Science and Health News

Gamers playing the popular online puzzle game Foldit beat scientists, college students and computer algorithms in a contest to see who could identify a particular protein’s shape. The study findings have implications for video game enthusiasts and classroom instruction, and showcase the positive impact citizen science can have on research.

The first winners of a prize devoted exclusively to scientific discoveries made in China were announced on 19 September in Beijing.

In an effort to make information about clinical trials widely available to the public, the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services today issued a final rule (link is external) that specifies requirements for registering certain clinical trials and submitting summary results information to ClinicalTrials.gov.

Scientists from Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) and Siberian State Medical University (SSMU) develop a diagnosis system for neurodegenerative diseases at early stages. They are such diseases as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and others. The diagnosis system is based on virtual reality technology – a person is immersed in a virtual environment to carry out some functional tests. Researchers change the parameters of the virtual environment and record changes in the person’s movements. The scientists are going to complete the technical part of the project in 2017.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found a switch that redirects helper cells in the peripheral nervous system into «repair» mode, a form that restores damaged axons. Axons are long fibers on neurons that transmit nerve impulses. The peripheral nervous system, the signaling network outside the brain and spinal cord, has some ability to regenerate destroyed axons, but the repair is slow and often insufficient.

Scientists at Baylor College of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health and Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute have discovered a new mechanism in the mouse brain that regulates obesity. The study, which appears in Cell Reports today, shows that this new mechanism can potentially be targeted to treat obesity.

Scientists at the Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) have partnered up with colleagues from the Tomsk-based Siberian State Medical University (SSMU) to develop an innovative system for early-stage diagnostics of neurodegenerative diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s and others. At the core of the new diagnostics is virtual reality; a person is immersed in a virtual environment for physicians to conduct functional tests. Researchers model the VR environment as they deem fit, and then register changes in the way the testee moves. The team hopes to complete preparations for project launch next year.

The older we get, the more difficult it becomes to put the world around us in order. Yet, our brain develops remarkable strategies to slow down the effects of aging.