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74 stories tagged ‘National Institutes of Health’
Environment counts, Alzheimer’s research suggests
A new study led by Harvard Medical School Professor Dennis Selkoe provides specific, pre-clinical scientific evidence supporting the concept that prolonged and intensive stimulation by an enriched environment may have beneficial effects in delaying one of the key negative factors in Alzheimer’s disease.
Harvard stem cell biologists have proven that it is possible to turn one type of already differentiated neuron into another inside the brain, and their findings may have enormous implications for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.
Pill-sized device rivals endoscopy
Physicians may soon have a new way to screen patients for Barrett's esophagus, a precancerous condition usually caused by chronic exposure to stomach acid. Harvard researchers at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital have developed an imaging system enclosed in a capsule about the size of a multivitamin pill that creates detailed, microscopic images of the esophageal wall.
In a study from Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital, researchers used a novel method to identify the new heart cells and describe their origins.
Patricia A. King, the Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law, Medicine, Ethics, and Public Policy at Georgetown Law Center, plans to step down from the Harvard Corporation at the end of December, the University announced today.
Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have created more than 100 3-D nanostructures using DNA building blocks that function like Lego bricks — a major advance from the two-dimensional structures the same team built a few months ago.
Scientist and Princeton University President Shirley Tilghman argued for a new approach to teaching science to college students, introducing it earlier in the learning process.
New way to model human disease
Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have mimicked pulmonary edema in a microchip lined by living human cells. They used this “lung-on-a-chip” to study drug toxicity and identify potential new therapies to prevent this life-threatening condition.
Geneticist Elaine Ostrander runs a comparative-genomics lab that examines dog DNA to understand better the traits that might aid understanding of human diseases.
Aspirin’s impact on colorectal cancer
Harvard researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute find that aspirin therapy can extend the life of colorectal cancer patients whose tumors carry a mutation in a key gene, but it has no effect on patients who lack the mutation.
Link found between ALS and SMA
Scientists have long known the main proteins that lead to the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), respectively. Now research shows that these two motor neuron diseases likely share a pathway that leads to the development of disease.
Stem cells need recovery time, too
A new study describes the mechanism behind impaired muscle repair during aging and a strategy that may help rejuvenate aging tissue by manipulating the environment in which muscle stem cells reside.
Pain relievers increase hearing loss risk
According to a study by researchers at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital, women who took ibuprofen or acetaminophen two or more days per week had an increased risk of hearing loss.
Merging the biological, electronic
For the first time, Harvard scientists have created a type of cyborg tissue by embedding a 3-D network of functional, biocompatible, nanoscale wires into engineered human tissues.
Artificial jellyfish swims in a heartbeat
A team of researchers at Harvard University and the California Institute of Technology has turned inanimate silicon and living cardiac muscle cells into a freely swimming “jellyfish.”
Personalized medicine closer to reality
A consortium of scientists at 20 institutions, led by a principal faculty member at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, has used stem cells to take a major step toward developing personalized medicine to treat Parkinson’s disease.
A fond look back at the memorable events of Harvard's 375th year.
Thinking about health as an investor might
A “proof-of-concept” study that applies financial portfolio theory to federal life science research funding shows that potentially significant gains are available by altering the allocation of funding by the National Institutes of Health.
When good cholesterol goes bad
A new study by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers has found that a subclass of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, the so-called good cholesterol, may not protect against coronary heart disease (CHD) and in fact may be harmful.
MGH’s Herbert Benson, author of “The Relaxation Response,” says that the methods outlined in his book can create genetic changes in irritable bowel syndrome sufferers, and with further study might be used to treat other ailments.
Two Harvard pediatric cancer researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) and a scientist at Columbia University Medical Center have each received $100,000 Bridge Grants from a private foundation seeking to help make up for declining federal biomedical research funding.
Exploring roots of hunger, eating behaviors
Synaptic plasticity — the ability of the synaptic connections between the brain’s neurons to change and modify over time — has been shown to be a key to memory formation and the acquisition of new learning behaviors. Now research reveals that the neural circuits controlling hunger and eating behaviors are also controlled by plasticity.
Reaping benefits of exercise minus the sweat
A team led by researchers at Harvard-affiliated Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has isolated a natural hormone from muscle cells that triggers some of the key health benefits of exercise.
Slowing neurodegeneration in Huntington’s
Harvard researchers have found a treatment that increases brain levels of an important regulatory enzyme may slow the loss of brain cells that characterizes Huntington's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.
Traumatic injury sets off a ‘genomic storm’
Harvard researchers are among a nationwide team that has found serious traumatic injuries, including major burns, set off a "genomic storm" in human immune cells, altering around 80 percent of the cells' normal gene expression patterns.
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