Gene-editing used to create single sex mice litters, 100% efficiency
Scientists at the Francis Crick Institute, in collaboration with University of Kent, have used gene editing technology to create female-only and male-only mice litters with 100% efficiency. This proof of principle study, published in Nature Communications today (Friday 3rd December), demonstrates how the technology could be used to improve animal welfare in scientific research and […]
Researchers develop model for treating HIV/AIDS, depression
Today, people living with HIV/AIDS can remain healthy if they are able to engage in routine care and take the medicines that reduce their virus to undetectable levels. But for people with HIV who are also struggling with depression, that’s often an insurmountable challenge, especially in South Africa, home to the highest number of cases […]
Black, Hispanic Men Left Behind on Declining HIV Rates in the U.S.
While the number of new HIV infections fell among white men who have sex with men (MSM) over the past decade, infection rates among Black and Hispanic/Latino MSM were less positive, according to the CDC. In a new Vital Signs report, researchers highlighted racial disparities in HIV trends from 2010 to 2019, with new infections […]
Stocks Nosedive Amid Concerns About New COVID-19 Variant
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks sank Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly falling more than 1,000 points, as a new coronavirus variant first detected in South Africa appeared to be spreading across the globe. Investors were uncertain whether the variant could potentially reverse months of progress at getting the COVID-19 pandemic under control. […]
Living walls can reduce heat lost from buildings by over 30%
Retrofitting an existing masonry cavity walled building with a green or living wall can reduce the amount of heat lost through its structure by more than 30%, according to new research. The study, conducted at the University of Plymouth, centred around the Sustainability Hub — a pre-1970s building on the university campus — and compared […]
Zanubrutinib Tops Ibrutinib in Relapsed or Refractory CLL
Treatment with the second-generation Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor led to better oncologic outcomes compared with ibrutinib (Imbruvica) for patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL), according to an interim analysis of the phase III ALPINE study. Over a median follow-up of 15 months, the overall response rate — the primary […]
Can You Survive West Nile Virus? Symptoms, Prevention
Most people infected with the West Nile virus do not feel sick (70-90% remain asymptomatic), and less than 1% of people become severely ill. Fortunately, most people infected with the West Nile virus do not feel sick (about 70 to 80 percent of infections are asymptomatic). Only one in five infected people have a fever […]
Ivermectin Works! (For River Blindness in Nigeria)
Mass drug administration (MDA) with ivermectin appeared to interrupt transmission of onchocerciasis, or river blindness, in several Nigerian states, and may have eliminated it altogether in other parts of the country, researchers said. With a consistent MDA program, transmission of river blindness was “suspected” to be interrupted in four states in southern Nigeria, and transmission […]
Paleontologists debunk fossil thought to be missing link between lizards and first snakes
Filling in the links of the evolutionary chain with a fossil record of a ”snake with four legs” connecting lizards and early snakes would be a dream come true for paleontologists. But a specimen formerly thought to fit the bill is not the missing piece of the puzzle, according to a new Journal of Systematic […]
In the brain’s cerebellum, a new target for suppressing hunger
People with Prader Willi syndrome, a genetic disorder, have an insatiable appetite. They never feel full, even after a hearty meal. The result can be life-threatening overeating and obesity. According to a new study, their constant hunger results in part to disordered signaling in the brain’s cerebellum, a region of the brain also responsible for […]