Category Biology/Biotechnology

As people age, their brains do, too. But if a brain ages prematurely, there is potential for age-related diseases such as mild cognitive impairment, dementia, or Parkinson’s disease. If “brain age” could be easily calculated, then premature brain aging could be addressed before serious health problems occur.

Researchers from Drexel University’s Creativity Research Lab have developed an artificial intelligence technique that can effectively estimate an individual’s brain age based on electroencephalogram (EEG) brain scans. The technology could help to make early, regular screening for degenerative brain diseases more accessible...

A new, Yale-led study suggests that a range of respiratory viral infections—including COVID-19 and influenza—may be preventable or treatable with a generic antibiotic that is delivered to the nasal passageway.

A team led by Yale’s Akiko Iwasaki and former Yale researcher Charles Dela Cruz successfully tested the effectiveness of neomycin, a common antibiotic, to prevent or treat respiratory viral infections in animal models when given to the animals via the nose. The team then found that the same nasal approach—this time applying the over-the-counter ointment Neosporin—also triggers a swift immune response by interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) in the noses of healthy humans.

The findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academ...

In a discovery that could hasten treatment for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), UC San Francisco scientists have discovered a harbinger in the blood of some people who later went on to develop the disease.

In about 1 in 10 cases of MS, the body begins producing a distinctive set of antibodies against its own proteins years before symptoms emerge. These autoantibodies appear to bind to both human cells and common pathogens, possibly explaining the immune attacks on the brain and spinal cord that are the hallmark of MS.

The findings were published in Nature Medicine on April 19.

MS can lead to a devastating loss of motor control, although new treatments can slow the progress of the disease and, for example, preserve a patient’s ability to walk...

Last year alone, more than 600,000 people in the United States died from cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. The relentless pursuit of understanding this complex disease has shaped medical progress in developing treatment procedures that are less invasive while still highly effective.

Immunotherapy is on the rise as a possible solution...