A new global collaborative study has confirmed that vitamin D supplementation can help protect against acute respiratory infections. The study, a participant data meta-analysis of 25 randomized controlled trials including more than 11,000 participants, has been published online in The BMJ….
Over 100 New Blood Pressure Genes Could Provide Targets for Treating Hypertension
Scientists have found 107 new gene regions associated with high blood pressure, potentially enabling doctors to identify at-risk patients and target treatments. (Blood Pressure Genes) The study, led by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and Imperial College London, suggests that…
Affordable Personalized RNA Cancer Vaccine Works, Aided by CD4 T Cells
For the first time, it has been shown that many mutations in tumors–20 percent—are immunogenic, or able to rouse armies of T cells, post-vaccine. Also for the first time, it has been shown that most of those roused T cell armies…
3 Ways Technology is Changing the Face of Drug Discovery & Development
While personalized medicine has been a goal for some time, there have been several obstacles. Although there has been an explosion in genomic data, the corresponding clinical utility for this data has been slow to be validated. Data from tissue images,…
Animal to Human Transmission Responsible for 2014 Ebola Outbreak
Scientists used advanced genomic sequencing technology to identify a single point of infection from an animal reservoir to a human in the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa. This research has also revealed the dynamics of how the Ebola virus has…
“Alter-the-Backbone” Approach Promising in Osteoporosis & Diabetes
By swapping replacement parts into the backbone of a synthetic hormone, UW-Madison graduate student Ross Cheloha and his mentor Sam Gellman, along with collaborators at Harvard Medical School, have built a version of a parathyroid hormone that resists degradation in laboratory…
Marijuana Use Linked to Brain Abnormalities
Young adults who used marijuana only recreationally showed significant abnormalities in two key brain regions that are important in emotion and motivation, scientists report. The study was a collaboration between Northwestern Medicine and Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. This is the…
Breakthrough in Stem Cell Manufacturing Technology
Scientists at The University of Nottingham have developed a new substance that could simplify the manufacture of cell therapy in the world of regenerative medicine. Cell therapy is an exciting and rapidly developing area of medicine in which stem cells have…