Category Biology/Biotechnology

The latest research from Hiroshima University connecting DHA synthesis to estrogen production, and consequentially brain health, backs up further the old adage that a daily intake of fish oil is good for you. Credit: Yasuhiro Ishihara

Estrogen production in the brain has been directly linked to the presence of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). DHA is found in abundance in fish oils and is also synthesized from alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an omega-3 fatty acid found in some vegetable-based oils. The latest research from Hiroshima University connecting DHA synthesis to estrogen production, and consequentially brain health, backs up further the old adage that a daily intake of fish oil is good for you.

Assistant Professor Yasuhiro Ishihara, from HU’s Laboratory of Molecular Brain Science, keenly aw...

A gold nanostar under an electron microscope. The nanostar’s size causes it to accumulate within tumors, where researchers use infrared light to heat it and destroy cancerous growths. Credit: Tuan Vo-Dinh, Duke University

New treatment cures, vaccinates mouse in small proof-of-concept study. By combining an FDA-approved cancer immunotherapy with an emerging tumor-roasting nanotechnology, Duke University researchers improved the efficacy of both therapies in a proof-of-concept study using mice. The potent combination also attacked satellite tumors and distant cancerous cells, completely curing two mice and effectively vaccinating one against the disease. The results appeared online in Scientific Reports on August 17.

“The ideal cancer treatment is non-invasive, safe and uses multiple approa...

Playing basketball outside. Credit: © Kar Tr / Fotolia

A father-son research partnership has found that athletic prowess could be related to the length of your fingers.Grant Tomkinson, a professor of kinesiology and public health education department at the University of North Dakota, conducted research with his son Jordan, a junior at Sacred Heart School. They found that the ratio of the length of the second (“pointer”) finger and the length of the fourth (“ring”) finger – called the “digit ratio” – is favorably related to muscular strength in boys.

“Examine the fingers of your hand,” said Grant Tomkinson...

In order to achieve better brain signal transmission quality, the researchers apply contact gel. Credit: Michael Veit

Several groups from the Freiburg excellence cluster BrainLinks-BrainTools led by neuroscientist Dr. Tonio Ball are showing how ideas from computer science could revolutionize brain research. They illustrate how a self-learning algorithm decodes human brain signals that were measured by an electroencephalogram (EEG). It included performed movements, but also hand and foot movements that were merely thought of, or an imaginary rotation of objects...