Blood

Studies are starting to demonstrate how one day we might be able to check the time of our body clock through a simple blood test, and a team at the University of Colorado Boulder has now put forward a promising new technique called "metabolomics."

During surgery or traumatic injury, quickly stopping bleeding saves lives. Now, scientists have recruited an unlikely ally to that cause – snake venom, which forms the basis of a new “super glue” that halts bleeding in seconds after light activation.

New research from the Stanford University School of Medicine and the Buck Institute for Research on Aging is demonstrating a new tool that can calculate a person’s immune system age, which could help predict frailty and disease before symptoms appear.

Researchers believe they have found evidence indicating excess production of a neurotransmitter in the liver could be a causal factor in the onset of insulin resistance. The discovery points to preventative treatments for type 2 diabetes.

A study is reporting a blood-based biomarker can detect the presence of 13 neurodegenerative disorders, from dementia to motor neuron disease, and determine whether those with depression are suffering from the early stages of neurodegenerative disease.

A new study, claimed to be the most comprehensive of its type, has demonstrated how concentrations of certain proteins in the blood might indicate the onset of Alzheimer's far in advance, and has pinpointed one that may even help trigger it.

Impressive new research has discovered a set of biomarkers that can predict when a pregnant woman will go into labor several weeks in advance. The breakthrough findings are hoped to be translated into a predictive blood test within the next few years.

Researchers are closer to an objective blood test for mood disorders, with a new study describing a panel of blood-based biomarkers that can distinguish between depression and bipolar disorder, and measure the future risk of developing these conditions.

Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed an intriguing new way to fight cancer by combining two types of experimental therapies. Their secret ingredient is creating a feedback loop using modified blood platelets.

A clinical trial run by the NIH exploring the efficacy of convalescent plasma in treating mild to moderate COVID-19 patients has been halted. In a similar conclusion to prior trials, the once-promising treatment was deemed unlikely to be of any benefit.

Heart failure often requires a transplant of the whole organ. Now scientists at EPFL have developed an artificial aorta that can help pump blood, taking some of the pressure off the heart to reduce or even eliminate the need for a transplant.

Like weeds that grow back if you don’t remove the roots, cancer can keep returning thanks to stem cells. A new “designer” DNA molecule eradicates these cancer stem cells, with tests in mice showing promising early results in preventing relapse.