Briefly blocking a key molecule when administering the only approved vaccine for tuberculosis vastly improves long-term protection against the devastating disease in mice, researchers report. Tuberculosis (TB) infects more than 10 million people a year, killing more than 1 million a year. The Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine is widely used to inoculate children against TB,…

Researchers noted a significant difference in mice from mothers that were fed a diet rich in canola oil, compared with mothers fed a diet rich in corn oil. A maternal Omega 3-rich diet affected genome-wide epigenetic landscape changes in offspring and potentially modulated gene expression patterns. Dr. Ata Abbas, a former postdoctoral research fellow in…

People living in Balkan farming villages along the Danube River have long suffered from a unique type of kidney disease known as Balkan endemic nephropathy. Recently, scientists linked the disorder to compounds from a local weed that could be taken up into food crops from the soil. Now, researchers have discovered that contaminated groundwater could…

Medical researchers have gained new insights into the mechanism of vaccine-induced T cell immunity, including regulation, gene expression and metabolic pathways. This study used samples from a Phase 1 clinical trial for TAK-003, a live-attenuated tetravalent dengue vaccine. Though these discoveries occurred in the context of a dengue vaccine trial, they are applicable to the…

Scientists have observed changes to the gene-regulating factors during zebrafish development and discovered that modifications to ‘histone H3’, one of the proteins around which DNA is bound, play an important role in ‘zygotic genome activation’ or transition of control of zebrafish embryonic development from maternal material to the zygote. Their development, however, is a little…

Castalagin, a polyphenol from the Amazonian fruit camu-camu, increases the efficacy of immunotherapy in mice by modifying their microbiome, researchers find. Canadian researchers have discovered that the Brazilian camu-camu berry, already recognized for its protective effects against obesity and diabetes, can also help to treat cancers. In a study published in Cancer Discovery, the team…

A new way to replicate what happens inside the heart after cardiac arrest could open new avenues for the study of heart regeneration whilst reducing the use of live animals in research, according to a new study. Researchers have developed a process that involves obtaining and growing thin slices of pig heart tissue which include…

Briefly blocking a key molecule when administering the only approved vaccine for tuberculosis vastly improves long-term protection against the devastating disease in mice, researchers report. Tuberculosis (TB) infects more than 10 million people a year, killing more than 1 million a year. The Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine is widely used to inoculate children against TB,…

A team has developed a thermoresponsive nanotopography cell culture platform. A joint research team comprised of Professor Dong Sung Kim and researcher Andrew Choi of POSTECH’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and Dr. InHyeok Rhyou and Dr. Ji-Ho Lee of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Pohang Semyung Christianity Hospital has significantly reduced the total harvest…

A group of researchers has successfully developed a flexible and simple method of artificially producing genetic switches for yeast, a model eukaryotic organism. Genetic switches are necessary in order to artificially generate new functions in an organism. The researchers established a platform for creating genetic switches that could be applied to the development of sophisticated,…