Medical science has come a long way from tribal shaman dispensing herbs and roots. Having already cured many diseases and conditions that were once a death sentence, medical researchers continue to strive to help us live longer and healthier lives. Great advances are being made in regrowing damaged organs, turning back our biological clocks, and the big one – finding a cure for cancer.
In future, the Three Blind Mice might be able to avoid running into the farmer’s wife. In a study, scientists managed to restore vision in mice born with congenital blindness, using gene therapy to reprogram base retinal cells into functioning rod photoreceptors.
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"Giant” cancer cells contribute to many of the disease’s most dangerous abilities, but they remain relatively unstudied. Now, researchers from Brown University have investigated these troublemakers, revealing some physical characteristics that could eventually unlock new forms of treatment.
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A new study from scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the University of Bath has uncovered the first biological mechanism that could potentially explain how cannabis reduces intestinal inflammation.
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Could the stethoscope be on its way to becoming a quaint instrument from yesteryear? Well, maybe. German scientists are reporting success in using radar to monitor people's heartbeats – and the technology could allow for more accurate diagnoses of heart maladies.
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While there are already surgical training systems that use VR headsets to "place" students in an interactive computer-generated operating room, a new simulator goes a step further. It incorporates haptic feedback, allowing users to actually feel the pressure exerted by digital tissue.
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A new kind of genome analysis has been developed that combines a large volume of different genetic variants into a single polygenic risk score that can determine how likely a person is to develop a number of common diseases, including coronary artery disease and inflammatory bowel disease.
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Infectious bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to our best antibiotics. Now researchers at BIDMC have found that combining two antibiotics that no longer work can create a treatment that’s once again effective against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
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Twenty years after the breakthrough discovery illustrating how RNA interference can be used to silence certain genes, and over a decade after the research won a Nobel prize, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first drug utilizing this method for adult clinical treatment.
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An exciting breakthrough has revealed a new hypothesis behind the cause of glaucoma, a common degenerative eye disease. The study found a high number of T-cells present in the retinas of those suffering from the disease, suggesting the condition may have a previously undetected autoimmune cause.
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Researchers at the University of Minnesota have designed a silicone device, covered in 3D-printed neuronal stem cells, that can be implanted into a spinal injury. There it grows new connections between remaining nerves to let patients regain some motor control.
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