A genetic disease has been cured in an adult animal for the first time in history.
Scientists at MIT have recorded using a procedure where they edit the DNA of a live adult animal to replace a defective gene that causes liver disease. The scientists say the procedure, known as Crispr, allows them to edit a single “letter” in the genetic alphabet.
“We basically showed you could use the Crispr system in an animal to cure a genetic disease, and the one we picked was a disease in the liver which is very similar to one found in humans,” said Professor Daniel Anderson.
The MIT team believes because the DNA is so similar, they should be able to begin testing of the Crispr protocol in humans within the next few years.
The process would have to be altered, however, to carry the mutations into the human body via harmless adeno-associated viruses.
Skin cancer patients may be able to have parts of their body reconstructed using cartilage grown from their very own tissue.
Swiss researchers reconstructed the noses of five skin cancer patients using laboratory-grown cartilage that was shaped to fit the patient’s individual noses. The scientists at the University of Basel were able to create the tissue using only a very small sample of the patients’ cartilage.
The technique is called “tissue engineering” and is aimed at facial surgery for skin cancer that causes large parts of the skin to be removed that had to be replaced with cartilage from other parts of the patient’s body. This caused other parts of the body to be deformed and also expose them to infection from additional surgeries.
“The same surgical procedure is continued, and the patient is allowed to breath normally,” Dr. Ivan Martin told FoxNews. “The outcome of the procedure was to determine safety and feasibility, which is measured in terms of adverse events and in terms of stability. In all the five cases, there were no adverse events, and the patients could breathe as well in both nostrils, indicating complete satisfaction.”
The scientists say a practical application of the process is still a long way off because of multiple government approvals that will be necessary.
A new wave of research is showing huge new benefits to coconut oil.
The oil, long known for its properties as a skin and hair moisturizer, is being shown to protect against proteins that contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.
The study on animals in laboratory settings is considered too preliminary to call coconut oil an official super food according to Dr. David Klufeld with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Dr. Glen Lawrence, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Long Island University, says that coconut oil has many positive properties in the lab. One study found that coconut oil’s fatty acids kill a wide range of viruses and bacteria. Dr. Lawrence said it’s unknown if the same process will happen in the body.
Dr. Lawrence also says that coconut oil contains “medium-chain fatty acids” which are easier to digest because the body burns them quickly which some research suggests is good for athletes.
Dr. Bruce Fife, a Colorado naturopathic doctor, says that the tests have been conducted on refined coconut oil so there’s no evidence that virgin oil is better so people can use the oil based on their preferred taste.
Officials in the U.K. have reported the first ever confirmed case of humans contracting tuberculosis from cats.
Public Health England reported that the two human cases are linked to nine cases of infection in cats. PHE reports that the two human patients have been responding well to treatment.
Veterinarians believe the cats likely contracted the disease from badgers or from rodents that had been inside badger setts.
“We’ve all become rather complacent because we haven’t been seeing TB for so many years but bovis is back with a little bit more significance,” Professor Danielle Gunn-Moore, a feline researcher, told the Daily Telegraph. “It’s important we don’t get blinkered and think it’s only badgers and cattle that get infected. This is a bacteria that is not very fussy about who it infects.”
PHE reports at least 39 people have been in close contact with the infected cats and are being monitored by health officials.
A mystery virus that is causing polio-like symptoms in children has spread to southern California.
Lucian Olivera, 2, is the latest child to be confirmed to have the illness. Lucian was 11 months old when he had an ear infection before suddenly being unable to stand or use his legs.
Stanford University confirmed on Friday it was the mysterious virus.
Now, doctors are trying to determine if the weakness in the child’s legs is permanent.
“Really, it’s unknown the severity of this for each individual. The thought is that it is permanent, but we don’t know all the things that will happen to every patient,” Dr. John Dingilian said.
Olivera is wearing a brace on his legs and his parents are preparing that he may never be able to walk on his own.
A new study from the University of Pennsylvania is showing that ignoring sleep for work or other activities can do more than just make you feel tired: it can actually kill brain cells.
This is the first sleep study showing permanent brain damage from lack of sleep. Previous studies had only shown a drop in cognitive abilities, strength and focus without focusing on long term damage.
Dr. Sigrid Veasey, the study’s author, said that neuroscientists knew certain neurons in the brain that did not sleep as long as the person was awake. They focused on those cells because they believed fatigue in those cells impacted long-term brain health.
“This gave us an indication that maybe [the cells] needed their rest,” she says. “We hypothesized that the cells that were going to be the most likely to get injured would be some of the cells that are active during wakefulness.”
The study showed a loss of as much as 30 percent of neurons in the studied group that was kept sleepless for the longest period of time.
“You can push the system a little bit, but you can’t push it too hard and for too long or you’ll have irreversible consequences,” she says.
Millions of Americans drink excess amounts of coffee every day and many others drink energy drinks and energy shots.
Now, a study is showing that excessive use is creating addictions that lead to a dependence so strong it causes emotional problems. The problem has become so prevalent that there is now an official diagnosis for it: caffeine use disorder.
“We have people who say caffeine is interfering with their life. They keep saying they’re going to stop, but they can’t,” American University professor Laura Juliano said. “I’ve seen people who have gone to great lengths to get caffeine when it was unavailable. I knew one woman who pretty much ruined her husband’s tropical vacation because she spent half the day looking for caffeine.”
Some studies are suggesting that up to 90 percent of Americans consume caffeine on a regular basis.
Juliano said that despite the widespread use of the drug, there is very little research into the depth of the addiction problem. She speculated that because most people don’t see caffeine as a dangerous drug, it’s not a priority among researchers.
A new study shows the prevalence of smartphones, tablets and laptops are causing a problem among children with sleep patterns and quality.
The devices emit what scientists call “blue light” that works against the sleep process by hampering the body’s ability to produce melatonin, the chemical that causes the body to feel tired and enhances sleepiness.
The National Sleep Foundation has released a study showing that youth who use smartphones or computer devices before bedtime have a lower quality of sleep and sleep less than peers without the heavy use of electronic devices.
“To ensure a better night’s sleep for their children, parents may want to limit their [children’s use of] technology in the bedroom near or during bedtime,” Orfeu Buxton, PhD, of Harvard Medical School told The Fiscal Times.
The study also showed that the sleep patterns of parents have a direct impact on their children. If the parents are using electronic devices in the evening before bedtime, the children will follow their parent’s patterns.
A scientist from Temple University thinks taking an idea from China is the way to stop killer tornadoes across the Midwest.
Physicist Rongjia Tao says that building massive walls in multiple spots across the Great Plains would be an effective deterrent to tornado development.
“If we build three east-west great walls in the American Midwest …. one in North Dakota, one along the border between Kansas and Oklahoma to the east, and the third one in south Texas and Louisiana, we will diminish the tornado threats in the Tornado Alley forever,” Tao told the USA Today.
The structures would be 1000 feet high and at least 150 feet wide.
Tao attributed the major tornadoes to a lack of west-to-east mountains in the region that weakens airflow.
However, many severe weather experts are skeptical.
“It wouldn’t work,” Harold Broos of the National Severe Storms Laboratory told USA Today in an e-mail. Brooks pointed out that China receives deadly tornadoes even with their mountain ranges. He also said that Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas have ranges similar in size to the proposal and they have massive tornadoes.
Scientists are working on a technology that would eliminate genetic disease in newborns by combining the DNA of three people instead of two in a single embryo.
However, the announcement of the study raised the alarm that the scientists would open the door for people to create “designer babies” with special features such as eye color, hair color or skin.
Food and Drug Administration officials are meeting over the next two days with the scientists in the project to see if they will allow testing on humans. The process is currently only approved to be used on monkeys.
“Once you make this change, if a female arises from the process and goes on to have children, that change is passed on, so it’s forever,” Phil Yeske, chief science officer of the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation, told Bloomberg. “That’s uncharted territory; we just don’t know what it means. Permanent change of the human germline has never been done before, and we don’t know what will happen in future generations.”
Four monkeys have been created using the process and have been healthy through their first three years.