Tag: Researchers

Researchers identify new arthritis severity gene

A new gene associated with disease severity in models of rheumatoid arthritis has been identified by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The discovery could provide a new pathway for treatment and a way to measure the prognosis of patients diagnosed with the autoimmune condition. Through a series of experiments—on synovial

Researchers map DNA damage links to onset of skin cancer, melanoma

A critical link in mapping recurrent mutations of melanoma—the most serious form of skin cancer in humans—has been discovered by researchers at Washington State University School of Molecular Biosciences, in collaboration with researchers at Georgia State University. In a paper published July 6 in Nature Communications, researchers established that DNA binding by a specific set

Joslin researchers report excessive fetal growth despite well-controlled type 1 diabetes

A new study has shown that despite excellent glycemic control and low glycemic variability throughout their pregnancies, women with type 1 diabetes tended to give birth to infants who were large for gestational age. Researchers documented elevated fetal weight and abdominal circumference percentages throughout the pregnancies that were consistent with accelerated prenatal growth, as documented

Researchers find little association between suicide and hypoxia

Following an extensive analysis of published studies, researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have found that while suicide rates are higher at higher altitudes, they are unlikely caused by hypoxia, (low oxygen) at these elevations. The study, published this month in the journal High Altitude Medicine & Biology, says suicide victims at

With gene editing, researchers cure blood disorder in fetal mice

With the combined efforts of three Yale laboratories, researchers conducted the first demonstration of site-specific gene editing in a fetus, correcting a mutation that causes a severe form of anemia. The technique, described in a paper published June 26 in Nature Communications, involves an intravenous injection of nanoparticles carrying a combination of donor DNA and

Researchers map cardiovascular disease risk across India

The average 10-year risk of developing cardiovascular disease varies widely among India’s states, ranging from 13.2% to 19.5%, with substantial variation across socio-demographic groups according to a study published this week in PLOS Medicine by Pascal Geldsetzer and Rifat Atun of Harvard University, and colleagues. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality in

Researchers find transport molecule has unexpected role

UT Southwestern researchers recently reported a basic science finding that might someday lead to better treatments for neurodegenerative diseases like a hereditary form of Lou Gehrig’s disease. In a study published in the journal Cell, Dr. Yuh Min Chook, Professor of Pharmacology and Biophysics, and Dr. Michael Rosen, Chair of Biophysics and an Investigator in

Researchers engineer human bone marrow tissue

Researchers have developed an artificial tissue in which human blood stem cells remain functional for a prolonged period of time. Scientists from the University of Basel, University Hospital Basel, and ETH Zurich have reported their findings in the scientific journal PNAS. In the bone marrow, several billion blood cells are formed each day. This constant

Researchers transform human blood cells into functional neurons

Human immune cells in blood can be converted directly into functional neurons in the laboratory in about three weeks with the addition of just four proteins, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found. The dramatic transformation does not require the cells to first enter a state called pluripotency but instead occurs through

Researchers develop new models for predicting suicide risk

Combining data from electronic health records with results from standardized depression questionnaires better predicts suicide risk in the 90 days following either mental health specialty or primary care outpatient visits, reports a team from the Mental Health Research Network, led by Kaiser Permanente research scientists. The study, “Predicting Suicide Attempts and Suicide Death Following Outpatient

Researchers identify spike in severe black lung disease among former US coal miners

The number of cases of progressive massive fibrosis, the most severe form of black lung disease, has been increasing dramatically among coal workers and especially younger workers in central Appalachia. These new findings represent the first-ever documentation of this spike and were presented by Kirsten Almberg, research assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences