News
Math may transform how rural B.C. hospitals manage life-saving blood donations
In medical emergencies, timely access to blood can mean the difference between life and death. Managing supply in rural communities is a major challenge but Simon Fraser University researchers say part of the solution may be in the math.
Working with health authorities and laboratories technologists across British Columbia, the SFU-led research team built a new simulation model to help hospitals make more informed decisions about how much blood to order, and when.
Researchers discover single-cell brain activity that underlies human speech
By applying machine-learning models to single-cell brain recordings taken from humans in conversation, a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded research team identified both individual and collective neuronal activity that reflected key features of language. The work offers unprecedented insight into how neurons encode linguistic information, suggesting that brain activity may one day be used to infer speech-related thoughts, which could be transformative for some patients.
Developing brain cells routinely repair severe DNA damage during migration
Newborn nerve cells must squeeze through crowded, narrow spaces-through dense tissue, past other cells, between fibers-to reach the areas where they form neural circuits in the brain cortex.
These ‘master’ proteins protect us from deadly mutations — and could inspire new drugs
Biology has clever ways to mask the effects of potentially harmful gene mutations. Scientists are investigating how this ‘buffering’ works — and how to exploit it.
Urban Rodents May Be Evolving Against Common Poisons
A study found that 84% of house mice sampled from urban areas in the Northeast carried at least one genetic mutation linked to rodenticide resistance, suggesting many mouse populations may be evolving ways to survive the poisons commonly used to control them.
Spatial map of bladder cancer reveals hidden tumor environments and new paths toward precision therapy
Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have developed a spatial map of muscle-invasive bladder cancer, revealing how tumor cell states, immune environments and therapeutic vulnerabilities are organized within tumors. The study, published in Cancer Discovery, provides a new framework for understanding why patients with bladder cancer may respond differently to treatment.
Engineered cartilage grafts improve surgery for narrowed child airways
A study led by researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) demonstrated a new method of using decellularized cartilage with patient-specific cells to help enlarge the pediatric airways narrowed as a result of severe subglottic stenosis.
The heart could provide clues to an individual’s cancer risk
A study utilizing MRI assessments found that certain heart structure changes, such as increased heart muscle mass and decreased atrial function, are linked to higher incidences...
Managing Toxic High Performers in the Laboratory
Every lab manager is likely to face this dilemma at some point in their career: a highly specialized scientist who runs complex instrumentation flawlessly but leaves a trail of cultural destruction in their wake. They are technically excellent yet interpersonally toxic. While standard leadership advice often treats all staff as willing to grow, a critical gap exists in how we manage these “brilliant but flawed” individuals.
Managers often tolerate toxic behavior because they calculate that the performer's high output outweighs their interpersonal flaws. This is a fundamental mathematical error.
A New Twist in DNA
Working with the mitochondria of a tiny insect called the citrus mealybug, the team found that the same stretch of DNA can carry two different genes, or sets of genetic instructions used by the cell, with one encoded on each strand of the DNA’s ladder-like structure.
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