Medical research

Protein linked to intellectual disability has complex role

Fragile X syndrome, the leading inherited cause of intellectual disability, is due to a genetic mutation that largely eliminates the fragile X protein, a critical element of normal brain development and function.

Neuroscience

Nerve stimulation with the help of implantable mini solar cells

An international research team has successfully developed and tested a concept in which nerves are stimulated with light pulses. The method provides considerable advantages for medicine and opens up a wide range of possible ...

Neuroscience

Using pulsed magnetic fields to fight neurodegenerative diseases

In motor neuron diseases of the nervous system, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commands can no longer be sent to the muscles. This gradually leads to paralysis. Physicist Dr. Thomas Herrmannsdörfer from the ...

Medical research

Engineers harness muscle power for healing

Bioengineers have developed biocompatible generators that create electrical pulses when compressed by body motions. The generators are made up of self-assembling "piezoelectric wafers" which can be made rapidly and inexpensively ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Understanding the spread of infectious diseases

Scientists worldwide have been working feverishly on research into infectious diseases in the wake of the global outbreak of the COVID-19 disease, caused by the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. This concerns not only virologists, ...

Immunology

What protects killer immune cells from harming themselves?

White blood cells, which release a toxic potion of proteins to kill cancerous and virus-infected cells, are protected from any harm by the physical properties of their cell envelopes, find scientists from UCL and the Peter ...

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