Category: 4. Health

  • Our DNA is at risk of hacking, warn scientists

    Our DNA is at risk of hacking, warn scientists

    Next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS) — the same technology which is powering the development of tailor-made medicines, cancer diagnostics, infectious disease tracking, and gene research — could become a prime target for hackers.

    A study, published in IEEE Access, highlights growing concerns over how this powerful sequencing tool — if left unsecured — could be exploited for data breaches, privacy violations, and even future biothreats.

    Led by Dr Nasreen Anjum from the University of…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • Early mutations and risk factors for stomach cancer, and develops a pre-cancer model for stomach cancer prevention

    Early mutations and risk factors for stomach cancer, and develops a pre-cancer model for stomach cancer prevention

    Researchers from the Department of Pathology, School of Clinical Medicine at the LKS Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed) have made significant advancements in understanding the earliest stages of stomach cancer, a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, through two recent innovative studies. With a prevalence rates particularly high in East Asia, including China, this cancer often stems from chronic inflammation caused by Helicobacter pylori infection, which…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • Uncovering the relationship between life and sound

    Uncovering the relationship between life and sound

    There’s a sensation that you experience — near a plane taking off or a speaker bank at a concert — from a sound so total that you feel it in your very being. When this happens, not only do your brain and ears perceive it, but your cells may also.

    Technically speaking, sound is a simple phenomenon, consisting of compressional mechanical waves transmitted through substances, which exists universally in the non-equilibrated material world. Sound is also a vital source of environmental…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • Researchers introduce a brand-new method to detect gunshot residue at the crime scene

    Researchers introduce a brand-new method to detect gunshot residue at the crime scene

    Crime scene investigation may soon become significantly more accurate and efficient thanks to a new method for detecting gunshot residues. Researchers from the groups of Wim Noorduin (AMOLF / University of Amsterdam) and Arian van Asten (University of Amsterdam) developed the technique that converts lead particles found in gunshot residue into a light-emitting semiconductor. The method, published last month in Forensic Science International, is faster, more sensitive, and easier to use than…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • Civil engineering team develops innovative solution for tracking antibiotic resistance genes

    Civil engineering team develops innovative solution for tracking antibiotic resistance genes

    The global proliferation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) poses a significant threat to the efficacy of antibiotic-based treatments for diseases. Effective monitoring of ARGs across both spatial and temporal dimensions is essential to understanding their transmission and implementing preventive measures.

    A research team led by Professor Tong Zhang from the Department of Civil Engineering of Faculty of Engineering at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) has developed a computational tool,…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • Mindfulness and step tracking boosts motivation to exercise

    Mindfulness and step tracking boosts motivation to exercise

    A new study from the Centre for Motivation and Behaviour Change at the University of Bath has found that combining step tracking with mindfulness training delivered via a mobile app can significantly boost people’s desire to exercise.

    Published in the journal Mental Health and Physical Activity, the new research suggests that while people step-tracking alone versus those step-tracking alongside a daily mindfulness training course has similar impact on short term physical activity — with…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • How disturbed signaling pathways could promote epileptic seizures

    How disturbed signaling pathways could promote epileptic seizures

    Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) type 2 is a congenital malformation of the cerebral cortex that is often associated with difficult-to-treat epilepsy. In the affected areas, nerve cells and their layer structures are arranged in an atypical manner, which often makes drug therapy more difficult. A research team from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn, in collaboration with the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), has now found evidence of profound…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • Towards gene-targeting drugs capable of targeting brain diseases

    Towards gene-targeting drugs capable of targeting brain diseases

    Getting therapeutic drugs past the blood-brain barrier has long been one of medicine’s most difficult challenges, limiting our ability to treat conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and brain cancers. While manipulating gene expression in brain cells holds tremendous promise for treating these conditions, effectively delivering gene-targeting drugs to the brain has remained an elusive goal.

    Against this backdrop, a research team from Tokyo University of Science (TUS),…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • Microorganisms employ a secret weapon during metabolism

    Microorganisms employ a secret weapon during metabolism

    In the global carbon cycle microorganisms have evolved a variety of methods for fixing carbon. Researchers from Bremen and Taiwan have investigated the methods that are utilized at extremely hot, acidic and sulfur-rich hydrothermal vents in shallow waters off the island of Kueishantao, Taiwan. A team working with first author Joely Maak of MARUM — Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen has now published their study in the professional journal Biogeosciences.

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • Simulating protein structures involved in memory formation

    Simulating protein structures involved in memory formation

    Complex protein interactions at synapses are essential for memory formation in our brains, but the mechanisms behind these processes remain poorly understood. Now, researchers from Japan have developed a computational model revealing new insights into the unique droplet-inside-droplet structures that memory-related proteins form at synapses. They discovered that the shape characteristics of a memory-related protein are crucial for the formation of these structures, which could shed light on…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com