A new study employing ancient human DNA reveals how tuberculosis has affected European populations over the past 2,000 years, specifically the impact that disease has had on the human genome. This work has implications for studying not only evolutionar…
Study reveals details of immune defense guidance system
At the beginning of an immune response, a molecule known to mobilize immune cells into the bloodstream, where they home in on infection sites, rapidly shifts position, a new study shows. Researchers say this indirectly amplifies the attack on foreign m…
Tackling tumors with two types of virus
An international research group led by the University of Basel has developed a promising strategy for therapeutic cancer vaccines. Using two different viruses as vehicles, they administered specific tumor components in experiments on mice with cancer i…
Key steps discovered in production of critical immune cell
Researchers have uncovered a process cells use to fight off infection and cancer that could pave the way for precision cancer immunotherapy treatment. Through gaining a better understanding of how this process works, researchers hope to be able to dete…
COVID-19 can kill heart muscle cells, interfere with contraction
A new study provides evidence that COVID-19 patients’ heart damage is caused by the virus invading and replicating inside heart muscle cells, leading to cell death and interfering with heart muscle contraction. The researchers used stem cells to engine…
Bitter receptor involved in anti-inflammatory effect of resveratrol?
At least in cell-based test systems, the plant compound resveratrol has anti-inflammatory properties. A recent collaborative study has now shown that the bitter receptor TAS2R50 is involved in this effect.
Swapping alpha cells for beta cells to treat diabetes
Blocking cell receptors for glucagon, the counter-hormone to insulin, cured mouse models of diabetes by converting glucagon-producing cells into insulin producers instead, a team reports in a new study. The findings could offer a new way to treat both …
Future of immunotherapy could be ‘off-the-shelf’ treatments
Scientists argue that emerging protein-based immunotherapies could lead to highly effective ‘off-the-shelf’ cancer treatments for more patients.
New algorithm identifies ‘escaping’ cells in single-cell CRISPR screens
A team of researchers has developed a new computational tool to help understand the function and regulation of human genes.
Could our immune system be why COVID-19 is so deadly?
By analyzing over 5,000 scientific studies to find those containing immune response data from patients, researchers show that SARS-CoV-2 has a unique tendency of halting the rise of specific cytokines in certain patients, when compared to other similar…