News
It’s time to rethink the clinical laboratory from the ground up
Technology and infrastructure will continue to impact the functionality and design of the clinical laboratory. Emerging design approaches will improve specimen processing, optimize space allocation, and encourage healthy work environments.
Cold storage: Inside Ottawa’s cord blood bank
Inside two high-tech tanks filled with liquid nitrogen in an industrial park in Nepean there are about 2,500 little bags of frozen blood. The contents of each one of these little bags has the potential to save a life.
‘Visibility matters’ when establishing LGBTI-friendly practice for younger patients with cancer
It was at the height of Australia’s marriage equality debate in 2017 when Kate Thompson, MSW, approached her colleague — social worker Mairghread Clarke, BSW — with some issues that had been raised by younger patients at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
New technique isolates placental cells for non-invasive genetic testing
Brown University researchers have developed a simple method for isolating placental cells from cervical swabs. The technique, described in the journal Scientific Reports, could aid in developing less invasive ways of diagnosing genetic disorders in developing fetuses.
A pathogen that has evolved to spread in hospitals
The bacterium Clostridium difficile is the primary cause of infections that are acquired in hospital settings; it causes diarrhea and intestinal inflammation. The microbe is often found in the human gut, but when people are healthy, the many other bacteria in the gut microbiome keep the growth of C. difficile contained. People in hospitals often need to take rigorous courses of antibiotics that can dramatically reduce the number of beneficial microbes in the gut, however, giving C. difficile a chance to grow.
An innovative new diagnostic for Lyme disease
When researchers examined the mitochondrial DNA of Ötzi, a man entombed in ice high in the Tyrolean Alps some 5,300 years ago, they made a startling discovery.
Designing a blood test that can predict lifespan
The ability to predict how long someone is likely to live would help doctors tailor treatment plans. A new study looking at biomarkers in the blood concludes that more accurately estimating mortality might soon be possible.
Autism gene undergoes changes in sperm after cannabis use
A specific gene associated with autism appears to undergo changes in the sperm of men who use marijuana, according to new research from Duke Health. The gene change occurs through a process called DNA methylation, and it could potentially be passed along to offspring.
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