Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Evaluating a new way to open clogged arteries

Over the past few decades, scientists have developed many devices that can reopen clogged arteries, including angioplasty balloons and metallic stents. While generally effective, each of these treatments ...

Cardiology created May 21, 2013 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Neurons that can multitask greatly enhance the brain's computational power, study finds

Over the past few decades, neuroscientists have made much progress in mapping the brain by deciphering the functions of individual neurons that perform very specific tasks, such as recognizing the location ...

Neuroscience created May 20, 2013 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (12) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Study IDs key protein for cell death, offers way to kill cancer cells by forcing them into programmed-death pathway

When cells suffer too much DNA damage, they are usually forced to undergo programmed cell death, or apoptosis. However, cancer cells often ignore these signals, flourishing even after chemotherapy drugs have ...

Genetics created May 14, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (9) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study identifies influenza viruses circulating in pigs and birds that could pose a risk to humans

In the summer of 1968, a new strain of influenza appeared in Hong Kong. This strain, known as H3N2, spread around the globe and eventually killed an estimated 1 million people.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created May 10, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study finds health insurance helps lower-income Americans avoid depression, diabetes, major financial shocks

Enrollment in Medicaid helps lower-income Americans overcome depression, get proper treatment for diabetes, and avoid catastrophic medical bills, but does not appear to reduce the prevalence of diabetes, high blood pressure ...

Health created May 03, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Decoding 'noisy' language in daily life: Study shows how people rationally interpret linguistic input

Suppose you hear someone say, "The man gave the ice cream the child." Does that sentence seem plausible? Or do you assume it is missing a word? Such as: "The man gave the ice cream to the child."

Psychology & Psychiatry created Apr 29, 2013 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 7 | with audio podcast

Expert discusses how BRAIN Initiative will affect neuroscience

Mapping the human brain, with its billions of neurons, is one of science's most elusive projects. But a new federal program—the $100 million Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative ...

Neuroscience created Apr 24, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Study reveals linguistic deficits behind autistic children's difficulties understanding other people

One of the defining characteristics of autism is difficulty communicating with others. However, it is unclear whether those struggles arise only from the poor social skills commonly associated with autism, ...

Autism spectrum disorders created Apr 23, 2013 | popularity 4 / 5 (4) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

A different view of cancer cells: New study measures physical changes in tumor cells as they become metastatic

Most cancer deaths are caused by metastatic tumors, which break free from the original cancer site and spread throughout the body. For that to happen, cancer cells must undergo many genetic and physical changes.

Cancer created Apr 23, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

In the earliest stages of arthritis, high-impact exercise may worsen cartilage damage, study finds

Osteoarthritis, which affects at least 20 percent of adults in the United States, leads to deterioration of cartilage, the rubbery tissue that prevents bones from rubbing together. By studying the molecular properties of ...

Arthritis & Rheumatism created Apr 17, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Researchers decipher molecular basis of bone's remarkable strength and resiliency

The bones that support our bodies are made of remarkably complex arrangements of materials—so much so that decoding the precise structure responsible for their great strength and resilience has eluded scientists' ...

Medical research created Apr 17, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Research advances therapy to protect against dengue virus

Nearly half of the world's population is at risk of infection by the dengue virus, yet there is no specific treatment for the disease. Now a therapy to protect people from the virus could finally be a step ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Apr 08, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study reveals how melanoma evades chemotherapy

Nitric oxide (NO), a gas with many biological functions in healthy cells, can also help some cancer cells survive chemotherapy. A new study from MIT reveals one way in which this resistance may arise, and ...

Cancer created Apr 08, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Measuring enzyme levels in cancer patients may reveal healthy cells' ability to survive chemotherapy

New research from MIT may allow scientists to develop a test that can predict the severity of side effects of some common chemotherapy agents in individual patients, allowing doctors to tailor treatments ...

Genetics created Apr 05, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study offers new way to discover HIV vaccine targets

Decades of research and three large-scale clinical trials have so far failed to yield an effective HIV vaccine, in large part because the virus evolves so rapidly that it can evade any vaccine-induced immune response.

HIV & AIDS created Mar 21, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast