The Party Girl, Till the End

“Is this for my obit?” The Instagram direct message came in reply to a reporter’s query to Nina Griscom. It was meant to be humorous but also not. Whip smart, potty mouthed and uncommonly direct, Ms. Griscom, 65, is a celebrated “It” girl from an earlier era. The decade in question was the 1980s, a…

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The way of making memories

How does the brain translate information from the outside world into something we remember? An international team of researchers working in the Human Brain Project have zoomed in on the neuronal circuits in the striatum, a brain structure involved in memory, behavior and reward learning. The findings, published in the PLOS Computational Biology Journal, increase…

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Vitamin D and Omega 3 supplements do not reduce risk of systemic inflammation

Vitamin D and marine omega-3 fatty acids — also known as fish oil — are purported to have many health benefits, including reducing systemic inflammation. Signals of systemic inflammation are tied to diseases of aging and obesity, including cardiovascular disease, heart failure, osteoporosis, diabetes mellitus, some cancers, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. While…

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Study provides insights on the effects of cannabidiol on severe form of epilepsy

Results from a study published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology may help explain why cannabidiol–a chemical component of marijuana with no psychoactive properties–reduces the frequency of seizures in patients with a severe form of epilepsy. The effect may be explained by a drug-drug interaction between cannabidiol and the anti-seizure medication clobazam. The form…

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Modified CRISPR gene editing tool could improve therapies for HIV, sickle cell disease

DUARTE, Calif. — City of Hope researchers may have found a way to sharpen the fastest, cheapest and most accurate gene editing technique, CRISPR-Cas9, so that it can more successfully cut out undesirable genetic information. This improved cutting ability could one day fast-track potential therapies for HIV, sickle cell disease and, potentially, other immune conditions.…

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