A neurosurgeon at the University of Illinois at Chicago is assessing how well an implanted electronic device that stimulates nerve fibers in the spinal cord relieves chronic pain.

The device, made by Advanced Neuromodulation Systems, is already approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but is undergoing further evaluation at several sites throughout the United States for potential marketing overseas.

“Coping with chronic pain is one of life’s greatest challenges,” said Dr

The life expectancy of fruit flies increases an average of 50 percent when signals within cells of fat tissue are blocked or altered, new Brown University research shows. Published in the current issue of Nature, results of the study suggest that reduced levels of insulin in one tissue regulates insulin throughout the body to slow aging – a finding that brings science one step closer to cracking the longevity code.

When the chemical messages sent by an insulin-like hormone are reduced

Sitting blindfolded with a device equipped with 144 pixels in his mouth, any journalist would wonder about his career choice. But after a few minutes of experimentation, you have to recognize that the system developed by neuropsychologist Maurice Ptito of Université de Montréal, together with colleagues in Denmark and the United States , to allow blind people to “see with their tongue” appears strangely effective. In just the first few minutes, the subject is able to build up a fairly clear picture o

University of California, San Diego neurobiologists have uncovered evidence that sheds light on the long-standing mystery of how the brain makes sense of the information contained in electrical impulses sent to it by millions of neurons from the body.

In a paper published this week in the early on-line version of the journal Nature, a UCSD team led by Massimo Scanziani explains how neurons, or nerve cells, in the brain sort out information before deciding how to respond. The paper will appea

Scientists in the department of molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale revealed the crystal structure of the first described enzymatic RNA – what it looks like and how it reacts – in the journal Nature.

Scott Strobel, professor and principal investigator of the study and his research team at Yale, used X-ray crystallography to image the self-splicing group-I intron and the associations it makes as it reacts. The image shows an interaction with metal ions and the alignment of the RNA m

Regulates neighboring gene simply by being switched on

In a region of DNA long considered a genetic wasteland, Harvard Medical School researchers have discovered a new class of gene. Most genes carry out their tasks by making a product-a protein or enzyme. This is true of those that provide the body’s raw materials, the structural genes, and those that control other genes’ activities, the regulatory genes. The new one, found in yeast, does not produce a protein. It performs

Neurobiologists at the University of California, San Diego have discovered that altering electrical activity in nerve cells can change the chemical messengers the cells generate to communicate with other cells, a finding that may one day lead to new treatments for mood and learning disorders.

In a study published in the June 3rd issue of the journal Nature, a team led by UCSD professor of biology Nicholas Spitzer shows that manipulating the electrical activity of developing nerve cells can

Babies who arrive from eight to twelve weeks early and adults who suffer from Crohn’s disease are both at risk for developing short bowel syndrome, a condition that may tie them to an IV for feeding and greatly reduce the quality of their lives –medically, economically, and socially.

Now research in Kelly Tappenden’s laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign offers hope to patients who have had parts of their small intestine surgically removed, making it diffic

Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have found an unexpected way to turn off a cellular enzyme involved in the progression of several types of human cancers.

The enzyme, focal adhesion kinase (FAK), is known to promote cellular movement and survival. Its over-activity promotes cancer cell growth and metastasis. The new study demonstrates for the first time that one segment of FAK called the FERM domain plays a crucial role in activating FAK.

Subtle changes

A research team at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU, has succeeded in isolating a novel gene that regulates cell death in plant embryos. This is a world first.

The team consists of scientists from the Department of Plant Biology and Forest Genetics, headed by Peter Bozhkov and Sara von Arnold. The team has discovered programmed cell death in plant embryos and has recently identified the first gene that regulates this cell death. This research has been conducted in collab

Patients given a class of anti-inflammatory drugs before and after minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery experienced less pain with fewer postoperative complications and an earlier return to normal activities, according to Duke University Medical Center researchers.

The class of drugs in question, known as cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitors, block a key enzyme in the cascade of immune system events leading to inflammation. Unlike other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), COX-2

Bone marrow stem cells, when exposed to damaged liver tissue, can quickly convert into healthy liver cells and help repair the damaged organ, according to new research from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.

In mouse-tissue cultures, scientists found that stem cells, in the presence of cells from damaged liver tissue, developed into liver cells in as little as seven hours. They also observed that stem cells transplanted into mice with liver injuries helped restore liver function within

Scientists have discovered a protein that controls the amount of fat stored in the body, offering new clues for obesity treatments.

The research, published in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows how the protein regulates the activity of a key gene responsible for maintaining the body’s temperature, called uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1).

The new protein, called RIP140, blocks the expression of UCP1, and causes the body to use up more energy and sto

Perfusion CT useful for strokes, clogged carotid arteries, some brain tumors

It’s a no-brainer that the brain needs a constant supply of blood to keep it going. But some medical conditions can block or reduce that life-giving flow. Whether it’s a stroke, a clogged artery or a brain tumor, any situation where blood can’t get to the whole brain can lead to death or permanent disability. And it’s often hard for doctors to tell just where blood is — or isn’t — g

Scientists from the University of Aberdeen, the Aberdeen-based Rowett Research Institute and the Medical Research Council (MRC) in Cambridge have made a major breakthrough in understanding how metabolism affects lifespan.

In a seven-year study of mice they found that those with the highest metabolic rate lived the longest, raising the prospect that the effect could be mimicked in humans.

Scientists have long thought that a high metabolic rate was linked to a shortened life-span. The

Surprising find may be new genus

A team of American and Filipino biologists has discovered a new species –or perhaps a new genus – of mouse in the Philippines that took them quite by surprise.

The tiny mouse was captured on Mount Banahaw, a national park in the south-central portion of Luzon Island, only about 50 miles from Manila.

The bright-orange animal has a large head, heavily muscled jaws and powerful teeth that can open hard nuts. It weighs about 15 grams, a