News

Scientists from the University of Sheffield have successfully created zebrafish that carry the complex genetic change known to cause the most common genetic form of motor neurone disease (MND). The breakthrough will help to accelerate pioneering research and experimental drug trials to tackle the degenerative disease.

University of Alberta psychologists have identified what they say are the 10 funniest words in the English language. The researchers determined that there are two main kinds of predictors of funniness in words: those related to the form of the word and those related to its meaning.

Conservation scientists and statisticians at Colorado State University have teamed up to solve a key problem for the study of sensitive behaviors like poaching, harassment, bribery, and drug use.

A temperature-stable vaccine has been created for use in developing countries where refrigeration may be unavailable.

A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine describes a genetic change common to 80% of human melanomas, the most deadly form of skin cancer, and also describes a molecule that seeks out cells marked by this genetic change.

Researchers have determined the structure of an enzyme critical for the removal of excess cholesterol from the body, and bound to a chemical that boosts its activity, paving the way for potential new therapeutics to treat heart and kidney failure.

DNA replication is vital to all lifeforms, but in some organisms it can be prevented by twists in the DNA sequence. If too many supercoils are allowed to build up, cells will die. DNA gyrase, which is found in bacterial cells but not human cells, relaxes the twists to allow DNA replication to continue as normal. This process is of particular interest to drug developers because if DNA gyrase can be successfully interrupted the bacteria will die and the threat of infection to the host prevented.

A nationwide genomics initiative in Namibia will bring the benefits of precision medicine to the southern African republic.

Researchers from the University of Manchester (United Kingdom) explore recent developments and strategies for targeting the NLRP3 inflammasome as a potential therapeutic target in acute and chronic neurological and neurodegenerative diseases, and offer perspective on how this field may develop in the future.

Some severe forms of leukemia develop because proteins on the epigenetic level lose their regulative function. Now, in a broad international collaboration, UK researchers have identified molecules that can effectively inhibit the dysregulated proteins.