Researchers have shown that commensal microbes in the mouth, in contrast to commensal microbes colonizing other body surfaces, e.g., the gut or skin, modulate immune responses in the jaw bone that promote bone-resorbing osteoclasts and bone loss. In a preclinical model, depleting healthy commensal microbes in the mouth, using an antiseptic oral rinse, was shown…

Humans and animals are made up of trillions of cells, and each cell contains DNA specific to that individual. Therefore, identifying DNA that causes genetic disorders gives researchers and clinicians a better understanding of how to treat inherited diseases and possibly prevent the diseases from being passed down to future generations. Now, researchers at the…

Faulty DNA damage repair can lead to many types of cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and other serious disorders. Investigators have developed high-throughput microscopy and machine learning systems that can identify and classify DNA repair factors. The investigators have identified nine previously unknown factors involved in the process of cellular DNA repair. The DNA that lies tightly…

The CDC estimates more than 2.8 million Americans experience antibiotic-resistant infections each year. To address this critical issue, researchers recently investigated whether a series of novel nanoparticles can kill some pathogens that lead to infection without affecting healthy cells. To address this critical and worldwide public health issue, a team of researchers led by Hongjun…

The bacterium Vibrio cholerae is the causative agent of the diarrheal disease cholera and is responsible for seven known pandemics. The seventh cholera pandemic began in 1961 and is still active. Unlike previous pandemics, it is caused by cholera strains of a slightly different type. How did the modified cholera strains develop and spread, and…

Researchers have developed a technology, heteroduplex oligonucleotide (HDO), that silences certain genes whose high expression levels fuel disease. Adding a specific molecular tag allowed them to target the HDO to immune cells called lymphocytes safely and efficiently. Doing so with an HDO specific to a gene called Itga4 improved symptoms in a mouse model of…

Dairy cows, exposed for a few years to drinking water contaminated with heavy metals, carry more pathogens loaded with antimicrobial-resistance genes able to tolerate and survive various antibiotics. That’s the finding of a team of researchers that conducted a study of two dairy herds in Brazil four years after a dam holding mining waste ruptured,…

Screening is important for the early detection of cervical cancer, but rates were significantly affected, in some areas for years, following a devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan. «Conflicts and disasters, and the social isolation that often follows, have a major impact on healthcare and lead to delays in the diagnosis and treatment of cancers,»…

A team of student researchers has discovered human microRNA genes not shared with any other primate species and which may have played an important role in the unique evolution of the human species. The students found at least three families of microRNA genes on chromosome 21. The team utilized genome alignment tools to compare the…

Our DNA is very similar to that of the chimpanzee, which in evolutionary terms is our closest living relative. Stem cell researchers have now found a previously overlooked part of our DNA, so-called non-coded DNA, that appears to contribute to a difference which, despite all our similarities, may explain why our brains work differently. The…