Science and Health News

In the next decade, people who have suffered a spinal cord injury or stroke could have their mobility improved or even restored through a radically new technology: implantable devices that can send signals between regions of the brain or nervous system that have been disconnected due to injury.

MINNEAPOLIS — Taking a high dose of vitamin D3 is safe for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and may correct the body’s hyperactive immune response, according to a study published in the December 30, 2015, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Su-Chun Zhang, a pioneer in developing neurons from stem cells at the University of Wisconsin—Madison, has created a specialized nerve cell that makes serotonin, a signaling chemical with a broad role in the brain.

A group of Russian scientists, including Dr Elena Kostryukova, the Head of the Laboratory of Postgenomic Research in Biology of the Scientific Research Institute of Physical-Chemical Medicine and a researcher at MIPT, and Maria Vakhitova, an MIPT postgraduate student, has discovered that the presence of certain bacteria in the gut may be linked to the development of type 2 diabetes.

A new e-book published by The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) provides a primary resource for detailed overviews of the aging process across multiple organisms — from microbes to humans. This seminal publication, «Molecular and Cellular Biology of Aging,» is intended as a textbook for emerging scholars of all levels.

<p>UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A bile acid that can turn off a receptor in the gut has prevented and reversed fatty liver disease in mice, according to an international team of researchers. The compound may help treat certain metabolic disorders, such as Type 2 diabetes and obesity, as well.</p>

Finding could lead to treatments for rare genetic illness as well as normal aging Progeria is a rare genetic disease that mimics the normal aging process at an accelerated rate. Symptoms typically appear within the first year of life, and individuals with the disease develop thin, wrinkled skin, fragile bones and joints, full-body hair loss and organ failure, among other complications. Most do not survive past their teen years.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — December 10, 2015 — Today, Johnson & Johnson announced the formation of Verb Surgical Inc., an independent surgical solutions company, in collaboration with Verily Life Sciences LLC (formerly Google Life Sciences). This new company was formed in connection with the strategic collaboration between Ethicon, a Johnson & Johnson medical devices company, and Google Life Sciences, which was announced in March 2015. Scott Huennekens, an experienced business leader with over 20 years in the medical device industry, has been appointed as Verb Surgical’s President & CEO.