A protein that is necessary for the formation of the vertebrate brain has been identified by researchers at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) and Boston Children’s Hospital, in collaboration with scientists from Oxford and Rio de Janeiro.
A new study shows that the teeth of early hominins grew unlike those of either modern humans or apes, suggesting that neither can serve as a useful proxy for estimating the age or developmental progression of juvenile fossils.
The Ebola epidemic is waning, but experts at a Harvard Medical School conference said the fight against the disease should be carried on until the last patient is cured, until more is known about the virus, and until local health care systems are robust enough to withstand another outbreak.
An assistant professor of evolutionary biology, Katie Hinde is also the creator of Mammal March Madness, a tournament that emulates the college basketball playoffs and pits species against each other in simulated combat.
Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers at McLean Hospital have taken what they describe as an important step toward using the implantation of stem cell-generated neurons as a treatment for Parkinson’s disease.
Collaborating with scientists elsewhere, Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers have devised two methods for using stem cells to generate the type of neurons that help regulate behavioral and basic physiological functions in the human body, such as obesity and hypertension, sleep, mood, and some social disorders.
Researchers have identified a group of neurons in the brain. The role of this cell type, in a region of the brain important for “waking up the cortex,” had not been previously identified. It may suggest potential therapies for disorders like schizophrenia.
In the wake of the recent measles outbreak, a panel of experts convened at Harvard Law School to discuss the ethical, legal, and public health issues around vaccination.
Targeting mechanisms in the central nervous system might yield the beneficial effects of low-calorie diets on healthy aging without the need to alter food intake, suggests new research from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Using the principle of natural selection, researchers have outlined a new model of the disease suggesting that mitochondria — power plants for cells — might be at its center.
Anti-malaria efforts have made progress in recent years, but authorities have to keep up the pressure if they are to defeat an illness that is not only ancient, but resilient, speakers at Harvard said.
Harvard Professor Walter Willett underlined the distinction between dietary and blood cholesterol, and stressed whole foods rather than any single nutrient as key to a healthy diet.
Researchers call the notion that obesity is driven by either personal choice or the environment a false dichotomy, and suggest that these competing perspectives be merged to show the reciprocal relationship between the individual and the places he or she lives and eats.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women in the United States, deadlier than all forms of cancer combined. The good news is that up to 90 percent of heart disease may be preventable.
Dyann Wirth, chair of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, discusses what’s behind the resurgence of measles in the United States.
A Harvard endocrinologist was senior author on a study pinpointing the precise high blood pressure level and critical time when intervening was tied to a decrease in the risk of death.
The fossilized hipbone of an ape called Sivapithecus is raising a host of new questions about whether the upright body plan of apes may have evolved multiple times.
Harvard faculty and researchers are using big data to answer society’s most challenging questions, and doing it with the help of FAS Research Computing (FASRC). Founded in 2007, FASRC had one goal: to provide Harvard faculty, students, and staff with leading-edge computational resources.
A new study by investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute demonstrates that vitamin D can protect some people with colorectal cancer by perking up the immune system’s vigilance against tumor cells.
Harvard-affiliated researchers have provided a see-through zebrafish and enhanced imaging that offer the first direct glimpse of how blood stem cells take root in the body to generate blood.
Harvard researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital have uncovered a way to enhance and prolong the therapeutic effects of mesenchymal stem cells in a preclinical model of Type 1 diabetes.
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