University of California, Davis, researchers have developed a new, neuroplasticity-promoting drug closely related to LSD that harnesses the psychedelic’s therapeutic power with reduced hallucinogenic potential.
Category: biotech/medical – Page 166
Researchers solve 50 year mystery following discovery of new blood group
Researchers discovered an entirely new human blood type after solving a 50-year mystery.
Back in 1972, doctors were stumped when a pregnant woman’s blood sample was missing a surface molecule that was present on everyone else’s red blood cells at the time. No one could explain it.
Fast forward fifty years, and scientists believe to have sussed it. The discovery led researchers from the UK and Israel to describe a new blood group system in humans, publishing their findings in 2024.
Santiago Ramón y Cajal
(Spanish: [sanˈtjaɣo raˈmon i kaˈxal] ; 1 May 1852 – 17 October 1934) [ 1 ] [ 2 ] was a Spanish neuroscientist, pathologist, and histologist specializing in neuroanatomy and the central nervous system. He and Camillo Golgi received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1906. [ 3 ] Ramón y Cajal was the first Spaniard to win a scientific Nobel Prize. His original investigations of the microscopic structure of the brain made him a pioneer of modern neuroscience.
A cell atlas to uncover significant shifts in the neuroblastoma tumor microenvironment
Researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) developed a longitudinal atlas of neuroblastoma, a common and potentially deadly childhood cancer, to gain a deeper understanding into precise molecular mechanisms underlying why and how certain treatments eventually become ineffective.
The findings, which offer insights that could potentially lead to new personalized medicine approaches in neuroblastoma treatment, were published today in the journal Nature Genetics.
Despite significant advances in the standard of care, the 5-year survival rate of high-risk neuroblastoma after diagnosis remains less than 50%. Neuroblastoma cells within the same tumor can vary greatly, which creates challenges in treatment efficacy. Until now, the scientific community lacked understanding of how the tumor microenvironment changes during treatment.
Children exposed to brain-harming chemicals while sleeping
Babies and young children may breathe and absorb plasticizers called phthalates, flame retardants, and other harmful chemicals from their mattresses while they sleep, according to a pair of studies published by the University of Toronto in Environmental Science & Technology and Environmental Science & Technology Letters. These chemicals are linked to neurological and reproductive problems, asthma, hormone disruption, and cancer.
“Sleep is vital for brain development, particularly for infants and toddlers. However, our research suggests that many mattresses contain chemicals that can harm kids’ brains,” says senior author Miriam Diamond, professor at the University of Toronto.
“This is a wake-up call for manufacturers and policymakers to ensure our children’s beds are safe and support healthy brain development.”
‘Molecular glues’ offer a possible therapeutic approach for autoimmune conditions
Researchers have discovered a type of “molecular glue” that can be used to inhibit certain pathological protein interactions. Their findings were published in the paper, “Molecular glues that inhibit deubiquitylase activity and inflammatory signaling,” in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.
The Wistar Institute’s Joseph Salvino, Ph.D.—in collaboration with Elton Zeqiraj, Ph.D., of The University of Leeds and Roger Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D., of The Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania—led the study.
“Molecular glues are an exciting new area of research that allows us to fight disease by working with the body’s systems rather than against them,” said Dr. Salvino. “By gluing together an inactive form of the BRISC complex with our system, we’re able to reduce the continuous inflammatory signaling due to dysregulated BRISC complex activity in autoimmune diseases.”
Cooler, faster, better: Crystal waves enable ultrafast heat transfer for cooler electronics
Imagine if phones never got hot no matter how many apps were running. Picture a future where supercomputers use less energy, electric cars charge faster, and life-saving medical devices stay cooler and last longer.
In a study published in Nature Materials, a team of engineers at the University of Virginia and their collaborators revealed a radical new way to move heat, faster than ever before. Using a special kind of crystal called hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), they found a way to move heat like a beam of light, sidestepping the usual bottlenecks that make electronics overheat.
“We’re rethinking how we handle heat,” said Patrick Hopkins, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and Whitney Stone Professor of Engineering at UVA. “Instead of letting it slowly trickle away, we’re directing it.”
MRI warning as study says injection could cause deadly material to form in body
A chemical injected before MRI scans to help create sharper images may cause some patients to experience a potentially deadly complication in rare cases, a new study suggests.
Researchers from the University of New Mexico found that gadolinium – a toxic rare earth metal used in MRI scans – could mix with oxalic acid found in many foods to precipitate tiny nanoparticles of the metal in human tissues.
The research, published in the journal Magnetic Resonance Imaging, assessed the formation of these nanoparticles associated with potentially deadly health problems in the kidneys and other organs.
