Obesity has become a significant healthcare problem throughout the United States. Interestingly enough, new research shows that the bacteria in the gut of obese people may have much less diversity than the microbiome of thin people. The research goes on to illustrate that this outcome has been found in dogs. The Science Magazine reports on […]
Animal models are necessary tools in the scientific community, as they allow investigators to control for genetics and other variables. Animal models of cancer are mostly comparative living systems that help scientists uncover the causes of cancer, the mechanisms of metastasis, and methods for preventing and treating the disease, according to the National Cancer Institute. […]
Pulmonary fibrosis is an inflammatory disease in which patients have difficulty breathing, as it is challenging for the lungs to expand sufficiently. This is a deadly disease that had no drug-based therapy until recently. The FDA Voice Blog reports that that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Ofev (nintedanib) and Esbriet (pirfenidone), two new […]
p53 is known to play a critical role in a broad range of functions—DNA repair, cell cycle arrest, senescence, and apoptosis—to conserve gene stability, thus suppressing tumor development. Millions of cancer patients have defects in p53 signaling, possessing either a mutant p53 or an inactive wild type p53 that has lost its antitumor activity. Efforts […]
Diabetes is a serious condition that affects the young and old. One of the most shocking realizations is when parents learn their newborn baby has a form of this disease. Neonatal diabetes mellitus presents itself in the first few months of a baby’s life as mild-to-severe hyperglycemia. A published paper from The New England Journal […]
Biologics are large molecules—hormones, cytokines, monoclonal antibodies, vaccines—created by the process of recombinant DNA technology in living cells. These products have greatly contributed to therapeutic breakthroughs in oncology and inflammatory disorders among others. As patents for many of these biologics begin to expire in the next few years, opportunities arise for developing generic versions of […]
Genetics is one of the most complex and misunderstood areas of biology. In fact, scientists haven’t uncovered the functions of as much as one-third of genes in the genome of E. coli. A paper stemming from the University of California and published in the journal Cell discusses chemical genetics and its role in discovering biological […]
Autoimmune diseases–which involve an abnormal immune system response against compounds and tissues normally located in the human body–seem to be more prevalent among females. For instance, while autoimmune diseases affect just 8 percent of the human population, 78 percent of those infected are women, according to a paper published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases […]
Most of us would love to live forever or at least longer than usual. Scientists have spent centuries attempting to uncover ways of elongating our lives. In fact, new treatments like vaccines or antibiotics and life-saving procedures like heart surgery have doubled our life expectancy over the last 150 years. More recently, investigators discovered a […]
In first world countries, the incidence of allergies, autoimmune diseases, asthma, and other inflammatory conditions has risen significantly. Some postulate that the hygiene hypothesis may be the reasoning for this increase. Other studies, however, have pointed toward diet and bacterial metabolites playing a larger role in inflammatory diseases, according to a paper published in the […]