well blog about how adopting certain pediatric practices could improve the quality of care for adult patients. In the piece, Perri Klass, MD, examines the different approaches to treating adults and children and concludes that when it comes to […]
Continue reading "How pediatrics could help adult medicine improve quality of care for patients" >>
