Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: health – Page 19

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and their collaborators have discovered a new way in which RAS genes, which are commonly mutated in cancer, may drive tumor growth beyond their well-known role in signaling at the cell surface.

Mutant RAS, they found, helps to kick off a series of events involving the transport of specific nuclear proteins that lead to uncontrolled , according to a study published November 11, 2024, in Nature Cancer.

RAS are the second most frequently mutated genes in cancer, and mutant RAS proteins are key drivers of some of the deadliest cancers, including nearly all , half of colorectal cancers, and one-third of lung cancers.

Read more | >

Microorganisms—bacteria, viruses and other tiny life forms—may drive biological variation in visible life as much, if not more, than genetic mutations, creating new lineages and even new species of animals and plants, according to Seth Bordenstein, director of Penn State’s One Health Microbiome Center, professor of biology and entomology, and the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Endowed Chair in Microbiome Sciences.

Bordenstein and 21 other scientists from around the world published a paper in Science, summarizing research that they said drives a deeper understanding of biological variation by uniting life’s seen and unseen realms.

The authors explained that this newly described concept—holobiont —underpins a multidisciplinary and holistic understanding of how life’s forms and functions, from human disease to , depend upon the relationships between microorganisms and their hosts. Penn State News spoke with Bordenstein about the paper and the emerging field of holobiont biology.

Read more | >

Artificial intelligence holds the potential to bring a commercial and economic rebirth for the United States and its allies. Yet the U.S. Congress is getting skittish. Its leaders are reportedly negotiating a lame-duck bill to regulate the AI industry.

As officials push and prod on the new technology, they should exercise caution.

Read more | >

Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, and their collaborators have identified a novel compound called BHB-Phe, which is naturally produced by the body. Published in the journal Cell, their findings reveal that BHB-Phe regulates appetite and body weight by interacting with neurons in the brain.

Until now, BHB has been known as a compound produced by the liver to be used as fuel. However, in recent years, scientists have found that BHB increases in the body after fasting or exercise, prompting interest in investigating potential beneficial applications in obesity and diabetes.

Read more | >

AI be leveraged to improve cybersecurity and health equity #PopHealthIT

For Global Health Equity Week, HIMSS senior principal of cybersecurity and privacy Lee Kim describes some of the ways how privacy and security intersect with health access and patient engagement – and how artificial intelligence can help.

Read more | >

These conditions can have symptoms similar to asthma, making it difficult to tell them apart.

Read more | >

Breast cancer is a major health concern worldwide, and early detection is crucial for effective treatment. Traditional imaging methods, such as mammography, have limitations, especially for women with dense breast tissue. Photoacoustic imaging, which combines light and sound to create detailed images of breast tissue, offers a promising alternative. However, recent research has highlighted a significant challenge: skin tone bias.

A team of researchers from Johns Hopkins University recently investigated how skin tone affects the visibility of targets in photoacoustic imaging.

As reported in Biophotonics Discovery, the study focused on three image reconstruction methods: fast Fourier transform (FFT)-based reconstruction, delay-and-sum (DAS) beamforming, and short-lag spatial coherence (SLSC) beamforming. The study used simulations with different wavelengths (757800, and 1,064 nm), target sizes (0.5 to 3 mm), and skin tones (ranging from very light to dark).

Read more | >

A new variant of human mpox has claimed the lives of approximately 5% of people with reported infections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 2023, many of them children. Since then, it has spread to several other countries. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on August 14. In addition, a different but rarely fatal mpox variant was responsible for an outbreak that has spread to more than 100 countries since 2022.

There is an urgent need for faster and more cost-effective diagnostic tools to curb the spread of mpox and to prepare for the possibility of a future global pandemic. Researchers from University of California School of Medicine, Boston University, and their colleagues have now developed an optical biosensor that can rapidly detect monkeypox, the that causes mpox. The technology could allow clinicians to diagnose the disease at the point of care rather than wait for .

The team’s study is published in Biosensors and Bioelectronics.

Read more | >

Research from Yale School of Medicine indicates a strong link between air pollution levels and eczema prevalence in the U.S.

The study found that residents in high PM2.5 areas are twice as likely to develop eczema, suggesting significant health implications of air pollution on skin conditions.

A new study published today, November 13, 2024, in the journal PLOS ONE has found that people living in areas with higher air pollution are more likely to have eczema. Led by Dr. Jeffrey Cohen of Yale School of Medicine, the study explores the potential environmental impact of industrialization on skin health.

Read more | >

This study explores how muscle contractions, such as those that occur during exercise, influence motor neurons—the cells responsible for controlling muscle movement.

There’s no doubt that exercise does a body good. Regular activity not only strengthens muscles but can bolster our bones, blood vessels, and immune system.

Now, MIT engineers have found that exercise can also have benefits at the level of individual neurons. They observed that when muscles contract during exercise, they release a soup of biochemical signals called myokines.

In the presence of these -generated signals, neurons grew four times further compared to neurons that were not exposed to myokines. These cellular-level experiments suggest that exercise can have a significant biochemical effect on nerve growth.

Continue reading “When muscles work out, they help neurons grow: Biochemical and physical effects of exercise could help heal nerves” | >