Science and Health News

In the first study of its kind, Penn researchers have shown how an anti-diabetic drug can have variable effects depending on small natural differences in DNA sequence between individuals. Mitchell Lazar, MD, PhD, Raymond Soccio, MD, PhD, and colleagues at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, aim to apply this knowledge to develop personalized approaches to treating diabetes and other metabolic disorders. The team published their findings this week in Cell.

Традиционные методы удаления пробок в заблокированных артериях являются достаточно сложными операциями в которых используются упругие стенты или пневматические надувные зонды, позволяющие расширить заблокированный участок кровеносного сосуда. Однако, не так давно начала работу международная группа ученых, которая разрабатывает альтернативный метод удаления пробок в кровеносных сосудах. И ключевым моментом этого метода будут крошечные нанороботы, свернутые в спираль наподобие штопора, которые буквально «пробурят» и разрушат материал пробки.

A study in the online edition of Annals of Internal Medicine suggests that coronary artery calcification (CAC) scans could help physicians identify patients at risk for premature death.

Deleterious Effects of ‘Pro-Aging Factor’ Can Be Reversed in Mice A blood-borne molecule that increases in abundance as we age blocks regeneration of brain cells and promotes cognitive decline, suggests a new study by researchers at UC San Francisco and Stanford School of Medicine.

Looking around at a 20th high school reunion, you might notice something puzzling about your classmates. Although they were all born within months of each other, these 38-year-olds appear to be aging at different rates.

Reduced telomere length has been associated with aging and age-related diseases. Latent infection with the Cytomegalovirus (CMV) induces telomere shortening in the infected cells. Latent CMV infection may cause reduced telomere length via GABP transcription factor deficiency, according to the Microcompetition Theory. Microcompetition and viral-induced transcription factor deficiency is important since most people harbor a latent viral infection.

Nanolek, a Russian biotech company, has agreed with France’s Sanofi Pasteur, a global leader in vaccine development, on the setup of Russian-based production of a vaccine to prevent dangerous children’s diseases, Rusnano reported. The Russian nanotech giant established Nanolek as its portfolio company back in 2011.

Researchers at Duke University School of Medicine and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School have identified a mechanism that explains why some mutations can be disease-causing in one genome but benign in another.