UNSW researchers have identified a critical step in the molecular process that allows cells to repair damaged DNA – and it could mean big things for the future of anti-ageing drugs, childhood cancer survivors and even astronauts. Professor David Sinclair (front) and Dr Lindsay Wu (far left) with the UNSW research team. Photo: Britta Campion UNSW researchers have made a discovery that could lead to a revolutionary drug that actually reverses ageing, improves DNA repa...

A protein originally discovered at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) appears to be involved in how the body controls breathing, according to a new study led by scientists at TSRI and Harvard Medical School. The study, published in Nature, shows how the Piezo2 protein, previously shown to be the principal sensor of touch and proprioception, also plays a critical role in sensing lung expansion. “The discoveries here could provide important clues on how to treat patients with respiratory dis...

A research team led by Professors Doman Kim and Tae Sub Park of the Graduate School of International Agricultural Technology found that chicken feed including naturally fermented buckwheat increases the production of eggs by over 8%. The researchers used Rhizopus – a fungus causing the group of infections referred to as zygomycosis and usually found in decaying breads, fruits, and vegetables - to ferment the buckwheat. The team found that chickens eating the buckwheat feed laid more and larger e...

Doctors may soon be able to detect and monitor a patient’s cancer with a simple blood test, reducing or eliminating the need for more invasive procedures, according to Purdue University research. W. Andy Tao, a professor of biochemistry and member of the Purdue University Center for Cancer Research and colleagues identified a series of proteins in blood plasma that, when elevated, signify that the patient has cancer. Their findings were published in the early edition of the Proceedings of the N...

A group of University of Tokyo researchers and their collaborators identified for the first time in monkeys the neural substrate, or functional units in the nervous system, underlying the ability, known as metamemory, that enables objective self-evaluation of memory. The group also demonstrated that the neural substrate for metamemory is distinct from that for memory recollection. Metamemory is a sophisticated mental process that requires introspective evaluation of one’s own cognitive proces...

We’re just beginning to understand how the brain participates in experiences that believers interpret as spiritual, divine or transcendent,” says senior author and neuroradiologist Jeff Anderson, who also has an unpaid faculty position in the U’s bioengineering department. “In the last few years, brain imaging technologies have matured in ways that are letting us approach questions that have been around for millennia.” Specifically, the investigators set out to determine which brain networks ar...

New study by researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health showed that B vitamins may play a critical role in reducing the impact of air pollution on the epigenome, further demonstrating the epigenetic effects of air pollution on health. This is the first study to detail a course of research for developing interventions that prevent or minimize the adverse effects of air pollution on potential automatic markers. The results are published online in the journal PNAS. An e...

There is a widely held and influential view that physical activity begins to decline at adolescence. This study aimed to identify the timing of changes in physical activity during childhood and adolescence. John Reilly from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, in Scotland research study found that sedentary behaviors begin to set in shortly after the ripe old age of 7. Longitudinal cohort study (Gateshead Millennium Study) with eight years of follow-up, from Northeast England. Cohort me...

Stress response is associated with manifestations of various psychosomatic and psychiatric disorders. Hence, it is important to understand the underlying mechanisms that influence this association. Moreover, men and women tend to react differently with stress–both psychologically and biologically. These differences also need to be studied in order to have a better understanding in the gender difference observed for many disorders, which are likely to be contributed by the gender difference in...

A study led by a Massachusetts General Hospital pediatrician finds that children ages 3 to 7 who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to have problems with attention, emotional control and peer relationships in mid-childhood.  Reported online in the journal Academic Pediatrics, the study found significant differences in the responses of parents and teachers to surveys regarding executive function – which includes attention, working memory, reasoning and problem solving – and behavioral problem...

Two different studies from the Environmental Working Group examined newborn’s blood, and found over 200+ toxins in newborn’s blood! Some of these toxins were pesticides, Bisphenol A, mercury, some are known to cause cancer, and some are known to be neurotoxic. The babies were exposed in utero to these chemicals directly from the mother’s exposure. Some of these toxins can have an immediate affect, such as low birth weight. But some cause problems later in the child's life. There is a phenomenon ...