Science and Health News

The UCSF scientists who identified the two known human genes that promote “natural short sleep” – nightly sleep that lasts just four to six hours but leaves people feeling well-rested – have now discovered a third, and it’s also the first gene that’s ever been shown to prevent the memory deficits that normally accompany sleep deprivation. The researchers believe this latest discovery may one day lead to a druggable target for therapies that improve sleep and treat sleep disorders.

In symptom-free individuals, the detection of misfolded amyloid-β protein in the blood indicated a considerably higher risk of Alzheimer's disease – up to 14 years before a clinical diagnosis was made. Amyloid-β folding proved to be superior to other risk markers evaluated, as shown by scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), the Saarland Cancer Registry, and the Network Aging Research at Heidelberg University.

A therapy developed by Yale researchers stimulates immune cells to shrink or kill tumors in mice, according to a new study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

In a world first, a team of Australian-led researchers has discovered a uniquely shaped fungus in pristine waters, which may mimic opioids with fewer side-effects. It had been hoped that such a molecular structure might exist.

Burn specialists at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) announced today they have successfully used live-cell, genetically engineered pig skin (xenograft) for the temporary closure of a burn wound. Through an FDA-cleared phase one clinical trial led by surgeon Jeremy Goverman, MD, of the MGH Sumner Redstone Burn Service, this procedure marks the first-time pig tissue derived from an animal with gene edits has been transplanted directly onto a human wound.

The risk of cancer increases considerably if you gain weight before the age of 40. For endometrial cancer, the risk increases by 70 percent.

In what is believed to be a world first, Griffith University researchers have cured cervical cancer in mice using CRISPR gene-editing technology.

Researchers harness Cas13 as an antiviral and diagnostic for RNA-based viruses