Category Health/Medical

Adult C. elegans worms can be seen with embryos inside them. Credit: Adam Klosin, CRG.

Scientists reveal that a fault in the process that copies DNA during cell division can cause epigenetic changes that may be inherited for up-to 5 generations. They also identified the cause of these epigenetic changes, which is related to the loss of a molecular mechanism in charge of silencing genes. Their results, which will be published in Science Advances on 16 August, will change the way we think about the impact of replication stress in cancer and during embryonic development, as well as its inter-generational inheritance.

There are two particular processes in which cell division is crucial: embryonic development and tumorigenesis...

Dual Contrast – Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting (DC-MRF): A Platform for Simultaneous Quantification of Multiple MRI Contrast Agents. Scientific Reports, 2017; 7 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-08762-9

New imaging method out of Case Western Reserve University elevates MRI capabilities. Current MRI techniques rely on a single contrast agent injected into a patient’s veins to vivify images. The new method uses two at once, which could allow doctors to map multiple characteristics of a patient’s internal organs in a single MRI. The strategy could serve as a research tool and even aid disease diagnosis.

Two contrast agents could include one specifically targeting diseased tissue, and one designed to show healthy tissue, for example...

Image: The spread of herpes simplex virus infection (green, left) is suppressed in cells treated with EZH2/1 inhibitors (GSK126 or GSK343). Credit: NIAID

After herpesviruses infect a cell, their genomes are assembled into specialized protein structures called nucelosomes. Many cellular enzyme complexes can modulate these structures to either promote or inhibit the progression of infection. Scientists studying how one of these complexes (EZH2/1) regulated herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection unexpectedly found that inhibiting EZH2/1 suppressed viral infection...

This is an image of the 3-D droplet bioprinter, developed by the Bayley Research Group at Oxford, producing mm-sized tissues. Credit: Sam Olof/ Alexander Graham

Scientists at the University of Oxford have developed a new method to 3D-print laboratory- grown cells to form living structures. The approach could revolutionise regenerative medicine, enabling the production of complex tissues and cartilage that would potentially support, repair or augment diseased and damaged areas of the body...