Harvard Medical School

Endothelium, heal thyself: A fresh look at this resilient, adaptable tissue

(Medical Xpress)—The endothelium, the cellular layer lining the body's blood vessels, is extremely resilient. Measuring just a few hundred nanometers in thickness, this super-tenuous structure routinely ...

Medical research created May 16, 2013 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

New cancer driver found: Monoclonal antibody therapy stops tumor growth in mice

(Medical Xpress)—Approximately 90 percent of cancers start within tissues that form the inner linings of various organs. Decades of accumulated genetic mutations can, on occasion, induce cells specialized ...

Cancer created May 08, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New study validates longevity pathway: Findings identify universal mechanism for activating anti-aging pathway

A new study demonstrates what researchers consider conclusive evidence that the red wine compound resveratrol directly activates a protein that promotes health and longevity in animal models. What's more, the researchers ...

Medical research created Mar 07, 2013 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (20) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

World's most advanced genetic map created

A consortium led by scientists at the University of Oxford and Harvard Medical School has constructed the world's most detailed genetic map.

Genetics created Jul 20, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Researchers rebuild the brain's circuitry

Neuron transplants have repaired brain circuitry and substantially normalized function in mice with a brain disorder, an advance indicating that key areas of the mammalian brain are more reparable than was ...

Neuroscience created Nov 24, 2011 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (20) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

New clue to Parkinson's: Shape of key protein surprises researchers

A new study finds that a protein key to Parkinson's disease has likely been mischaracterized. The protein, alpha-synuclein, appears to have a radically different structure in healthy cells than previously thought, challenging ...

Medical research created Aug 14, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (17) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Millions pass up free health subsidy

Millions of seniors are turning down free money. The Low Income Subsidy for Medicare Part D is a rare beast in economics research. The subsidy provides prescription drug coverage essentially free for low-income adults. That ...

Health created May 06, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Bacterial genes tell the tale of an outbreak's evolution

Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston have retraced the evolution of an unusual bacterial infection as it spread among cystic fibrosis patients by sequencing scores of samples collected during ...

Genetics created Nov 13, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Fight control: Researchers link individual neurons to regulation of aggressive behavior in flies

(Medical Xpress)—Scientists have long pondered the roots of aggression—and ways to temper it. Now, new research is beginning to illuminate the cellular-level circuitry responsible for modulating aggression ...

Neuroscience created Apr 19, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

A new wrinkle for botox: Research reveals how botulinum toxins affect neuron survival

(Medical Xpress)—Botulinum toxins are feared as a food poison and bioterror threat, and for good reason. It takes only minute amounts of these bacterial toxins to block signals from nerve cells that control ...

Medical research created Mar 27, 2013 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Learning from Lassa virus: Researchers discover gene mutations that can result in a congenital disorder

(Medical Xpress)—Researchers have known that two seemingly distant human maladies—a devastating set of hereditary disorders called Walker-Warburg syndrome and infection with the virus that causes hemorrhagic ...

Medical research created Mar 22, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Genetic mutation implicated in 'broken' heart

For decades, researchers have sought a genetic explanation for idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a weakening and enlargement of the heart that puts an estimated 1.6 million Americans at risk of heart failure each year. ...

Genetics created Feb 15, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

First animal model of recent human evolution

The first animal model of recent human evolution reveals that a single mutation produced several traits common in East Asian peoples, from thicker hair to denser sweat glands, an international team of researchers reports.

Genetics created Feb 14, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

For our guts, not just any microbiome will do

Gut bacteria's key role in immunity is tuned to the host species, researchers have found, suggesting that the superabundant microbes lining our digestive tract evolved with us—a tantalizing clue in the mysterious recent ...

Medical research created Jun 21, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Ills of aging blood: Short-circuited stem cell programming linked to failing blood development

As blood stem cells age, changes in the epigenome—the system that regulates which genes are switched on and which are switched off throughout the body—alter these cells in ways that lead to reduced immune ...

Medical research created Feb 15, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast