Weekend Reads
This week: Are we really running out of data storage? And can a deadly infection be genetic? You’ll also get a list of must-reads this summer…
Reports
Personalised Alzheimer’s Treatment Through Fingerprints
Personalised medicine has been a goal of researchers and doctors for a long time. Now, researchers have developed what they call a personalised Therapeutic Intervention Fingerprint (pTIF), for patients with neurological disease.
Further Evidence for the Role Of Herpes Virus in Triggering Alzheimer’s Onset
Researchers at Harvard Medical School have found further evidence that supports the notion that viruses could help cause the onset of Alzheimer’s disease; an idea that was once ridiculed by other sceptics and researchers.
Drugs Carried in Cellular ‘Backpacks’ Help T-Cells to Destroy Tumours
Researchers have designed nanoparticles that can be attached to T-cells and release T-cell-stimulating molecules called cytokines, that activate T-cells to attack nearby tumour cells.
Novartis Latest Big Pharma to Ditch Antibiotic Research Despite Rise of Superbugs
Even in light of the rising fears of “superbugs” in the world of big pharma, the marginal profits made through the development of antibiotics isn’t enough to justify the research.
Measuring How Well Cancer Drugs Reach Their Targets Inside the Body
Scientists have developed a technique that shows individual cancer cells in a tumour in real-time, revealing which cells that interact with a drug and which cells the drug fails to reach.
First Physiological Test for Autism Proves High Accuracy
One year after researchers published their work on a physiological test for autism, a follow-up study has confirmed its exceptional success in assessing whether a child is on the autism spectrum.
Scientists Use CRISPR to Build Cancer-Fighting Army from Its Own Tumour Cells
Scientists are taking advantage of the “self-homing” abilities of cancer cells and are creating armies of cancer-killing cells using CRISPR gene-editing.
CRISPR-Cas9 Delivered Directly to Human Sperm
The CRISPR genome editing method has been delivered directly in human sperm cells giving hope that correcting mutations in human sperm cells is possible and may lead to the prevention of disease being passed on by fathers.
See-Through Fish Could Reveal Origins of Neuroblastoma
A new type of zebrafish that produces fluorescent tags in migratory embryonic nerve precursor cells could help researchers find the origins of the third-most common pediatric cancer in the U.S.
This is Why CRISPR Sometimes Fails to Work
Biochemists have discovered the cause of genome editing failures with the ‘hyped’ CRISPR system, and how the process can be made to be much more efficient.
Cold Temps Lead to Offspring With More ‘Good Fat’, Say Researchers
Males who spend time in low temperatures prior to mating will produce offspring with more active brown adipose tissue, according to new research in mice.
Scientists Discover the ‘Big Bang’ of Alzheimer’s Disease
Scientists have discovered a “big bang” of Alzheimer’s disease — the precise point at which a healthy protein becomes toxic but has not yet formed deadly tangles in the brain.
A Long Time Ago, American Dogs Mysteriously Vanished
Dogs’ ancestors in the Americas almost totally disappeared hundreds of years ago, but left future generations a cancerous tumour that is still found in their canine descendants today, researchers say.
Gene Edited Monkeys Offer Promise for Patients With Heart Conditions
Researchers have for the first time, used gene-editing tools in adult monkeys to disable a gene throughout much of the liver.
