I was sitting inside the dark, yak-hair tent of a nomad family in Ladakh, in the Indian Himalaya. Outside, some scruffy sheep searched for greenery among the cold and barren moonscape, and large raptors circled in the thermals. As we huddled around the hearth, the old man handed me a small glass of salty, yak-butter…
In the development of disease treatments, the stage between basic research and advanced clinical trials is known as “the valley of death.” While ample public grants fund early-stage research and pharmaceutical companies are willing to fund studies on proven solutions, research at the “translational” stage, when basic findings are applied to potential treatments, is notoriously…
Like many people who struggle to control their drinking, Andy Mathisen tried a lot of ways to cut back. He attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, went to a rehab center for alcohol abuse, and tried using willpower to stop himself from binge drinking. But nothing seemed to work. This past year, with the stress of the…
Washing one’s hands after using the bathroom is a universal recommendation, for good reasons. It’s been shown to reduce the incidence of diarrhea by as much as 40 percent. The coronavirus can be transferred through stool, and a single gram of human feces can contain a trillion germs. Chances are your parents and teachers taught…
Listen? Do you hear that? It is the intake of breath after thousands of women’s fashion prayers are finally answered. Phoebe Philo, the patron saint of dressing for the female gaze, the designer whose work convinced Joan Didion to pose for an ad and turned her customers into groupies, is returning to business. On her…
IMAGE: In a mouse model study of MRI-guided focused ultrasound-induced blood-brain barrier (BBB) opening at MRI field strengths ranging from approximately 0 T (outside the magnetic field) to 4.7 T, the… view more Credit: Washington University in St. Louis MRI-guided focused ultrasound combined with microbubbles can open the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and allow therapeutic drugs to…
Children with a devastating genetic disorder characterized by severe motor disability and developmental delay have experienced sometimes dramatic improvements in a gene therapy trial launched at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals. The trial includes seven children aged 4 to 9 born with deficiency of AADC, an enzyme involved in the synthesis of neurotransmitters, particularly dopamine, that…
IMAGE: The iconic glasswing butterfly, Greta morgane oto, is a member of the Ithomiini butterfly tribe that is native to Central America and Mexico. view more Credit: Nipam Patel Butterflies and moths have beautiful wings: the bright flare of an orange monarch, the vivid stripes of a swallowtail, the luminous green of a Luna moth. But…
IMAGE: Normal liver tissues (left) do not produce mesothelin, while liver tissue from patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis do (right, darker staining). Mesothelin is a marker of liver fibrosis, and the… view more Credit: UC San Diego Health Sciences Chronic alcohol abuse and hepatitis can injure the liver and lead to fibrosis, the buildup of collagen…
Having a home near a busy airport certainly has its perks. It is close to many establishments and alleviates the problem of wading through endless traffic to catch flights. But it does come at a cost — tolerating the jarring sounds of commercial airplanes during landing and takeoff. Researchers at Texas A&M University have conducted…