Medical research

Current tuberculosis infection tests struggle to detect the disease in those with HIV. A common co-infection, HIV can hide TB from traditional tests by eliminating the immune cells relied upon to sound the alarm.

A blood test might predict when multiple sclerosis patients are about to suffer a relapse in their symptoms, a new study says.

A team of researchers from Toho University has uncovered a potential new use for a naturally occurring compound, schisandrin A, found in the traditional Chinese medicinal plant Schisandra chinensis.

Some cancers and chronic inflammatory diseases are treated with immunotherapies. These stimulate the patient’s immune system to recognize and destroy tumor cells. To improve such therapies, researchers are looking for mechanisms involved in triggering an immune response.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Lund University in Sweden have identified a new treatment strategy for neuroblastoma, an aggressive form of childhood cancer. By combining two antioxidant enzyme inhibitors, they have converted cancer cells in mice into healthy nerve cells.

A research team at Toho University has revealed that ferulic acid (FA), a polyphenol abundant in rice bran, suppresses intestinal smooth muscle contractions by inhibiting voltage-dependent calcium channels. This finding may open new avenues for dietary-based strategies to manage intestinal motility disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Researchers have developed an innovative new nanopore sequencing assay to identify carriers of fragile X syndrome (FXS), the leading cause of monogenic autism spectrum disorder and inherited intellectual disabilities. The study, published in The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, addresses the urgent need for a screening tool to identify carriers of FXS in a more comprehensive, faster, efficient, and cost-effective way compared to current methods, for better informed genetic counseling.

A study published today in the journal Developmental Cell uncovers new insights into how the heart forms during the earliest stages of embryonic development.

A research team from the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), has published a study in the journal Scientific Reports proposing a method to correct selection biases in population-based cohorts. The study represents a significant step forward in improving the reliability of data derived from such studies for public health research and precision medicine.

Biomedical science in the United States is at a crossroads.