Researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Immunotherapy (LIT) have demonstrated that killer T cells of the immune system not only eliminate pathologically altered cells, but also promote the subsequent tissue wound healing process.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is warning clinicians to remain on alert for measles cases due to a growing number of infections.
Between Dec. 1, 2023, and Jan. 23, 2024, there have been 23 confirmed cases of measles including seven cases from international travelers and two outbreaks with five or more infections each, according to an email sent this week.
Cases have been reported in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and the Washington, D.C. area so far.
“You need to go back hundreds of million years to understand the full picture of life,” he said. “Fossils are the database for deep-time studies.”
Paleontology may be a look back into the deep past, but it also plays a role in our future.
“Paleontology, and dinosaurs in particular, is a fantastic gateway into science, because all kids are interested in dinosaurs,” Storrs said. “It’s great if they go on to become scientists, but at the very least, they can be part of an informed citizenry that has a basic knowledge of the world and how science operates, because there’s always going to be questions about vaccines for example, or evolution, or climate change. Science plays a huge role in our world today.”
By 2020, the number of smartphone users in the world is expected to reach almost 2.9 billion — nearly doubling in six years from about 1.6 billion in 2014. Technology companies and researchers have been directly and indirectly imbuing smartphones with additional capabilities, including spectroscopy for biological and medical applications, among other uses (Figure 1).
Figure 1. The Changhong H2 is the first consumer device with an integrated imaging spectrometer. Courtesy of Consumer Physics.
Scientists use DNA hacking to create a variety of 3D metallic and semiconductor nanostructures for advanced technologies.
Patients with takotsubo syndrome in a new study had elevated cardiovascular and noncardiovascular death rates. Inhibitors of the renin-angiotensin system were the only cardiovascular medications associated with reduced risk.
In takotsubo syndrome (TS) — also called stress cardiomyopathy or broken heart syndrome — long-term mortality is elevated, similar to that after acute myocardial infarction (AMI), but for unclear reasons. Additionally, evidence-based therapies are lacking for TS. To explore causes of death and the effects of heterogeneous therapies for TS, investigators in Scotland compared outcomes between 620 patients with TS, 620 matched patients presenting with AMI, and 2,480 matched individuals from the general population. Median follow-up was 5.5 years.
Among patients with TS, all-cause mortality was higher compared with the general population (hazard ratio, 1.8), both for cardiovascular causes (HR, 2.5) and noncardiovascular causes (HR, 1.5), but was lower compared with patients with AMI (HR, 0.8). Patients with TS were prescribed cardiovascular and noncardiovascular medications at similar rates to those with AMI. Use of diuretics, anti-inflammatory agents, and psychotropic agents were associated with higher mortality in patients with TS, as was chronic anti-inflammatory medication use. The only medications associated with lower mortality in patients with TS were inhibitors of the renin-angiotensin system.
Continue reading “Outcomes in Takotsubo Syndrome and Associations with Medication Use” »
A genetic marker linked to premature aging was reversed in children with obesity during a six-month diet and exercise program, according to a recent study led by the Stanford School of Medicine.
Children’s telomeres—protective molecular “caps” on the chromosomes—were longer during the weight management program, then were shorter again in the year after the program ended, the study found. The research was published last month in Pediatric Obesity.
Like the solid segment at the end of a shoelace, telomeres protect the ends of chromosomes from fraying. In all people, telomeres gradually shorten with aging. Various conditions, including obesity, cause premature shortening of the telomeres.
Gene editing is revolutionizing the understanding of health and disease, providing researchers with vast opportunities to advance the development of novel treatment approaches. Traditionally, researchers used various methods to introduce double strand breaks (DSBs) into the genome, including transactivator-like effectors, meganucleases, and zinc finger nucleases. While useful, these techniques are limited in that they are time and labor intensive, less efficient, and can have unintended effects. In contrast, the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-associated protein-9 (Cas9) system (CRISPR/Cas9) is among the most sensitive and efficient methods for creating DNA DSBs, making it the leading gene editing technology.
CRISPR/Cas9 is a naturally occurring immune protective process that bacteria use to destroy foreign genetic material.1 Researchers repurposed the CRISPR/Cas9 system for genetic engineering applications in mammalian cells, exploiting the molecular processes that introduce DSBs in specific sections of DNA, which are then repaired to turn certain genes on or off, or to correct genomic errors with extraordinary precision.2,3 This technology’s applications are far reaching, from cell culture and animal models to translational research that focuses on correcting genetic mutations in diseases such as cancer, hemophilia, and sickle cell disease.4
Researchers exploit plasmids, the small, closed circular DNA strands native to bacteria, as delivery vehicles in CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing protocols. Plasmids shuttle the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing components to target cells and can be manipulated to control gene editing activity, including targeting multiple genes at a time. Plasmids can also deliver gene repair instructions and machinery. For example, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) is an enzyme that drives DNA repair and transcription.5 It is a critical aspect of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology in part because it helps repair the DSBs created by the CRISPR/Cas9 system. PARP1 CRISPR plasmids can edit, knockout, or upregulate PARP1 gene expression depending on the specific instructions encoded in the plasmid.
Astronauts content themselves with freeze-dried gruel, but plans for crewed missions to Mars mean scientists need to create more delicious, nutritious menus by James Shackell.
