Category Biology/Biotechnology

Penn researchers leading the DARPA-funded Restoring Active Memory project constructed the first whole-brain map of electrical connectivity in the brain based on data from nearly 300 neurosurgical patients. Above, the image on the left represents the ~30,000 electrodes used in the study. On the right is a rendering of a whole-brain network derived from electrical activity during memory processing. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Pennsylvania

A team of neuroscientists at the University of Pennsylvania has constructed the first whole-brain map of electrical connectivity in the brain based on data from nearly 300 neurosurgical patients with electrodes implanted directly on the brain...

Cancer cells. Credit: Dr. Cecil Fox, National Cancer Institute

Cancer researchers seeking non-toxic alternatives to harmful chemotherapy are reporting a highly significant result for a humble cold remedy. N-Acetyl cysteine – or NAC – is routinely used as a dietary supplement and as a decongestant given to children to ward off a cold. Now, clinical trials in the US indicate the cheap, over-the-counter drug, is a first rate inhibitor of the tumour stroma, a cell compartment which is fundamental to the spread of cancer. The results, published in Seminars in Oncology, confirm a long-held theory that cancer cells are being sustained and strengthened by the presence of MCT4, a protein which ‘brings them’ energy, in the form of lactate, from neighbouring cells.

Patients taking high dosages of NAC...

Space dust collisions as a planetary escape mechanism. arxiv.org/abs/1711.01895

Life on our planet might have originated from biological particles brought to Earth in streams of space dust, a study suggests. Fast-moving flows of interplanetary dust that continually bombard our planet’s atmosphere could deliver tiny organisms from far-off worlds, or send Earth-based organisms to other planets, according to the research. The dust streams could collide with biological particles in Earth’s atmosphere with enough energy to knock them into space, a scientist has suggested.

Such an event could enable bacteria and other forms of life to make their way from one planet in the solar system to another and perhaps beyond...

Highlights •Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is vulnerable to stresses imposed by excess cholesterol •Nrf1 binds and senses excess cholesterol in ER membrane to protect from such stress •Nrf1-deficient liver massively accumulates cholesterol, resulting in liver disease •Nrf1 protects liver by suppressing inflammation and promoting cholesterol excretion

Harvard researchers have illuminated a critical player in cholesterol metabolism that acts as a molecular guardian in cells to help maintain cholesterol levels within a safe, narrow range. Nrf1 senses and responds to excess cholesterol, and could represent a potential new therapeutic target in a multitude of diseases where cholesterol metabolism is disrupted.

It has been accepted for decades that high cholesterol in the blood can set the s...