A multidisciplinary team of UCLA scientists were able to differentiate metastatic cancer cells from normal cells in patient samples using leading-edge nanotechnology that measures the softness of the cells.

Wellcome Trust researchers have identified a key gene involved in the disease Lupus, which affects around 50,000 people in the UK, mostly women. The lead researcher behind the study has called for more patients to volunteer DNA samples to enable them to further study the underlying causes of the disease.

There are mice in Baltimore whose skulls were made whole again by bone tissue grown from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs).

Boosting an exercise-related gene in the brain works as a powerful anti-depressant in mice—a finding that could lead to a new anti-depressant drug target, according to a Yale School of Medicine report in Nature Medicine.

A wireless, nano-scale voltmeter developed at the University of Michigan is overturning conventional wisdom about the physical environment inside cells. It may someday help researchers tackle such tricky medical issues as why cancer cells grow out of control and how damaged nerves might be mended.

Rapid diagnostic testing used to check for the presence of prion diseases such as “mad cow disease” might fail to identify some highly infectious samples, researchers have found. Currently, scanning beef or other meat products for possible prion infection involves sampling brain tissue from the animal for abnormally folded prion protein, also called PrP; this form of PrP, which is sticky and hard to degrade, is believed to be the infectious agent behind prion diseases.

The most common factors believed to contribute to diabetes are a decreased amount of physical activity and access to highly palatable processed foods. However, there is growing evidence that another aspect of our modern lifestyle, short sleep duration, is also contributing toward the “diabetes epidemic”, according to a study published in the December 1 issue of the journal SLEEP.