Scientists have uncovered the flu’s secret formula for effectively evolving within and between host species: balance. The key lies with the flu’s unique replication process, which has evolved to produce enough mutations for the virus to spread and adapt to its host environment, but not so many that unwanted genomic mutations lead to the flu’s […]
A study by researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health suggests that traumatic experiences “biologically embed” themselves in select genes, altering their functions and leading to the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). “Our findings suggest a new biological model of PTSD in which alteration of genes, induced by a traumatic event, changes […]
PANDAS is an abbreviation for Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal infections. This diagnosis was created when clinicians observed that following streptococcal infections, which include strep throat, scarlet fever, and impetigo, children developed tics and symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). (read the full story)
Roulette Smith, Ph.D. has long advocated the role of viruses in many different disorders (see: A Novel and Potentially Groundbreaking Viral Theory of Autism and Schizophrenia), including schizophrenia and Autism. Now researchers at University of Wisconsin-Madison in collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill report that Rhesus monkey babies born to mothers […]
Gene therapy for a severe inherited blindness, which produced dramatic improvements last year in 12 children and young adults who received the treatment in a clinical trial, has cleared another hurdle. The same research team that conducted the human trial now reports that a study in animals has shown that a second injection of genes […]
Scientists have long pondered the seeming contradiction that taking broad-spectrum antibiotics over a long period of time can lead to severe secondary bacterial infections. Now researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine may have figured out why. The investigators show that “good” bacteria in the gut keep the immune system primed to more […]
The human brain is a delicate organ, robustly defended. A thick skull shields it from any direct exposure to the outside world, and the blood-brain barrier keeps out any foreign substances that are circulating within. New research shows that the brain may have its own specialized immune defenses, too. In 2008, researchers at Rockefeller University […]
Researchers investigating UK samples have found no association between the controversial xenotropic murine leukaemia virus-related virus (XMRV) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Their study, published in BioMed Central’s open access journal Retrovirology, calls into question a potential link described late last year by an American research team. Check the end of this review for a […]
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