Culture

New Rochelle, NY, November 12, 2020--Future human missions to Mars depend on field research in an environment similar to that of Mars. It will enable the evaluation of operational concepts and optimization of strategies. The goals and results of the AMADEE-18 Mars analog mission are detailed in a special collection of articles in the peer-reviewed journal Astrobiology. Click here to read the articles now.

Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia. Still incurable, it directly affects nearly one million people in Europe, and indirectly millions of family members as well as society as a whole. In recent years, the scientific community has suspected that the gut microbiota plays a role in the development of the disease.

A team of immunology experts from research organisations in Belgium and the UK have come together to apply their pioneering research methods to put individuals' COVID-19 response under the microscope. Published today in the journal Clinical and Translational Immunology, their research adds to the developing picture of the immune system response and our understanding of the immunological features associated with the development of severe and life-threatening disease following COVID-19.

New Rochelle, NY, November 11, 2020--New data highlight safety concerns for the replication of recombinant adeno-associated viral (rAAV) vectors commonly used in gene therapy. These findings, which emphasize the need for mobilization resistant AAV vectors, are reported in the peer-reviewed journal Human Gene Therapy. Click here to read the full-text article free through December 11, 2020.

The risk of rAAV mobilization has been underappreciated in the AAV research community.

According to the Centers for Disease Research, 1 in 54 children is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) each year, and the number has been rising. The disease causes perplexing, lifelong developmental disabilities, which usually arise during early childhood and affect social skills, communication, personal relationships, and self-control.

In new research appearing in the journal mSphere, Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown, James Adams and their colleagues highlight the crucial importance of bacterial microbes in the human gut for the diagnosis and treatment of ASD.

WASHINGTON (Nov. 13, 2020) -- Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have successfully used molecules comprised of small strands of RNA to shut down the production of destructive proteins generated by the COVID-19 virus. Additionally, the researchers are working to aerosolize the RNA molecules so that they could be incorporated in an inhalable drug that would mitigate viral chaos.

While COVID-19 infected patients should be treated with standard anticoagulation therapies, such as blood thinning medication, a new study by researchers at the George Washington University (GW) shows that anticoagulating patients at higher doses, without traditional medical indications to do so, may be ineffective and even harmful. The study was published in the journal Thrombosis Research.

A new saliva-based test developed by a team at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has been found to accurately detect the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, from small samples of saliva, according to a study led by Bloomberg School researchers. Such tests, the results of which can be obtained in a matter of hours, are seen as potential alternatives to blood-sample antibody tests for research and clinical use.

Two independent clinical studies – one by researchers at the Center for Cell-Based Therapy (CTC) in Ribeirão Preto, state of São Paulo (Brazil), on the monoclonal antibody eculizumab, and the other by scientists at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (USA) on an experimental drug called AMY-101 – observed a significant anti-inflammatory effect that contributed to a faster recovery by severe COVID-19 patients.

New Rochelle, NY, November 13, 2020--Patients are seeking plastic surgery in record numbers, citing their appearance on Zoom as a cause. Of particular concern are noses and wrinkles, according to Facial Plastic Surgery & Aesthetic Medicine. Click here to read the article now.

For COVID-19, the difference between surviving and not surviving severe disease may be due to the quality, not the quantity, of the patients' antibody development and response, suggests a new Cell paper published by Galit Alter, PhD, a member of the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and their colleagues have determined a key factor as to why COVID-19 appears to infect and sicken adults and older people preferentially while seeming to spare younger children.

Children have lower levels of an enzyme/co-receptor that SARS-CoV-2, the RNA virus that causes COVID-19, needs to invade airway epithelial cells in the lung.

The findings, published today in the
Journal of Clinical Investigation, support efforts to block the enzyme to potentially treat or prevent COVID-19 in older people.

Given that phages are able to destroy bacteria, they are of particular interest to science. Basic researchers from the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) in Berlin are especially interested in the tube used by phages to implant their DNA into bacteria. In collaboration with colleagues from Forschungszentrum Jülich and Jena University Hospital, they have now revealed the 3D structure of this crucial phage component in atomic resolution. The key to success was combining two methods - solid-state NMR and cryo-electron microscopy.

Embargoed until 12:10 p.m. CT/1:10 p.m. ET, Friday, Nov. 13, 2020

DALLAS, Nov. 13, 2020 -- Patients who were hospitalized with acute heart failure and had iron deficiency were less likely to return to the hospital if given intravenous iron replacement, according to late-breaking research presented today at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2020. The virtual meeting is Friday, November 13 - Tuesday, November 17, 2020. It is a premier global exchange of the latest scientific advancements, research and evidence-based clinical practice updates in cardiovascular science for health care.