New Atlas

Medical Audio available

Cancer DNA study helps uncover specific chemical causes of tumors

Rich Haridy April 15, 2019

We have known for well over a century that exposure to certain environmental agents can result in DNA mutations that ultimately cause cancer. Now a team of UK scientists has developed a way to identify specific mutational signatures in tumors that can be linked to certain carcinogens.

New research reveals specific DNA signatures of 41 different carcinogenic agents can be identified in tumors

Medical Audio available

Injecting immune stimulants turns tumors into "cancer vaccine factories"

Nick Lavars April 8, 2019

Scientists at New York's Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have made an exciting breakthrough in the realm of cancer treatment, describing a new way of supercharging the body's immune system so that it can take the upper hand and destroy tumor cells around the body.

Scientists have come up with a new way to enhance the body's immune system in its ...

Medical

Melanin injections found to highlight and hinder tumors

Michael Irving April 8, 2019

The pigment melanin is a natural defense against skin cancer – and now it could help fight other cancers too. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich and Helmholtz Zentrum München have found that melanin-loaded nanoparticles can help diagnose tumors and slow their growth.

An infrared image of a tumor injected with melanin-loaded nanoparticles (right), compared to one that had ...

Medical Audio available

Tracking the diets of cells could reveal early signs of cancer

Nick Lavars April 7, 2019

Just like the organisms they inhabit, cells require sustenance to grow and thrive. Scientists at the University of Edinburgh have developed a new diet-tracking tool that could be used to observe changes in their eating habits, which in turn may serve as telltale signs of disease.

Scientists tested out their new chemical probe, which lights up the molecules that cells eat, on ...

Science Audio available

Failed cancer drug may find second life targeting Alzheimer's and dementia

Rich Haridy March 27, 2019

A drug originally developed as a cancer treatment may be repurposed to treat a variety of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Despite proving ineffective in treating cancer, the drug is safe for humans and early mouse studies suggest it could have potential as a new dementia treatment.

An illustration showing how abnormal tau protein tangles (in orange) can accumulate and destroy neurons, resulting ...

Science Audio available

Promising new insight into how coffee compounds can inhibit prostate cancer

Rich Haridy March 17, 2019

A study has homed in on compounds in coffee that may inhibit the growth of prostate cancer. The research has only been shown in animal models at this point but the discovery may explain why several observational studies found male coffee drinkers often suffer from lower rates of prostate cancer.

Two compounds found in coffee may slow the growth of prostate cancers

Medical Audio available

Magnetic nano-probe explores individual cells from the inside

Michael Irving March 13, 2019

In future, microscopic robots could help heal us. While some of these have been capable of manipulating individual cells, researchers at the University of Toronto have developed a new way to get nanobots inside cells, and precisely control them once they’re in there.

A new nano-scale magnetic system is being developed to examine cells from the inside

Medical

Researchers developing MRI waistcoat for better breast cancer detection

Nick Lavars March 11, 2019

Researchers in Vienna are making some promising progress in the field of breast cancer detection, developing a new method that revolves around a waistcoat packed with flexible radio frequency coils.

Researchers have designed a vest packed with flexible radio coils they say will improve MRI imaging ...

Medical Audio available

MIT's "DOLPHIN" could spot tiny tumors for early cancer detection

Michael Irving March 8, 2019

The earlier cancer is detected, the better the odds of treating it, but tumors can be hard to spot until they get to a certain size, at which point it might be too late. Now MIT researchers have developed a new optical imaging system that could be used to spot tiny tumors deep inside the body.

An MIT team has developed a new method for imaging smaller fluorescent particles deep inside the ...

Medical Audio available

Stem cell treatment puts HIV into long-term remission in landmark study

Michael Irving March 4, 2019

Scientists report the “functional cure” of an HIV patient for only the second time ever. Known only as “the London patient”, the man received a transplant of bone marrow stem cells from a donor that had a resistance to the virus. The patient has now been in remission for 18 months.

Scientists are reporting the second known case of HIV remission in the world, after stem cell ...