Rats with spinal cord injuries and severe paralysis are now walking (and running) thanks to researchers at EPFL. Published in the June 1, 2012 issue of Science, the results show that a severed section of the spinal cord can make a comeback when its own innate intelligence and regenerative capacity is awakened.
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New Technique May Help Severely Damaged Nerves Regrow and Restore Function
Engineers at the University of Sheffield have developed a method of assisting nerves damaged by traumatic accidents to repair naturally, which could improve the chances of restoring sensation and movement in injured limbs. In a collaborative study with Laser Zentrum Hannover (Germany) published in the journal Biofabrication, the team describes a new method for making medical devices called nerve guidance conduits or NGCs.
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New Technique Could Improve Heart Attack Prediction
An award-winning research project, funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), has tested a new imaging method which could help improve how doctors predict a patient's risk of having a heart attack. Scientists from the University of Edinburgh, a BHF Centre of Research Excellence, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge are the first to demonstrate the potential of combining PET and CT scanning to image the disease processes directly in the coronary arteries that cause heart attacks.
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Data Mining Opens the Door to Predictive Neuroscience
The discovery, using state-of-the-art informatics tools, increases the likelihood that it will be possible to predict much of the fundamental structure and function of the brain without having to measure every aspect of it.
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New Method for Direct Identification of Antigens
The immune system is a vital part of our defenses against pathogens, but it can also attack host tissues, resulting in autoimmune disease. The antigens that induce destructive immune reactions can now be identified directly - without any prior knowledge of their possible structure.
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The Path to Personalized Cancer Treatment
In the largest study of its kind, researchers have profiled genetic changes in cancer with drug sensitivity in order to develop a personalised approach to cancer treatments. The study is published in Nature on Thursday 29 March 2012.
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Using Measurements of 100,000 Molecules Taken from a Single Patient
The Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) routinely runs such tests on samples sent in from all over Spain. But analysing genes is just the first step towards a truly personalised medicine. And researchers are exploring new ways to analyse what goes on in each organism at a molecular scale:
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