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    Category Health/Medical

    Scientists look Deeper into the Body with New Long Wavelength Near-Infrared Fluorescent Dye

    December 26, 2015, Categories  Biology/Biotechnology, Health/Medical

    illustration of mouse with blood vessels and tumors glowing

    The NIR-II dye can resolve blood vessels in the forelimb as well as the brain with unprecedented clarity. The dye also allows clear resolution of tumors in the center of the mouse’s brain.

    At Stanford and elsewhere, researchers have worked to create dyes that, when stimulated, emit light of long wavelengths close to infrared light. Such a light, which is not visible to the human eye, could then be viewed by a special camera and be projected to a monitor to produce deeper, sharper images from inside the body. It can help to pinpoint tumor locations near the skin’s surface in a variety of cancers, such as head and neck, melanoma and breast cancer.

    Most dyes have safety concerns: Some made from carbon nanotubes or quantum dots can linger in the body for days and months, caught in the liver a...

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    Scientists Discover New role for RNA in Safeguarding human Chromosome Number

    December 26, 2015, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Dr. Joshua Mendell CREDIT UT Southwestern Medical Center

    Dr. Joshua Mendell CREDIT: UT Southwestern Medical Center

    A gene called NORAD has been found to help maintain the proper number of chromosomes in cells, and that when inactivated, causes the number of chromosomes in a cell to become unstable, a key feature of cancer cells.

    Previously, genes that encode the recipe for making proteins have been implicated in maintaining the proper number of chromosomes in a cell. The NORAD gene, however, does not encode a protein. Instead, NORAD produces a long noncoding RNA, a type of molecule that was not previously known to be important in chromosome maintenance.

    Researchers began studying this particular molecule because the RNA kicks into action after DNA is damaged; they therefore termed it Noncoding RNA Activated by DNA Damage, or NORAD.
    The scientist...

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    Research links Inorganic Mercury exposure to Damaged Cell Processes

    December 24, 2015, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology, Environment/Geology

    Stephen LaVoie at the University of Georgia studies inorganic mercury, which is known to cause neurological, kidney and autoimmune diseases. Credit: Dorothy Kozlowski/University of Georgia

    Stephen LaVoie at the University of Georgia studies inorganic mercury, which is known to cause neurological, kidney and autoimmune diseases. Credit: Dorothy Kozlowski/University of Georgia

    Inorganic mercury, which was previously thought to be a less harmful form of the toxic metal, is very damaging to key cell processes. This study is the first to compare the effects of inorganic and organic mercury compounds at the biochemical, physiological and proteomic levels in any model organism.

    Inorganic mercury from the ore cinnabar was used for centuries against infections; in modern times, humans synthesized organic mercurials as antimicrobials, such as merthiolate...

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    Absence of Serotonin Alters Development, Function of Brain Circuits

    December 24, 2015, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Schematic drawing illustrating the location of serotoninergic neurons in the adult zebrafish brain (lateral view). 5-HT-immunoreactive cells are also present in the retina (not shown). The main projections originating from the raphe populations are indicated. AP, area postrema; Cer, cerebellum; Hyp, hypothalamus; MO, medulla oblongata; NLV, nucleus lateralis valvulae; OB, olfactory bulb; PG, preglomerular complex, Po, preoptic region; PT, posterior tuberculum; SC, spinal cord; Tel, telencephalon; TeO, tectum opticum; Th, thalamus; V, ventral telencephalic area.

    Schematic drawing illustrating the location of serotoninergic neurons in the adult zebrafish brain (lateral view). 5-HT-immunoreactive cells are also present in the retina (not shown). The main projections originating from the raphe populations are indicated. AP, area postrema; Cer, cerebellum; Hyp, hypothalamus; MO, medulla oblongata; NLV, nucleus lateralis valvulae; OB, olfactory bulb; PG, preglomerular complex, Po, preoptic region; PT, posterior tuberculum; SC, spinal cord; Tel, telencephalon; TeO, tectum opticum; Th, thalamus; V, ventral telencephalic area.

    Researchers create 1st complete model of serotonin’s role. Serotonin, 5-hydroxytryptamine [5-HT], is an important neuromodulator of brain development and the structure and function of neuronal circuits...

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