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UCL Scientists Visualize the Molecular 'Nano-Machinery' That Causes Cilia to Beat

The first image of the structures that power human cilia – the tiny, hairlike projections that line our airways – has been produced by a team involving UCL researchers and could lead to much-needed treatments for people with rare cilial diseases.

14 Jun 2023

Achieving 3D Printing Inside 'Mini-Organs' Growing in Hydrogels

Scientists from the NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre (a collaboration between GOSH and UCL), London, and University of Padova, Italy, have shown for the first time how 3D printing can be achieved inside 'mini-organs' growing in hydrogels -- controlling their shape, activity, and even forcing tissue to grow into 'molds.'

12 Jun 2023

Understanding How Cell-to-Cell Communication Networks Drive Pancreatic Cancer Development

Discussions of cancer often stress the genetic mutations that drive disease by altering the normal function of cellular proteins.

12 May 2023

Neuronal Activity Necessary and Sufficient to Drive Astrocyte Development

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have unraveled the processes that give astrocytes, the most abundant glial cell in the brain, their special bushy shape, which is fundamental for brain function.

27 Apr 2023

New Clinical RNA Sequencing Platform Helps Facilitate Research into Rare Genetic Conditions

A new clinical RNA sequencing platform at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) is helping to facilitate research into rare genetic conditions and carve a path for Precision Child Health, a movement at SickKids to deliver individualized care for every patient.

17 Apr 2023

Designing a Lipid Nanoparticle to Safely Deliver mRNA to the Pancreas

Therapeutics that use mRNA-;like some of the COVID-19 vaccines-;have enormous potential for the prevention and treatment of many diseases.

4 Apr 2023

Beneficial microbes in the infant gut use nitrogen from human milk to support pediatric development

A University of Massachusetts Amherst nutrition scientist who has spent his career studying breast milk has demonstrated how beneficial microbes in the gut of infants use nitrogen from human milk to support pediatric nutrition and development.

28 Mar 2023

Variations in methylation linked to age in the human sperm epigenome

A higher risk of reproductive and child health issues is linked to advanced paternal age. Increasing evidence points to age-related alterations in the sperm epigenome as one underlying cause.

23 Mar 2023

Mount Sinai researchers reveal mechanisms underlying autoimmunity in Down syndrome

Scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York have identified which parts of the immune system go awry and contribute to autoimmune diseases in individuals with Down syndrome.

23 Feb 2023

Inhibiting astrocyte hyperactivity can reverse cognitive deficits associated with social deprivation

Here is an important reason to stay in touch with friends and family: social isolation causes memory and learning deficits and other behavioral changes.

15 Feb 2023

Figuring out how immune cells prevent cognitive decline

Could Alzheimer’s disease and other types of cognitive decline be caused by the underproduction of immune cells that are poorly understood? It might, according to a Rutgers study published in Nature Immunology, and increasing these cells could undo the harm.

From Rutgers University 1 Dec 2022

Highlighting the potential of new techniques to study mental disorders

Researchers investigating the fundamental brain mechanics of autism spectrum disorder have discovered that a gene mutation known to be connected with the illness causes considerably more overstimulation of brain cells than in neuronal cells without the mutation.

23 Nov 2022

3D “mini eyes” provide insight into genetically induced blindness

The development of “mini eyes” by researchers at the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (UCL GOS ICH) has made it possible to study and comprehend the onset of blindness in the rare genetic disease known as Usher syndrome more.

From University College London 22 Nov 2022

Multidisciplinary analysis of WGS improves diagnostic rates

The NHS Genomic Medicine Service, launched by the Department of Health in the United Kingdom in 2018, enables patients with unusual conditions to have their complete genetic code evaluated in the hopes of gaining a critical diagnosis.

From University College London 8 Nov 2022

Pioneering gene editing approach could lead to new treatments for CTLA-4 insufficiency

A fault in cells that form a key part of the immune system can be repaired with a pioneering gene editing technique, finds new research demonstrated in human cells and mice, led by UCL scientists.

From University College London 27 Oct 2022

An inventory of human genetic variation through upgrading the 1000 genomes project resource

The first large-scale WGS project to produce a catalog of human genetic variation was the 1000 Genomes Project (1kGP), which was released as an open-access resource seven years ago.

8 Sep 2022

Safety, feasibility of intranasal human milk as stem cell therapy for preterm infants with intraventricular hemorrhage

A new study demonstrates that intranasal human milk is a safe and feasible intervention for intraventricular hemorrhage, a serious cause of morbidity in preterm infants.

25 Apr 2022

New scalable method to advance maturation of human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes

A Mount Sinai-led team has developed a reproducible and scalable method to advance maturation of human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hPSC-CMs)-;cells that support heart muscle contraction, generated in the lab from human stem cell lines-;which researchers say will improve approaches for disease modeling, regenerative therapies, and drug testing.

8 Apr 2022

Genetic rat model shows robust Down syndrome features

In pursuit of better ways to test new therapies and further explore the impacts of the unique genetics associated with Down syndrome, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine and Tottori University in Japan have genetically engineered and characterized what is believed to be the first rat model of Down syndrome.

15 Mar 2022

Mother's unhealthy vaginal microbiome may contribute to mortality and altered development in babies

A new study in mice from University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers showed that an unhealthy vaginal microbiome in pregnant mothers in combination with an unhealthy diet contributed to increased pup deaths and altered development in the surviving babies.

28 Jan 2022