Orlando, FL (Scicasts) – The hardening of arteries is a hallmark of atherosclerosis, an often deadly disease in which plaques, excessive connective tissue, and other changes build up inside vessel walls and squeeze off the flow of oxygen-rich blood throughout the body.
Cambridge, MA (Scicasts) – Injectable nanoparticles developed at MIT may someday eliminate the need for patients with Type 1 diabetes to constantly monitor their blood-sugar levels and inject themselves with insulin.
Evanston, IL (Scicasts) – Northwestern University scientists have shown a gene involved in neurodegenerative disease also plays a critical role in the proper function of the circadian clock.
Portland, OR (Scicasts) – Scientists at Oregon Health & Science University and the Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) have successfully reprogrammed human skin cells to become embryonic stem cells capable of transforming into any other cell type in the body. [Video]
Berlin, Germany (Scicasts) – Classical X-ray radiographs provide information about internal, absorptive structures of organisms such as bones. Alternatively, X-rays can also image soft tissues throughout early embryonic development of vertebrates.
Upton, NY (Scicasts) – Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered that DNA "linker" strands coax nano-sized rods to line up in way unlike any other spontaneous arrangement of rod-shaped objects.
Worcester, MA (Scicasts) – Findings from two new cancer studies yield the best evidence yet that cancer may be better defined by its genetics than the organ in which it originates. These new findings will impact both research and treatment at UMass Medical School and the UMass Memorial Cancer Center of Excellence. [Video]
Philadelphia, PA (Scicasts) – In the largest clinical trial to date to examine the efficacy of PARP inhibitor therapy in BRCA 1/2 carriers with diseases other than breast and ovarian cancer, the oral drug olaparib was found to be effective against advanced pancreatic and prostate cancers.
Stanford, CA (Scicasts) – Most of us don't ponder our pulses outside of the gym. But doctors use the human pulse as a diagnostic tool to monitor heart health. [Video]
Los Angeles, CA (Scicasts) – When the brain's primary "learning centre" is damaged, complex new neural circuits arise to compensate for the lost function, say life scientists from UCLA and Australia who have pinpointed the regions of the brain involved in creating those alternate pathways ― often far from the damaged site.
Parkville, Victoria, Australia (Scicasts) – Melbourne scientists have made the surprise discovery that malaria parasites can ‘talk’ to each other – a social behaviour to ensure the parasite’s survival and improve its chances of being transmitted to other humans. [Video]
Boulder, CO (Scicasts) – A class of water-loving, jelly-like materials with uses ranges ranging from the mundane, such as superabsorbent diaper liners, to the sophisticated, such as soft contact lenses, could be tapped for a new line of serious work: testing the biological effects of nanoparticles now being eyed for a large variety of uses.
Arlington, VA (Scicasts) – The University of Chicago has launched the first secure cloud-based computing system that enables researchers to access and analyze human genomic cancer information without the costly and cumbersome infrastructure normally needed to download and store massive amounts of data.
La Jolla, CA (Scicasts) – A drug developed by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, known as J147, reverses memory deficits and slows Alzheimer's disease in aged mice following short-term treatment. [Video]
London, UK (Scicasts) – A new study has revealed that having too much body fat makes arteries become stiff after middle age.
Baltimore, MD (Scicasts) – Experiments at Johns Hopkins have unearthed clues about which protein signalling molecules are allowed into hollow, hair-like “antennae,” called cilia, that alert cells to critical changes in their environments.
Berkeley, CA (Scicasts) – New technology developed at the University of California, Berkeley, is using wireless signals to provide real-time, non-invasive diagnoses of brain swelling or bleeding.