TORONTO – Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) have found that metformin, a drug commonly used to treat Type II diabetes, can help trigger the pathway used to instruct stem cells in the brain to become neural (nerve) cells. Continue reading
Researchers from McGill University and the University of Montreal have identified a crucial link between protein synthesis and autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which can bolster new therapeutic avenues. Regulation of protein synthesis, also termed mRNA translation, is the process by which cells manufacture proteins. Continue reading
Researchers elucidate the structure of ion channels in the cell membrane
A breakthrough in basic science made by researchers from the Faculty of Medicine of Laval University may shed new light on cardiac arrhythmia, pain, epilepsy and some forms of paralysis. Continue reading
In many pathologies of the nervous system, there is a common event – cells called microglia are activated from surveillant watchmen into fighters. Microglia are the immune cells of the nervous system, ingesting and destroying pathogens and damaged nerve cells. Until now little was known about the molecular mechanisms of microglia activation despite this being a critical process in the body. Continue reading
Adults victimized as children are at an increased risk for disease, Concordia study shows
The psychological scars of childhood abuse can last well into adulthood. New research from Concordia University shows the harm can have longterm negative physical effects, as well as emotional ones. Continue reading
One of the mysteries of blindness has been solved. A team of international scientists in collaboration with the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI MUHC) identified a new gene responsible for Leber Congenital Amaurosis (LCA), a devastating genetic form of blindness in newborns. Continue reading
Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients sometimes experience “natural” improvements in disability at least over the short term, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute.
Study part of growing body of knowledge surrounding gene-environment interplay
TORONTO, ON – It is time to put the nature versus nurture debate to rest and embrace growing evidence that it is the interaction between biology and environment in early life that influences human development, according to a series of studies recently published in a special edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The humble fruit fly may have something to teach us about forgoing empty calories for more nutritional ones – especially when we’re hungry.
While the flies initially prefer food with a sweet flavour, they quickly learn to opt for less sweet food sources that offer more calories and nutritional value, according to new research by University of British Columbia zoologists.
Study provides strong evidence of a biological process that embeds social experience in DNA that affects not just a few genes but entire networks of genes.
Early life experience results in a broad change in the way our DNA is “epigenetically” chemically marked in the brain by a coat of small chemicals called methyl groups, according to researchers at McGill University. Continue reading