Category Biology/Biotechnology

A new genomic urine test can predict bladder cancer as many as 12 years before clinical signs and symptoms emerge, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association, held from April 28 to May 1 in Chicago.

Yair Lotan, M.D., from the UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, and colleagues examined the effectiveness of screening for preclinical urinary carcinoma (UC) with a modified UroAmp (Convergent Genomics) genomic profiling test using 10 genes. The analysis included a model evaluation case-control design with 96 controls and 70 UC cases, as well as a nested case-control design within the Golestan Cohort Study (50,045 participants followed for up to 12 years).

The researchers found that the UC screening model was trained to a sensitiv...

A recent study published in Nature Neuroscience indicates that, contrary to common belief, the immune cells of the brain, known as microglia, are not all the same. Researchers found that a unique microglial subset with unique features and function is important for establishing proper cognitive functions in mice. Evidence for such microglial subsets exists also for the human brain, opening exciting new possibilities for novel therapies.

An international collaboration led by researchers from University of Helsinki, Karolinska Institutet and University of Seville characterized ARG1+ microglia, a subset of microglial cells, that produces the enzyme called arginase-...

Your brain is responsible for controlling most of your body’s activities. Its information processing capabilities are what allow you to learn, and it is the central repository of your memories. But how is memory formed, and where is it located in the brain?

Although neuroscientists have identified different regions of the brain where memories are stored, such as the hippocampus in the middle of the brain, the neocortex in the top layer of the brain and the cerebellum at the base of the skull, they have yet to identify the specific molecular structures within those areas involved in memory and learning.

Research from our team of biophysicists, physical chemists and materials scientists suggests that memory might ...

COVID-19, the disease resulting from SARS-CoV-2 infection, is associated with highly variable clinical outcomes that range from asymptomatic disease to death. For those with milder infections, COVID-19 can produce respiratory infection symptoms (cough, congestion, fever) and sensory phenotypes such as headache and loss of sense of smell.

In more severe cases, SARS-CoV-2 infection can affect nearly every organ and result in strokes from vascular occlusion, cardiovascular damage and acute renal failure. A substantial number of actively infected patients suffering from both mild and severe infections experience sensory-related symptoms, such as headache, visceral pain, Guillain-Barre syndrome, nerve pain and inflammation...