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4 days ago | 
labroots.com | Carmen Leitch
Bioluminescent reactions, where light is emitted from a living being, have a lot of potential applications in biomedical research and diagnostics. Many assays already exist that depend on luciferase, the natural enzyme responsible for many bioluminescent reactions.
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4 days ago | 
labroots.com | Carmen Leitch
The brain is shielded from many substances by the blood-brain barrier, but this shield is not impenetrable. There are immune cells in the brain called microglia that can respond to potential invaders in the brain, but there is a lot we don't know about how the adaptive immune system, which can 'remember' previous infections and respond accordingly, functions in the brain. Scientists have now shown that there are cells of the adaptive immune system in the brains of healthy mice and humans.
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5 days ago | 
labroots.com | Carmen Leitch
Researchers have developed a gene editing strategy that could repair the genetic problems that lead to Huntington's disease and Friedreich's ataxia. These disorders arise because of abnormal repeats of three letters, or bases, in certain parts of DNA. These repeats grow longer over time and eventually cause the death of neurons in the brain in Huntington's, and neuron degeneration in Friedreich's ataxia.
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5 days ago | 
labroots.com | Carmen Leitch
The Zika virus, which is mostly transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, emerged around 2007 to cause infections around the world, primarily in Asia, the Americas, and Pacific nations. There was a massive outbreak of Zika in Brazil in 2015, but the infection has largely declined since 2017. There are still outbreaks and infections in endemic regions, however.
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6 days ago | 
labroots.com | Carmen Leitch
There are probably around 20,000 genes in the human genome that code for protein, and cells have to transcribe DNA sequences into RNA, which is then processed before it is translated into proteins by the cellular machinery. Part of that processing involved the removal of introns, which are portions of gene sequences that have to be spliced out before being translated into protein. Errors in splicing can lead to serious health problems.
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1 week ago | 
labroots.com | Carmen Leitch
2025 has already been an above average year for tornadoes, which have had significant and deadly impacts in many communities in the United States.
The strongest tornadoes:
Tornadoes are usually destructive and dangerous, but the strongest on the Enhanced-Fujita scale: EF4 or EF5 are also called violent. These tornadoes generate winds over 166 miles per hpur (267kph) and can toss cars, sweep solid homes from their foundations, and devastate structures.
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1 week ago | 
labroots.com | Carmen Leitch
When scientists genetically engineered mice so that they could not generate an amino acid called cysteine, and then fed the mice a diet without any cysteine in it, the mice lost 30% of their body weight in one week. This study has suggested that the loss of cysteine interferes with metabolic pathways in mammals, so that instead of using food to generate energy, the body starts burning fat stores in an attempt to supply the body with energy. The findings have been reported in Nature.
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1 week ago | 
labroots.com | Carmen Leitch
After reviewing data from surveillance sites and reported to the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS), the World Health Organization (WHO),, has warned that the activity of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is rising globally. The test positivity rate is about 11%. Experts have noted, however, that most people are no longer testing so it is likely that there are more infected people than we know right now.
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1 week ago | 
labroots.com | Carmen Leitch
Researchers have discovered that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, may be changing crucial white blood cells called neutrophils so that instead of working to destroy pathogens, they instead disrupt the activity of other immune cells that are battling the virus. This National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded work may help explain how severe COVID can arise. The findings have been reported in Science Translational Medicine.
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1 week ago | 
labroots.com | Carmen Leitch
Scientists and clinicians still have a lot to learn about how sex differences impact human diseases, such as how they can cause variations in symptoms, outcomes, and treatment efficacy. To shed some light on this mysterious topic, researchers compared the expression of proteins in males and females, and in hundreds of disease states, using data from the UK Biobank. The findings have been reported in Nature Communications.
