Category Health/Medical

Computers which are capable of teaching themselves to predict premature death could greatly improve preventative healthcare in the future, suggests a new study by experts at the University of Nottingham. The team of healthcare data scientists and doctors have developed and tested a system of computer-based ‘machine learning’ algorithms to predict the risk of early death due to chronic disease in a large middle-aged population.

They found this AI system was very accurate in its predictions and performed better than the current standard approach to prediction developed by human experts...

New method could enable faster study of strategies to combat age-related diseases. An enzyme-blocking molecule can extend the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans roundworms by as much as 45%, largely by modulating a cannabinoid biological pathway, according to a study from scientists at Scripps Research.

The scientists, whose work is published on March 25 in Nature Chemical Biology, also showed that the lifespan-extending cannabinoid pathway in C. elegans is related in unexpected ways to cannabinoid pathways found in humans and other mammals.

“This study reveals a new life-extension pathway, but more broadly, it introduces a powerful method for applying chemical probes to lab animals such as worm...

Researchers have found multiple applications for the CRISPR gene editing technology since it came into use by the scientific community...

Women who have reached menopause are at a greater risk of developing osteoporosis, which can lead to bone fractures and long-term impairment of mobility. Studies have suggested a link between reduced bone density and low estrogen levels due to menopause, but the basis for this link is unclear. Researchers found that the protein Sema3A plays a key role in maintaining healthy bones, suggesting a new therapeutic avenue to treat osteoporosis.

Bone is a complex...