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    Category Health/Medical

    New Device accurately Identifies Cancer in Seconds

    September 7, 2017, Categories  Biology/Biotechnology, Health/Medical

    The MasSpec Pen rapidly and accurately detects cancer in humans during surgery, helping improve treatment and reduce the chances of cancer recurrence. Credit: University of Texas at Austin

    The MasSpec Pen rapidly and accurately detects cancer in humans during surgery, helping improve treatment and reduce the chances of cancer recurrence. Credit: University of Texas at Austin

    A team at The University of Texas at Austin has invented a powerful tool that rapidly and accurately identifies cancerous tissue during surgery, delivering results in about 10 seconds more than 150 times as fast as existing technology. The MasSpec Pen is an innovative handheld instrument that gives surgeons precise diagnostic information about what tissue to cut or preserve, helping improve treatment and reduce the chances of cancer recurrence.

    “If you talk to cancer patients after surgery, one of the first things many will say is ‘I hope the surgeon got all the cancer out,’ ” says Livia Schiavinato Eber...

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    Improved Vaccine that Protects against 9 types of HPV is highly effective

    September 6, 2017, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Active protection via vaccination is mediated byneutralizing antibodies at the cervix HPV Cervical canal Neutralizing ant...

    Active protection via vaccination is mediated by neutralizing antibodies at the cervix HPV Cervical canal Neutralizing antibodies Blood vessel Epithelial tear Basement membrane Cervical epithelium Stanley M. Vaccine 2006; 24:S16–S22; Giannini S, et al. Vaccine 2006; 24:5937–5949; Nardelli-Haefliger D, et al. J Natl Cancer Inst 2003; 95:1128–1137; Poncelet S, et al. IPvC 2007; Abstract.

    Cervical cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related death worldwide, with almost 300,000 deaths occurring each year. More than 80% of these deaths occur in developing nations. The advent of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines has significantly reduced the number of those who develop and die from cervical cancer...

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    Protein that Extends Life of Yeast Cells

    September 6, 2017, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Gcn4 strongly represses translation in the long-lived RPKO strains and stresses. Quantification of global translation by Click-iT HPG for a different single and double KO strains, b glucose-starved (CR) and rapamycin-treated (RAPA) yeast cells. GCN4 deletion restores translation to the level of the wild-type strain in RPKO strains and also leads to increased translation in stressed cells. The significance of the two-tailed t-test between any given deletion strain and the wild-type strain is depicted above the respective bar. Mean values of the relative translation change between the GCN4 deletion strain and the respective parental strain are shown in parentheses. Error bars represent s.d. across three different biological replicates except glucose starvation where n = 2. The p-value for the two-tailed t-test is indicated by ‘*’: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. c Model for Gcn4 effect on translation and aging. Green lines indicate the findings in this study, black continuous lines denote previously established links, and the dashed line indicates a connection that remains to be studied

    Gcn4 strongly represses translation in the long-lived RPKO strains and stresses. Quantification of global translation by Click-iT HPG for a different single and double KO strains, b glucose-starved (CR) and rapamycin-treated (RAPA) yeast cells. GCN4 deletion restores translation to the level of the wild-type strain in RPKO strains and also leads to increased translation in stressed cells. The significance of the two-tailed t-test between any given deletion strain and the wild-type strain is depicted above the respective bar. Mean values of the relative translation change between the GCN4 deletion strain and the respective parental strain are shown in parentheses. Error bars represent s.d. across three different biological replicates except glucose starvation where n = 2...

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    Eating Meat Linked to Higher Risk of Diabetes

    September 5, 2017, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Meat, Dietary Heme Iron, and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. American Journal of Epidemiology, 2017; 1 DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwx156

    Meat, Dietary Heme Iron, and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. American Journal of Epidemiology, 2017; 1 DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwx156

    While a plant-based diet is generally considered healthier than a meat-based diet in preventing the risk of diabetes, not all meats affect the risk equally. As Professor Koh Woon Puay, Professor of Clinical Sciences at Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS), and her team found out, higher intake of red meat and poultry is associated with significantly increased risk of developing diabetes, which is partially attributed to their higher content of heme iron in these meats. This study provides the basis for evidence-based dietary recommendations to the Singapore population in mitigating diabetes risk and reducing the healthcare burden of this chronic condition.

    These fi...

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