News

One of the key questions in biology is to identify how tissues are repaired after trauma and understand how stem cells migrate, proliferate, and differentiate to repair tissue damage. Researchers define, for the first time, the changes in the stem cell dynamics that contribute to wound healing.

The Allen Institute for Brain Science is releasing new, highly realistic computer models of neurons. The models were developed using tools and expertise from the Blue Brain Project.

Only two genome-wide significant loci associated with longevity have been identified so far, probably because of insufficient sample sizes of centenarians, whose genomes may harbor genetic variants associated with health and longevity.

We are accustomed to treating aging as a set of things that go wrong with the body. But for more than twenty years, there has been accumulating evidence that much of the process takes place under genetic control.

A new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) shows that the act of creating pluripotent stem cells for clinical use is unlikely to pass on cancer-causing mutations to patients.

A drug which appears to reverse Huntington’s disease is being trialled in humans after proving successful in monkeys and mice. The new drug, called IONIS-HTTRx, silences the gene known to be responsible for the production of a protein which causes Huntington’s.

You may have already heard about the growing problem caused by antibiotic resistance - the spread of superbugs that have evolved to become resistant to the antibiotics we usually attack them with. It's an issue that could have very serious implications for global health and disease if it isn't tackled urgently, and now researchers have made an important step in finding a solution.

Older homeless adults living in shelters have high rates of geriatric conditions, which may increase their risk for acute care use and nursing home placement. However, a minority of homeless adults stay in shelters and the prevalence of geriatric conditions among homeless adults living in other environments is unknown. We determined the prevalence of common geriatric conditions in a cohort of older homeless adults, and whether the prevalence of these conditions differs across living environments...

For the first time, scientists have discovered a connection between a cell's fat content and its lifespan, which could explain the 'obesity paradox' that's been puzzling scientists for decades: why obese people have the lowest all-cause mortality rates, whereas the rate for those who are fit and lean is higher.

TED Talk Subtitles and Transcript: Geneticist Jennifer Doudna co-invented a groundbreaking new technology for editing genes, called CRISPR-Cas9. The tool allows scientists to make precise edits to DNA strands, which could lead to treatments for genetic diseases ... but could also be used to create so-called "designer babies." Doudna reviews how CRISPR-Cas9 works -- and asks the scientific community to pause and discuss the ethics of this new tool.