tissue

Baby Receives Heart Transplant With a Life-Changing Twist to Counter Organ Rejection

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A baby in North Carolina has received a first-of-its-kind heart transplant that may prevent his body from rejecting the organ without the need for lifelong drugs to suppress the immune system.    The child, Easton Sinnamon, is the first person to receive a heart transplant along with implantation of thymus tissue from the same donor, according to a statement from Duke … Read more

A Common Link Between Several Neurodegenerative Diseases Might Finally Be Identified

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There’s a hallmark of incurable neurodegenerative diseases – misfolded proteins that clump together to form sticky plaques or tangles called fibrils. Now, new research has discovered that a protein normally tasked with clearing cells of molecular debris might be a common feature of a cluster of common and rare neurodegenerative diseases, including two distinct forms … Read more

Lost Photos Suggest Europeans Were Mummifying Their Dead Far Earlier Than We Thought

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Archaeologists may have just uncovered evidence for the oldest known practice of mummification. Human remains interred 8,000 years ago in the Sado Valley in Portugal, during the Mesolithic, appear to have been deliberately treated for mummification prior to burial. This is the first evidence for Mesolithic mummification in Europe.   It’s also possibly the oldest … Read more

This Cool New Imaging Technique Shows Blood Vessels Like Never Before

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Blood vessels are pretty important when it comes to the healthy functioning of the body, and researchers and health professionals need to know as much as possible about where these tiny transport channels are going.   A newly developed 3D visualization technique should help. It’s called VascuViz, and it uses a quick-setting polymer mixture that … Read more

There’s a Reason 90% of Drugs Fail Clinical Trials, And We Can Fix It

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It takes 10 to 15 years and around US$1 billion to develop one successful drug. Despite these significant investments in time and money, 90 percent of drug candidates in clinical trials fail.   Whether because they don’t adequately treat the condition they’re meant to target or the side effects are too strong, many drug candidates … Read more

Fat Cells in Our Skin Could Be Key to Fighting Acne, Scientists Discover

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The cells in our skin that fabricate fatty acids could play an unappreciated role in acne breakouts. Recent experiments on human acne and mouse skin have found pimples and lesions are closely regulated by fat-producing fibroblasts.   Fibroblasts are the most common type of connective tissue cell we have in our bodies; they produce and … Read more

Teeny Tiny 500-Million-Year-Old Fossils Could Help Explain The Evolution of Spiders

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Two tiny fossils, each smaller than an aspirin pill, contain fossilized nerve tissue from 508 million years ago. The bug-like Cambrian creatures could help scientists piece together the evolutionary history of modern-day spiders and scorpions.    Still, it’s not clear exactly where these fossils – both specimens of the species Mollisonia symmetrica – fit on the arthropod … Read more