News
Blood Test for Early Detection of Cancer
Final results from a study of a blood test that can detect more than 50 types of cancer have shown that it is accurate enough to be rolled out as a multi-cancer screening test among people at higher risk of the disease, including patients aged 50 years or older, without symptoms.
Molecular study reveals signs of inflammation in brains of people who died of COVID-19
The most comprehensive molecular study to date of the brains of people who died of COVID-19 turned up unmistakable signs of inflammation and impaired brain circuits.
Study finds scientists may need to rethink which genes control aging
To better understand the role of bacteria in health and disease, researchers fed fruit flies antibiotics and monitored the lifetime activity of hundreds of genes that scientists have traditionally thought control aging. To their surprise, the antibiotics not only extended the lives of the flies but also dramatically changed the activity of many of these genes. Their results suggested that only about 30% of the genes traditionally associated with aging set an animal’s internal clock while the rest reflect the body’s response to bacteria.
AI Is Broadening the Impact of Clinical Informatics
In an increasingly integrated technological world, laboratory diagnostics are following suit to take advantage of rapidly expanding computational capabilities. Where we once relied exclusively on the labors of pathologists for histopathological interpretation of patient tissues, we can now use enhanced computing power to overcome the limitations of manual approaches. The integration of large-scale automated and computational pathology techniques with expanding patient datasets will dramatically broaden the scope and application of clinical informatics, and thereby inform new diagnostic and treatment modalities.
Study finds eating pure natural cocoa powder improves daytime visual acuity
Eating 2.5 grams of pure natural cocoa powder serves to improve visual acuity in healthy young adults and in daylight conditions, according to research by the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) and the ICTAN (Institute of Food and Nutrition Science and Technology) of the CSIC.
International Team of Genetic Researchers Claim to Have Successfully Mapped the Entire Human Genome
Utilizing technology developed by two different biotechnology/genetic sequencing companies, an international consortium of genetic scientists claim to have sequenced 100% of the entire human genome, “including the missing parts,” STAT reported. This will give clinical laboratories access to the complete 3.055 billion base pair sequence of the human genome.
Combining Three Techniques Boosts Brain Imaging Precision
Researchers report that they have developed a method to combine three brain imaging techniques to more precisely capture the timing and location of brain responses to a stimulus. Their study is the first to combine the three widely used technologies for simultaneous imaging of brain activity.
Newly discovered spider web mechanism kills pathogens and virus responsible for COVID-19
Immunologists at McMaster University have discovered a previously unknown mechanism which acts like a spider web, trapping and killing pathogens such as influenza or SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19.
A new spectroscopy method on a nanosecond time scale
By correlating polarization to the color of a pulsed laser, the team can track changes in the spectrum of the light by simple and extremely fast polarization measurements. The method opens new possibilities to measure spectral changes on a nanosecond time scale over the entire color spectrum of light.
Induced pluripotent stem cells hold great promise for regenerative medicine
The Nobel prize-winning discovery that ordinary cells could be coaxed to revert to their earliest pluripotent stage ushered in the era of stem cell research without the ethical troubles that hampered research in the past. A new process helps scientists improve the odds of attaining viable cells for clinical applications.
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