Like many women during the pandemic, Alisa Stephens found working from home to be a series of wearying challenges. Dr. Stephens is a biostatistician at the University of Pennsylvania, and the technical and detail-oriented nature of her work requires long uninterrupted stretches of thought. Finding the time and mental space for that work with two…
Screaming can save lives. Non-human primates and other mammalian species frequently use scream-like calls when embroiled in social conflicts or to signal the presence of predators and other threats. While humans also scream to signal danger or communicate aggression, they scream when experiencing strong emotions such as despair or joy as well. However, past studies…
Scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute for Research demonstrated the potential of a novel blood test for cathepsin B, a well-studied protein important to brain development and function, as an indicator for a range of disease states. Cathepsin B plays an important role in the body, regulating the metabolism, immune responses, degradation of improperly…
It cannot be denied that, over the past few decades, the miniaturization of electronic devices has taken huge strides. Today, after pocket-size smartphones that could put old desktop computers to shame and a plethora of options for wireless connectivity, there is a particular type of device whose development has been steadily advancing: wearable biosensors. These…
Researchers from North Carolina State University have found a way to fine-tune the molecular assembly line that creates antibiotics via engineered biosynthesis. The work could allow scientists to improve existing antibiotics as well as design new drug candidates quickly and efficiently. Bacteria – such as E. coli – harness biosynthesis to create molecules that are…
University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers have shown that psilocybin–the active chemical in “magic mushrooms”– still works its antidepressant-like actions, at least in mice, even when the psychedelic experience is blocked. The new findings suggest that psychedelic drugs work in multiple ways in the brain and it may be possible to deliver the…
Human non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a little-understood condition that significantly increases the risk of inflammation, fibrosis and liver cancer and ultimately requires liver transplant. “NAFLD has been difficult to study mainly because we had no good animal model,” said corresponding author Dr. Karl-Dimiter Bissig, who was at Baylor during the development of this…
LOWELL, Mass. – UMass Lowell experts on the COVID-19 virus, NASA’s research on Mars and efforts to bring a more diverse workforce to science-related fields will share their insights on these topics as part of a free event series open to the public this week. “Spring into Science: A Celebration of Discovery, Innovation and Education…
A study done in rooms where COVID-19 patients were isolated shows that the virus’s RNA – part of the genetic material inside a virus – can persist up to a month in dust. The study did not evaluate whether dust can transmit the virus to humans. It could, however, offer another option for monitoring COVID-19…
Researchers have identified molecular signatures of the aging process in mice, publishing their results today in the open-access eLife journal. Their analyses provide one of the most comprehensive characterisations of the molecular signatures of aging across diverse types of cells from different tissues in a mammal, and will aid future studies on aging and related…