Science and Health News

A new method has made it possible to identify twenty-five parallel mutations located in genes associated with wound healing, blood coagulation and cardiovascular disorders. The results could help to develop new drugs to treat ageing-related diseases. The research confirms the theory that some genes that help us in the initial stages of life are harmful to us once the reproductive stage has ended.

A School of Medicine researcher is developing a two-fisted, antibody-based approach to destroy deadly ovarian cancer — an approach he believes could also be modified to kill breast, prostate and other solid tumors.

Results from a clinical trial of more than 250 participants with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) revealed that ibudilast was better than a placebo in slowing down brain shrinkage. The study also showed that the main side effects of ibudilast were gastrointestinal and headaches.

It has been almost 20 years since the human genome was first sequenced, but researchers still know little about how the genome is folded up and organized within cells. In a new paper in the Journal of Cell Biology, researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign describe a new technique that can measure the position of every single gene in the nucleus to build a 3D picture of the genome’s organization.

The discovery could make production of some electronic components cheaper, easier, and faster

Newly-sequenced genome sheds light on interactions between ancient hominins

In a cell, death is akin to falling dominoes: One death-inducing molecule activates another, and so on, until the entire cell is shut down, a new Stanford study finds.

In January, raging storms caused medical emergencies along the U.S. East Coast, prompting the Red Cross to issue an urgent call for blood donations. The nation’s blood supply was especially in need of O-type blood that can be universally administered in an emergency. Now, scientists say they have identified enzymes — from the human gut — that can turn type A and B blood into O, as much as 30 times more efficiently than previously studied enzymes.