Medical research

New clue helps explain how brown fat burns energy

The body contains two types of fat cells, easily distinguished by color: White and brown. While white fat serves to store excess calories until they're needed by the body, brown adipocytes actually burn fat by turning it ...

Genetics

Language-related gene responsible for branching of neurons

(Medical Xpress) -- Which genetic mutations enabled the evolution of language? The foxp2 gene plays an important role in language development. Simon E. Fisher at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, ...

Neuroscience

How mom's immune system is linked to autism risk

(Medical Xpress)—Activating a mother's immune system during her pregnancy disrupts the development of neural cells in the brain of her offspring and damages the cells' ability to transmit signals and communicate with one ...

Genetics

Shedding light on genetic switches

A new study by basic science researchers in the Department of Basic Science and Craniofacial Biology at New York University College of Dentistry (NYUCD) sought to understand how gene expression is initiated in the notochord, ...

Diabetes

Key protein accelerates diabetes in two ways

The same protein tells beta cells in the pancreas to stop making insulin and then to self-destruct as diabetes worsens, according to a University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) study published online today in the journal ...

Medical research

Treating obesity via brain glucose sensing

The past two decades have witnessed an epidemic spread of obesity-related diseases in Western countries. Elucidating the biological mechanism that links overnutrition to obesity could prove crucial in reducing obesity levels. ...

Diabetes

Researchers discover two subtypes of insulin-producing cells

A team led by Van Andel Institute and Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics scientists has identified two distinct subtypes of insulin-producing beta cells, or ß cells, each with crucial characteristics that ...

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