News by Subject Biology

For children--whose tiny bodies are still growing--chemotherapy and radiation treatments can cause lifelong damage. Now, scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) have reported that a targeted therapy that blocks a protein called LSD1 was able to shrink tumors in mice with a form of pediatric brain cancer known as medulloblastoma. LSD1 inhibitors are currently under evaluation in clinical trials for other cancers. The study was published in Nature Communications.

Using multiple genomic sequencing tests, TGen identified a specific non-polio enterovirus -- EV-D68 -- among at least four children, according to a study published today in the scientific journal mBio. The finding is significant because AFM cases are continuing to increase and there has been no official recognition that this disease is being caused by EV-D68, which limits the research community's ability to develop preventative measures, such as new vaccines.

An approved drug that blocks an integrated stress response shows promise in preliminary tests against ALS and frontotemporal dementia.

Advanced technologies that read long strings of DNA can produce flawed data that could affect genetic studies, research from the University of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute suggests.

Exercise can protect both muscle and nerves from damage caused by the restoration of blood flow after injury or surgery, new research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine shows.

Using a tool first used for strep throat in horses, Houston Methodist researchers unveiled the secret life of flesh-eating bacteria, learning how it causes severe disease while living deep within muscle. The team focused on necrotizing myositis. The study appears Jan. 22 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Corresponding author James M. Musser says his team now has an in-depth understanding of the precise genes group A streptococcus uses to cause this deadly infection.