Baby's' babbles reflect their own involvement in language development Babies' repetitive babbles, such as 'dada' or 'baba,' primarily are motivated by infants' ability to hear themselves talk, say researchers. Infants with profound hearing loss who received cochlear implants to improve their hearing soon babbled as often as their hearing peers, allowing them to catch up developmentally.
Light exposure linked to weight gain in children A world-first study has revealed preschoolers exposed to more light earlier in day tend to weigh more. She says the research suggests light exposure, artificial and natural, needs to be part of the conversation about the weight of children, along with calorie intake, decreased physical activity and sleep patterns.
Changing the Color of Light Researchers have developed a method that could improve medical imaging and cancer treatments and increase the efficiency of commercial solar cells by 25 to 30 percent.
Gene-sequence swap using CRISPR to cure hemophilia For the first time, chromosomal defects responsible for hemophilia have been corrected in patient-specific iPSCs using CRISPR-Cas9 nucleases. Hemophilia A occurs in about 1 in 5,000 male births and almost half of severe cases are caused by identified "chromosomal inversions." In a chromosomal inversion, the order of the base pairs on the chromosome are reversed so the gene doesn't express properly and the sufferer lacks the blood coagulation factor VIII (F8) gene, which causes blood to clot in healthy people.
Fighting mosquito resistance to insecticides Controlling mosquitoes that carry human diseases is a global health challenge as their ability to resist insecticides now threatens efforts to prevent epidemics. Scientists have identified new genetic markers for mosquito resistance to insecticides, which could improve its detection in the field.
Simple flip of genetic switch determines aging or longevity in animals When does aging really begin? Scientists now have a molecular clue. In a study of the roundworm C. elegans, they found that adult cells abruptly begin their downhill slide when an animal reaches reproductive maturity. A genetic switch starts the aging process by turning off cell stress responses that protect the cell by keeping important proteins folded and functional. Germline stem cells throw the switch in early adulthood, after the animal starts to reproduce, ensuring its line will live on.
Clues to turning genes off Scientists have unraveled how an important plant protein, known as TOPLESS, interacts with other molecules responsible for turning genes off. The findings in plants provide a general model across species for this type of gene silencing, which is linked to several vital biological functions in humans.
Scientists retrieve lost memories using Light Researchers have found that memories that have been 'lost' as a result of amnesia can be recalled by activating brain cells with light. They reactivated memories that could not otherwise be retrieved, using a technology known as optogenetics
How sleep helps us learn and memorize Sleep is important for long lasting memories, particularly during this exam season. New research suggests that sleeping triggers the synapses in our brain to both strengthen and weaken, which prompts the forgetting, strengthening or modification of our memories in a process known as long-term potentiation.
Medical, magnetic milli robots offer hope for less-invasive surgeries Seeking to advance minimally invasive medical treatments, researchers have proposed using tiny robots, driven by magnetic potential energy from magnetic resonance imaging scanners. The potential technology could be used to treat hydrocephalus and other conditions, allowing surgeons to avoid current treatments that require cutting through the skull to implant pressure-relieving shunts.
GMO pink pineapples could help prevent cancer Cancer-fighting pink pineapples, heart-healthy purple tomatoes and less fatty vegetable oils may someday be on grocery shelves alongside more traditional products. These genetically engineered foods could receive government approval in the coming years.
Anticancer drug can spur immune system to fight infection Imatinib, an example of a 'targeted therapy' against cancer, or related drugs might be tools to fight a variety of infections, scientists say. Imatinib, is an example of a "targeted therapy" against certain types of cancer. It blocks tyrosine kinase enzymes, which are dysregulated in cancers such as chronic myelogenous leukemia and gastrointestinal stromal tumors.
Combining magnetism and light to fight cancer By combining, in a liposome, magnetic nanoparticles and photosensitizers that are simultaneously and remotely activated by external physical stimuli (a magnetic field and light), scientists obtained total tumor regression in mice. Non-toxic when they are not activated, such therapies can also achieve a reduction in adverse effects.
Expanding on liquid biopsies with exosomes A new type of liquid biopsy for solid tumors based on analyzing exosomes from the blood is being tested by clinicians. "The term 'liquid biopsy' describes the fact that a simple blood sample can contain many tumor-derived molecules and even tumor cells, enabling molecular analyses similar to those possible in tumor tissue samples,"
