Virginia Tech researchers discovered six new rodent carriers of hantavirus and identified U.S. hotspots, highlighting the virus’s adaptability and the impact of climate and ecology on its spread. Hantavirus recently drew public attention following reports that it was the cause of death for Betsy
In a world-first, scientists have figured out how to reprogram cells to fight — and potentially reverse — brain diseases like Alzheimer’s.
Researchers at the University of California, Irvine created lab-grown immune cells that can track down toxic brain buildup and clear it away, restoring memory and brain function in mice.
They did this by turning stem cells — which can become any cell in the body — into brain immune cells called microglia.
Colorectal cancer rates are rising among younger Americans — the reason behind the jump has become hard for scientists to identify, but the symptoms to watch out are known. Colorectal cancer, which encompasses colon and rectal cancer, is the second leading cause of all cancer-related deaths in the U.S. Last year saw a slight increase in deaths, with just over 53,000 reported. There were also nearly 153,000 new cases of colorectal cancer, the majority of which were in men. While survival rates have improved among older Americans, the incidence rate for people under the age of 55 continues to…
Strawberry fields forever will exist for the in-demand fruit, but the laborers who do the backbreaking work of harvesting them might continue to dwindle. While raised, high-bed cultivation somewhat eases the manual labor, the need for robots to help harvest strawberries, tomatoes, and other such produce is apparent.
As a first step, Osaka Metropolitan University Assistant Professor Takuya Fujinaga has developed an algorithm for robots to autonomously drive in two modes: moving to a pre-designated destination and moving alongside raised cultivation beds. The Graduate School of Engineering researcher experimented with an agricultural robot that utilizes lidar point cloud data to map the environment.
Official website for Osaka Metropolitan University. Established in 2022 through the merger of Osaka City University and Osaka Prefecture University.
Patients with spastic paraplegia type 15 develop movement disorders during adolescence that may ultimately require the use of a wheelchair. In the early stages of this rare hereditary disease, the brain appears to play a major role by over-activating the immune system, as shown by a recent study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
The study was led by researchers at the University of Bonn and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE). These findings could also be relevant for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions.
Spastic paraplegia type 15 is characterized by the progressive loss of neurons in the central nervous system that are responsible for controlling movement. Initial symptoms typically appear in late childhood, manifesting first in the legs in the form of uncontrollable twitching and paralysis.
Our brain’s remarkable ability to form and store memories has long fascinated scientists, yet most of the microscopic mechanisms behind memory and learning processes remain a mystery. Recent research points to the importance of biochemical reactions occurring at postsynaptic densities—specialized areas where neurons connect and communicate. These tiny junctions between brain cells are now thought to be crucial sites where proteins need to organize in specific ways to facilitate learning and memory formation.
More specifically, a 2021 study revealed that memory-related proteins can bind together to form droplet-like structures at postsynaptic densities. What makes these structures particularly intriguing is their unique “droplet-inside-droplet” organization, which scientists believe may be fundamental to how our brains create lasting memories. However, understanding exactly how and why such complex protein arrangements form has remained a significant challenge in neuroscience.
Against this backdrop, a research team has developed an innovative computational model that reproduces these intricate protein structures. Their paper, published online in Cell Reports, explores the mechanisms behind the formation of multilayered protein condensates.
Although the brain is our most complex organ, the ways to treat it have historically been rather simple.
Typically, surgeons lesioned (damaged) a structure or a pathway in the hope that this would “correct the imbalance” that led to the disease. Candidate structures for lesioning were usually found by trial and error, serendipity or experiments in animals.
While performing one such surgery in 1987, French neurosurgeon Alim-Louis Benabid noticed that the electrical stimulation he performed to locate the right spot to lesion had effects similar to the lesion itself.
An avalanche is caused by a chain reaction of events. A vibration or a change in terrain can have a cascading and devastating impact.
A similar process may happen when living tissues are subject to being pushed or pulled, according to new research published in Nature Communications, by Northeastern University doctoral student Anh Nguyen and supervised by Northeastern physics professor Max Bi.
As theoretical physicists, Bi and Nguyen use computational modeling and mathematics to understand the mechanical processes that organisms undergo on a cellular level. With this more recent work, they have observed that when subjected to sufficient stress, tissues can “suddenly and dramatically rearrange themselves,” similar to how avalanches are formed in the wild.
Anthropic has always stood out from OpenAI and Google for its focus on safety. They are pushing for an industry-wide effort to better understand AI models, not just increasing their capabilities.
Scientists are finding clues for how to treat diabetes and hormone disorders in an unexpected place: a toxin from one of the most venomous animals on the planet.
An international research team led by University of Utah scientists has identified a component within the venom of a predatory marine cone snail, the geography cone, that mimics a human hormone called somatostatin, which regulates the levels of blood sugar and various hormones in the body. The hormone-like toxin’s specific, long-lasting effects, which help the snail hunt its prey, could also help scientists design better drugs for people with diabetes or hormone disorders, conditions that can be serious and sometimes fatal.
New research explores how one venom mimics a human hormone that regulates blood sugar, which could lead to better treatment for diabetes.
