Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have created - in a rodent model - a completely new way to engineer nerve structures, or constructs, in culture. This proof-of-principle research has implications for eventually becoming a new method to repair spinal cord injury in humans. The work appears in the latest issue of Tissue Engineering.
Life sciences news // 12 February, 2006 08:02:29
Brain images of children with dyslexia taken before they received spelling instruction show that they have different patterns of neural activity than do good spellers when doing language tasks related to spelling. But after specialized treatment emphasizing the letters in words, they showed similar patterns of brain activity. These findings are important because they show the human brain can change and normalize in response to spelling instruction, even in dyslexia, the most common learning disability.
Life sciences news // 10 February, 2006 05:02:17
When otherwise normal DNA adopts an unusual shape called Z-DNA, it can lead to the kind of genetic instability associated with cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma, according to a study by researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Life sciences news // 07 February, 2006 07:02:34
Viruses and humans have evolved together over millions of years in a game of one-upmanship that, often as not, left humans sick or worse. Now, a University of California, Berkeley, researcher has shown that viruses - in this case, a benign one - can be forced to evolve in ways to benefit humans.
Life sciences news // 06 February, 2006 07:02:21
Two Dartmouth researchers are one step closer to defining exactly when human maturity sets in. In a study aimed at identifying how and when a person's brain reaches adulthood, the scientists have learned that, anatomically, significant changes in brain structure continue after age 18.
Life sciences news // 31 January, 2006 07:02:29
Many of us have experienced déjà vu - the unsettling sensation of knowing that a situation could not have been experienced, combined with the feeling that it has. It is usually so fleeting that psychologists have until recently thought it impossible to study. But for some people, the feeling of having been there before is a persistent sensation, making every day a ‘Groundhog Day. Psychologists from Leeds memory group are working with sufferers of chronic déjà vu on the worlds first study of the condition.
Life sciences news // 29 January, 2006 07:01:00
Using a popular internet game that traces the travels of dollar bills, scientists have unveiled statistical laws of human travel in the United States, and developed a mathematical description that can be used to model the spread of infectious disease in this country. This model is considered a breakthrough in the field.
Life sciences news // 26 January, 2006 07:01:12
Like any other organism, an influenza virus's success in life is measured by its genetic track record, its ability to pass on genes from one generation to the next.
Life sciences news // 23 January, 2006 07:01:02
Results from a new study indicate that hybrid laboratory antibodies derived from chimpanzees and humans may provide a potentially safe and effective way to treat the serious complications that can occur following smallpox vaccination - and possibly may even protect against the deadly disease itself. The study, led by researchers with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), appears online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Life sciences news // 18 January, 2006 07:01:28
When medics are treating trauma patients, every second counts. Yet bruises, burns, and other physical conditions often make it difficult to locate veins and administer lifesaving drugs or solutions.
