Scientists in Boston, Massachusetts have made reprogrammed stem cells from the blood of centenarians.
Centenarians offer an opportunity to study longevity. People who’ve lived to 100 have an amazing ability to bounce back from insult and injury, says George Murphy, a stem-cell biologist at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. One centenarian he knows recovered from the 1912 Spanish flu and COVID-19, twice. One theory that explains centenarians’ robust age is that they possess a genetic makeup that protects them from diseases.
But testing that idea is a challenge. People of that age are rare, which makes blood and skin samples from them a precious resource for research. That gave Murphy and his colleagues the idea to create a bank of centenarian cells that could be shared among scientists.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains one of the most clinically challenging malignancies facing our public health system. CRC accounts for the second and third most common cancer in males and females, respectively. In addition, CRC represents one of the most deadly cancers, expected to result in over 50,000 mortalities in 2024.
Hereditary colorectal cancer (HCRC) occurs when a parent passes a cancer gene to a child. Unfortunately, we have not identified a single gene that causes the disease. Hereditary CRC syndromes, such as hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC; also known as Lynch syndrome) and familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), describe a group of genetic diseases that confer a high risk of developing CRC. As our knowledge has expanded, we have learned about a growing number of genetic variants in the genes that predispose carriers to CRC. However, the precise role of some variants in the development of CRC cancer remains unclear. Uncovering more information about these variants, called variants of uncertain significance.
As our knowledge has expanded, we have learned about a growing number of genetic variants in the genes which predispose carriers to CRC. However, the precise role of some variants in the development of CRC cancer remains unclear. Uncovering more information about these variants, called variants of uncertain significance (VUS), can aid in optimizing screening and surveillance programs.
Viviana Gradinaru, an assistant professor of biology at Caltech, discovered her passion for neuroscience as an undergraduate at Caltech, her alma mater. Viviana did her Ph.D. work with Karl Deisseroth at Stanford University where she played an instrumental role in the early development and applications of optogenetics, a research area concerned with the perturbation of neuronal activity via light-controlled ion channels and pumps. More information on her own lab at Caltech can be found at glab.caltech.edu. Viviana is also interested in entrepreneurship for better human health and has co-founded a company, Circuit Therapeutics, based on optogenetics.
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)\ \ .
On January 18, 2013, Caltech hosted TEDxCaltech: The Brain, a forward-looking celebration of humankind’s quest to understand the brain, by exploring the past, present and future of neuroscience. Visit TEDxCaltech.com for more details.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center-led researchers have identified a small molecule called gliocidin that kills glioblastoma cells without damaging healthy cells, potentially offering a new therapeutic avenue for this aggressive brain tumor.
Glioblastoma remains one of the most lethal primary brain tumors, with current therapies failing to significantly improve patient survival rates. Glioblastoma is difficult to treat for several reasons. The tumor consists of many different types of cells, making it difficult for treatments to target them all effectively.
There are few genetic changes in the cancer for drugs to target, and the tumor creates an environment that weakens the body’s immune response against it. Even getting medications near targets in the brain is challenging because the protective blood-brain barrier blocks entry for most potential drug treatments.
Researchers at University of California San Diego analyzed the genomes of hundreds of malaria parasites to determine which genetic variants are most likely to confer drug resistance.
The findings, published in Science, could help scientists use machine learning to predict antimalarial drug resistance and more effectively prioritize the most promising experimental treatments for further development. The approach could also help predict treatment resistance in other infectious diseases, and even cancer.
“A lot of drug resistance research can only look at one chemical agent at a time, but what we’ve been able to do here is create a roadmap for understanding antimalaria drug resistance across more than a hundred different compounds,” said Elizabeth Winzeler, Ph.D., a professor at UC San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Department of Pediatrics at UC San Diego School of Medicine.
In a study published Nov. 21 in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, researchers have uncovered significant genetic connections between human language abilities and musical rhythm skills, providing new insights into the biological underpinnings of these fundamental human traits.
The study brought together leading experts in the areas of musicality genetics and language genetics from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in close collaboration with researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in the Netherlands.
The study revealed overlapping genetic underpinnings between rhythm-related skills and language-related traits, including dyslexia. Multiple datasets were used from over 1 million individuals. By applying advanced multivariate methods, the researchers were able to identify common genetic factors and explore their biological and evolutionary significance.
