Connecting You to Tomorrow's Biotechnology Innovations
Scientists have developed a new drug compound that shows promise as a future treatment for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, an inherited, often painful neurodegenerative condition that affects nerves in the hands, arms, feet and legs. The researchers used the compound to treat the nerves of mice harboring the genetic defects that cause the disease. The new study, […]
A preliminary study suggests that an investigational drug may help increase protein levels in babies with spinal muscular atrophy. The open-label study is released today and will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 70th Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, April 21 to 27, 2018. Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an inherited disease that […]
People who have been diagnosed with a mild concussion, or mild traumatic brain injury, may have a 56 percent increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, according to a study published in the April 18, 2018, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “Previous research has shown a strong link […]
Neurology researchers investigating a rare but devastating neurological regression in infants have discovered the cause: gene mutations that severely disrupt crucial functions in mitochondria, the energy-producing structures within cells. The specific disease mechanism, in which mutations disrupt a critical mitochondrial enzyme, has not previously been implicated in a human disease. “We uncovered the cause of […]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today permitted marketing of the first blood test to evaluate mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), commonly referred to as concussion, in adults. The FDA reviewed and authorized for marketing the Banyan Brain Trauma Indicator in fewer than 6 months as part of its Breakthrough Devices Program. Most patients with […]
Scientists have performed a successful test of a possible new drug in a mouse model of an autism disorder. The candidate drug, called NitroSynapsin, largely corrected electrical, behavioral and brain abnormalities in the mice. NitroSynapsin is intended to restore an electrical signaling imbalance in the brain found in virtually all forms of autism spectrum disorder […]
An international group of researchers led by Professor Wim Versées (VIB-VUB) has unraveled the workings of an essential mechanism in ‘Parkinson’s protein’ LRRK2. Their study demonstrates a direct link between the protein’s ‘dimerization’ – two copies that are bound together -and mutations that lead to Parkinson’s disease. This process could eventually lead to a promising […]
UCLA researchers develop improved technique for creating brain tissue from stem cells UCLA researchers have developed an improved technique for creating simplified human brain tissue from stem cells. Because these so-called “mini brain organoids” mimic human brains in how they grow and develop, they’re vital to studying complex neurological diseases. In a study published in the […]
Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with national collaborators, have identified a series of molecular clues to understanding the formation of cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs). The study offers the first genome-wide analysis of the transcriptome of brain microvascular endothelial cells after KRIT1 inactivation. Findings were published September 28 in the Journal […]
A team of biologists has found an unexpected source for the brain’s development, a finding that offers new insights into the building of the nervous system. The research, which appears in the journal Science, discovered that glia, a collection of non-neuronal cells that had long been regarded as passive support cells, in fact are vital […]
A gene called triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2, or TREM2, has been associated with numerous neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Frontotemporal lobar degeneration, Parkinson’s disease, and Nasu-Hakola disease. Recently, a rare mutation in the gene has been shown to increase the risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease. Independently from each other, two research […]
Data recently obtained from Nemus Bioscience‘s research and development partner, the University of Mississippi (UM) will show the superiority of the NEMUS proprietary analogue of CBD, NB2222, versus plant-derived CBD in ameliorating pain in a validated mouse (murine) model of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy using an opioid as an active comparator. The data was accepted for […]
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital and King’s College London have discovered a treatment that improves the neurological symptoms in a mouse model of juvenile Batten disease. This discovery brings hope to patients and families affected by the disease that a treatment might be […]
One of the most significant ways in which the human brain is unique is the size and structure of the cerebral cortex. But what drives the growth of the human cortex, likely the foundation for our unique intellectual abilities? In research published in the journal Cell Stem Cell—in a study entitled, Induction of expansion and […]
Biomedical engineering researchers pre-treated cells that swell after traumatic injury with an existing, FDA-approved drug. A team of biomedical engineering researchers at the University of Arkansas have identified a cause of fluid swelling of the brain, or cellular edema, that occurs during a concussion. The researchers discovered that pre-treating the cells with an existing, FDA-approved […]
Many people who experience chest pain but don’t have a heart attack breathe a big sigh of relief when a stress test comes back negative for blockages in their blood vessels. But a new study by cardiac researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City found they may not be off […]
In one of the largest cooperative agreements for research in Temple University history, an interdisciplinary team of faculty is participating in a $20 million, two-year agreement with other universities and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, or ARL. Temple will be working with the ARL to perform research in three major areas: understanding and improving the […]
Scientists at the University of Chicago and Case Western Reserve University have found a way to produce realistic sensations of touch in two human amputees by directly stimulating the nervous system. The study, published Oct. 26 in Science Translational Medicine (STM), confirms earlier research on how the nervous system encodes the intensity, or magnitude, of […]
A higher neighborhood advantage, or socioeconomic status, of where a person lives contributes to a lower risk of having a stroke no matter the person’s race, according to findings published in the Oct. 14 online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The report from the University of Alabama at […]
Stroke patients are starting a trial of a new electronic device to recover movement and control of their hand. Neuroscientists at Newcastle University have developed the device, the size of a mobile phone, which delivers a series of small electrical shocks followed by an audible click to strengthen brain and spinal connections. The experts believe […]