Scientists have created mice with a hormone profile that causes growth and metastatic spread of implanted human breast tumors. Results show that the team created a new mouse breed, called NSG-Pro, that produces levels of human prolactin similar to those in patients with metastatic estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. The majority of breast cancer deaths are…

Understanding the skin damage caused by rubbing could lead to better topical skin treatments and help prevent the formation of new routes for viral and bacterial infection. Tohoku University biomechanical engineers have developed a better understanding of the damage that can be caused by something rubbing against the skin. The study was published in the…

The steroid receptor coactivator-2 (SRC-2) is crucial to coordinate the biological responses to the lack of food. The team shows in the journal Cell Reports that SRC-2 specifically in POMC neurons in the hypothalamus, a brain region involved in various aspects of metabolism, including energy management, helps animals modify their metabolism and certain behaviors to…

Synthetic biologists have developed a design-driven process to build complex genetic circuits for cellular engineering. The new technology utilizes computational modeling to more efficiently identify useful genetic designs before building them in the lab. Faced with myriad possibilities, modeling points researchers to designs that offer real opportunity. The researchers constructed a variety of genetic programs…

Microbes living in the rectum could make a difference to the effectiveness of experimental HIV vaccines, according to researchers. Evidence from human and animal studies with other vaccines suggests that Lactobacillus supplements can boost production of antibodies, while treatment with antibiotics can hamper beneficial immune responses, said Smita Iyer, assistant professor at the UC Davis…

Some MRSA infections could be tackled using widely-available antibiotics, suggests new research from an international collaboration. Since the discovery of penicillin, the introduction of antibiotics to treat infections has revolutionised medicine and healthcare, saving millions of lives. However, widespread use (and misuse) of the drugs has led some bacteria to develop resistance, making the medicines…

Nutritional supplements taken to boost athletic performance can pose risks to the heart, according to a recent statement. «Nutritional supplements are commonly viewed as risk-free substances that may improve performance,» states the paper. «Some nutritional supplements, including various plant and ‘natural’ extracts, may pose a serious health risk and athletes may even risk contravening anti-doping…

There’s some good news in New Jersey about a potentially deadly tick-borne bacterium. Researchers examined more than 3,000 ticks in the Garden State and found only one carrying Rickettsia rickettsii, the bacterium that causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever. But cases of tick-borne spotted fevers have increased east of the Mississippi River, and more research is…

In image compression, a large file that could be cumbersome to store or share loses a small amount of visual information. This ‘lossiness’ largely preserves the image while vastly reducing its file size — and serves as the inspiration for a new research direction in genomics, according to a professor of biomedical engineering. Pritchard and…

Scientists have found a way to prove that biochemical signals sent from cell to cell play an important role in determining how those cells develop, findings that can help explain how stem cells differentiate and how cancer arises and proliferates, possibly leading to new treatments. The study from researchers at the USC Dornsife College of…