Category: 4. Health

  • HIV drugs offer ‘substantial’ Alzheimer’s protection, new research indicates

    HIV drugs offer ‘substantial’ Alzheimer’s protection, new research indicates

    UVA Health scientists are calling for clinical trials testing the potential of HIV drugs called NRTIs to prevent Alzheimer’s disease after discovering that patients taking the drugs are substantially less likely to develop the memory-robbing condition.

    The researchers, led by UVA’s Jayakrishna Ambati, MD, previously identified a possible mechanism by which the drugs could prevent Alzheimer’s. That promising finding prompted them to analyze two of the nation’s largest health insurance…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • Reactivity to tumor antigens is important for TIL therapy

    Reactivity to tumor antigens is important for TIL therapy

    A team of researchers from Moffitt Cancer Center has found new insight into why some lung cancer patients do not benefit from tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte, or TIL therapy. Their findings, published in Nature Cancer, may help improve future ways to deliver this cellular immunotherapy for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.

    TIL therapy is a live cell treatment where a patient’s tumor is surgically removed and sent to a lab where it is dissected to remove the immune cells that have found…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • Engineering an antibody against flu with sticky staying power

    Engineering an antibody against flu with sticky staying power

    Scientists have engineered a monoclonal antibody that can protect mice from a lethal dose of influenza A, a new study shows. The new molecule combines the specificity of a mature flu fighter with the broad binding capacity of a more general immune system defender.

    The protective effect was enhanced by delivering the antibody in a nasal spray that disperses these molecules throughout the respiratory tract, where they stick to the slippery mucus lining to lie in wait for invading viral…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • AI-designed DNA controls genes in healthy mammalian cells for first time

    AI-designed DNA controls genes in healthy mammalian cells for first time

    A study published today in the journal Cell marks the first reported instance of generative AI designing synthetic molecules that can successfully control gene expression in healthy mammalian cells. Researchers at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) created an AI tool which dreams up DNA regulatory sequences not seen before in nature. The model can be told to create synthetic fragments of DNA with custom criteria, for example: ‘switch this gene on in stem cells which will turn into…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • Incidence of several early-onset cancers increased between 2010 and 2019

    Incidence of several early-onset cancers increased between 2010 and 2019

    In the United States, breast, colorectal, endometrial, pancreatic, and kidney cancers are becoming increasingly common among people under age 50, according to a study published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).

    The findings may have implications for early-onset cancer prevention and screening efforts, the researchers noted.

    Early-onset cancers, defined in this study as those diagnosed in individuals under age 50, are rising in incidence…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • Vitamin supplements slow down the progression of glaucoma

    Vitamin supplements slow down the progression of glaucoma

    A vitamin supplement that improves metabolism in the eye appears to slow down damage to the optic nerve in glaucoma. Promising results have been published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine. The researchers behind the study have now started a clinical trial on patients.

    In glaucoma, the optic nerve is gradually damaged, leading to vision loss and, in the worst cases, blindness. High pressure in the eye drives the disease, and eye drops, laser treatment or surgery are therefore used to…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • Building vaccines for future versions of a virus

    Building vaccines for future versions of a virus

    Effective vaccines dramatically changed the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, preventing illness, reducing disease severity, and saving millions of lives.

    However, five years later, SARS-CoV-2 is still circulating, and in the process, evolving into new variants that require updated vaccines to protect against them.

    But it takes time to design, manufacture, and distribute a new vaccine, which raises an important question: How can scientists create vaccines for versions of the virus that…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • $1.8 billion in NIH grant cuts hit minority health research the hardest

    $1.8 billion in NIH grant cuts hit minority health research the hardest

    The headlines keep coming: Another federal grant funding medical research terminated. Another lab devoted to mental health losing its funding. Another clinical trial stopped.

    It’s all part of actions the Trump administration says are needed to make government more efficient or to eliminate funding related to diversity, equity and inclusion. Opponents say the cuts undermine crucial medical research, gut careers and damage U.S. leadership in science.

    “When policies shift…

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    News Source: www.sciencenews.org

  • Novel Antivenom ‘Cocktail’ Neutralizes Venomous Snake Bites

    Novel Antivenom ‘Cocktail’ Neutralizes Venomous Snake Bites

    Venom from snakes and other animals can have fatal effects if not treated. Venom is a toxic substance and includes various components, including neurotoxins. Consequently, the neurotoxins within the venom disrupt the nervous system and cause deleterious effects including paralysis, respiratory failure, and interreference of electrical impulses that regulate nerve and muscle function. Unfortunately, treatment against venomous bites is limited to species…

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    News Source: www.labroots.com

  • Genetic Code Regulates Stress Response in Cells

    Genetic Code Regulates Stress Response in Cells

    Each cell has their own genetic code that helps maintain viability and directs function.  This genetic code is commonly referred to as deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA. DNA is the molecule that carries genetic instructions that dictate the development and function of each living cell within an organism. Another form of genetic material that is critical for the survival of multicellular organisms includes ribonucleic acid (RNA). This molecule is critical in…

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    News Source: www.labroots.com