The virus responsible for chickenpox and shingles employs a powerful strategy of immune evasion, inhibiting the ability of natural killer cells to destroy infected cells and produce molecules that help control viral infection, according to a a new study. Natural killer cells are white blood cells that help control viral infection by killing infected cells…

For the first time, researchers have used an imaging method normally reserved for humans to analyze brain activity in live agricultural swine models, and they have discovered that pig brains are even better platforms than previously thought for the study of human neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. One immediate potential application is in…

Researchers combine high-resolution imaging to observe the infection process in cell nuclei, opening the door for new therapeutics. The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) — which was the focus of this study — primarily infects certain cells of the immune system, and in this way massively weakens the body’s own defence against diseases. The…

These slow growing bacteria have long puzzled TB researchers with their fairly rapid resistance to antibiotics. Researchers may have been barking up the wrong tree in exploring genetics, because the answer seems to lie in the epigenetic domain. Now, TB researchers at San Diego State University have uncovered a crucial clue to the mystery: the…

An international study reveals how future climate change could affect malaria transmission in Africa over the next century. Malaria is a climate sensitive disease; it thrives where it is warm and wet enough to provide surface water suitable for breeding by the mosquitoes that transmit it. For more than two decades now, scientists have suggested…

Scientists have developed a new gene editing system that could be used for anticancer immunotherapy through the simultaneous suppression of proteins that interfere with the immune system expressed on the surface of lymphoma cells and activation of cytotoxic T lymphocyte. Dr. Mihue Jang of KIST improved the CRISPR gene editing system to enable the penetration…

A new study has found that diets high in soy foods are associated with a decreased risk of osteoporotic bone fractures in pre-menopausal breast cancer survivors. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women in the United States, with 1 in 8 women diagnosed with it during their lifetime. Many treatments for breast…

Daily release of hormones depends on the coordinated activity of clocks in two parts of the brain, a finding that could have implications for human diseases. Here’s how it’s supposed to work: Your brain sends signals to your body to release different hormones at certain times of the day. For example, you get a boost…

The successful treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis requires clarification in advance as to which antibiotics the pathogens are resistant to. Classic testing is very time-consuming and delays the start of therapy. Researchers have now prepared a catalogue of all mutations in the genome of tuberculosis bacteria and on the basis of a genome sequencing can quickly…

Researchers have identified a previously unknown site on the filovirus glycoprotein to which small drug molecules can bind and prevent infection — blocking both sites may be a more effective treatment while reducing the risk of side effects. Now, researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago have identified a second site on the filovirus glycoprotein…