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DNA Origami Revolutionizes Cancer Immunotherapy: The DoriVac Breakthrough

Therapeutic cancer vaccines are a form of immunotherapy in the making that could not only destroy cancer cells in patients, but keep a cancer from coming back and spreading.

15 Mar 2024

Dual-Target CAR T Cell Therapy Shows Promise Against Recurrent Glioblastoma

Targeting two brain tumor-associated proteins-;rather than one-;with CAR T cell therapy shows promise as a strategy for reducing solid tumor growth in patients with recurrent glioblastoma (GBM), an aggressive form of brain cancer, according to early results from the first six patients treated in an ongoing Phase I clinical trial led by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Medicine's Abramson Cancer Center.

14 Mar 2024

Researchers Identify Proteins to Reprogram Fibroblasts into Limb Progenitor Cells

In a collaborative study, researchers from Kyushu University and Harvard Medical School have identified proteins that can turn or "reprogram" fibroblasts -; the most commonly found cells in skin and connective tissue -; into cells with similar properties to limb progenitor cells.

5 Mar 2024

Newly Discovered Bacterial Species Shed Light on Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotic-resistant infection is projected to catch up to cancer as the leading cause of death by 2050, making understanding and limiting the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria a priority worldwide.

1 Mar 2024

SOX17 Gene Identified as Critical for Immune Evasion in Early-Stage Colon Cancer

One of the immune system's primary roles is to detect and kill cells that have acquired cancerous mutations.

29 Feb 2024

Prefrontal Neurons’ Cascade of Phonetic Representations

A new study led by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) uses sophisticated brain recording techniques to show how neurons in the human brain cooperate to enable people to plan words for speech and then produce them verbally.

5 Feb 2024

Scientists Create "Immunologically Silent" DNA Vaccine for Potent Virus Defense

Using a virus-like delivery particle made from DNA, researchers from MIT and the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard have created a vaccine that can induce a strong antibody response against SARS-CoV-2.

31 Jan 2024

Phage Proteins Tame CRISPR-Cas3, Paving Way for Precise Gene Therapy

Through the use of CRISPR, an immune system that bacteria use to defend themselves against viruses, researchers have been able to alter genetic information within cells.

22 Jan 2024

New Technology Enables Minimally-Invasive, High-Resolution Recording of Brain Activity

Sensors built with a new manufacturing approach are capable of recording activity deep within the brain from large populations of individual neurons–with a resolution of as few as one or two neurons–in humans as well as a range of animal models, according to a study published in the Jan. 17, 2024 issue of the journal Nature Communications.

18 Jan 2024

EBV-Targeting T-Cells Linked to Early MS Damage

The body's immune response to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) may play a role in causing damage in people with multiple sclerosis, according to a new study led by UTHealth Houston.

12 Jan 2024

Novel Peptides from South American Bushmaster and Pit Viper

The venom of the South American bushmaster, a resident of tropical rainforests, and the pit viper Cotiara, which lives in southern Brazil, both contain fragments of hemorrhagic toxins that may be used to treat high blood pressure.

8 Jan 2024

AI Tool Offers a Deep Dive Into Tissues, Boosting Cancer Detection and Treatment

A new artificial intelligence tool that interprets medical images with unprecedented clarity does so in a way that could allow time-strapped clinicians to dedicate their attention to critical aspects of disease diagnosis and image interpretation.

3 Jan 2024

Structural Insights Unmask Novel Adaptations and Functions of Human LINE-1 ORF2

Martin Taylor, MD, PhD, a physician investigator in the Department of Pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital and an instructor in Pathology at Harvard Medical School, is the lead corresponding author of a new study in Nature, Structural Analysis and Inhibition of Human LINE-1 ORF2 Protein Reveals Novel Adaptations and Functions.

20 Dec 2023

From Mice to Men: New Studies Bridge the Gap in Brain Cell Gene Expression Across Species

Despite all our cells sharing the same DNA, there are thousands of different cell types in the human brain, each with a unique structure and function.

14 Dec 2023

Study Reconstructs Genomic History of the Balkan Peninsula

A multidisciplinary study led by the Institute of Evolutionary Biology in Spain (a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council and Pompeu Fabra University), the University of Belgrade in Serbia, the University of Western Ontario in Canada, and Harvard University in the USA, reconstructs the genomic history of the Balkan Peninsula during the first millennium of the common era, a time and place of profound demographic, cultural and linguistic change.

8 Dec 2023

Rare Genetic Variant Found to Protect Against Alzheimer's Disease

Researchers at Gladstone Institutes have discovered that a rare genetic variant known as the "Christchurch mutation" can block detrimental effects of apolipoprotein E4, the best-established risk factor for the most common form of Alzheimer's disease.

14 Nov 2023

Novel Bacterial Protein can Prolong Cell Longevity by Acting Directly on Mitochondria

Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil, partnering with colleagues in Australia, have identified a novel bacterial protein that can keep human cells healthy even when the cells have a heavy bacterial burden.

10 Nov 2023

Prime Editing and Base Editing Could Revolutionize Treatment for Phenylketonuria

Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a rare newborn genetic disease that impacts between 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 20,000 people, depending on the individuals' genetic ancestry. PKU causes an amino acid-;called phenylalanine (Phe)-;to build up in the bloodstream.

3 Nov 2023

Study Identifies Significant Changes in Peptides During Pyroglutamination

Peptides are biomolecules formed when two or more amino acids that perform key functions in the human organism, such as hormones, neurotransmitters, painkillers and antibiotics, bind together. For this reason, they are much studied and used by the pharmaceutical industry, for example.

2 Nov 2023

The Story of Sapiens and Neanderthals as Told by Genomes

Neanderthals, who had lived for hundreds of thousands of years on the western half of the Eurasian continent, gave way to Homo sapiens, who had come from Africa, some 40,000 years ago.

19 Oct 2023