It all adds up: Study finds forever chemicals are more toxic as mixtures

Research also finds that PFOA and PFOS are major contributors to toxicity

08-Oct-2024 - A first-of-its-kind study has measured the toxicity of several types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), better known as “forever chemicals,” when mixed together in the environment and in the human body. The good news: Most of the tested chemicals’ individual cytotoxicity and ...

Does the human brain have an Achilles heel that ultimately leads to Autism?

CHOOSEn fate: one brain organoid’s tale on Autism

15-Sep-2023 - With a revolutionizing novel system that combines brain organoid technology and intricate genetics, researchers can now comprehensively test the effect of multiple mutations in parallel and at a single-cell level within human brain organoids. This technology, developed by researchers from the ...

‘Maths’ genes used by fish to count may help us treat human neurodevelopmental diseases

Fish are a good model for how human brains estimate quantities

19-Jul-2022 - Fish are helping researchers track down the origins of how brains compute maths, reports a review in Frontiers in Neuroanatomy. An international team has reviewed more than 200 publications, which together show that fish perceive quantities using similar parts of their brains as mammals and ...

New genes with mutations for developmental disorders identified

Tracking down the causes of rare diseases in children

29-Jun-2022 - The causes of intelligence impairment or epilepsy remain unexplained in more than 50 per cent of cases. Together with international colleagues, researchers at Leipzig University Hospital have discovered two genes with mutations that cause neurodevelopmental disorders in children. Their findings ...

Not all brains are equal

Why the human brain is more vulnerable to disease

31-Jan-2022 - With the help of cerebral organoids, IMBA scientists were able to ascertain that Tuberous Sclerosis, a rare neurodevelopmental genetic disorder, arises developmentally rather than only genetically. With these patient-derived laboratory models of the human brain, they pinpointed the origin of the ...

How cells control mitochondria

Researchers discover a signaling protein that controls the assembly of human cellular “power plants”

16-Jul-2021 - Errors in the metabolic processes of mitochondria are responsible for a variety of diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Scientists needed to find out just how the necessary building blocks are imported into the complex biochemical apparatus of these cell areas. The TOM complex ...

Unraveling a genetic network linked to autism

06-Nov-2018 - Donnelly Centre researchers have uncovered a genetic network linked to autism. The findings will facilitate developing new therapies for this common neurological disorder. As part of a collaborative research program focusing on autism led by Benjamin Blencowe, a professor in the University of ...

A factor important for ZIKA Virus host species restriction uncovered

21-Jun-2018 - Princeton University researchers Qiang Ding, Alexander Ploss, and colleagues have identified one of the mechanisms by which ZIKA virus (ZIKV) circumvents immune control to replicate in human cells. In 2013, and again in 2015, the world witnessed devastating outbreaks of ZIKV, a hitherto obscure ...

Unpacking asymmetric cell division

01-Mar-2018 - Stem cells are the basic material from which mature, specialised cells such as muscle and blood cells are produced -- this process is known as differentiation. One way that stem cells do this without depleting themselves is through asymmetric cell division. Through asymmetric division, a stem ...

A developmental splicing program controlling neuronal maturation unveiled

05-Feb-2018 - Neurons, or nerve cells, in the brain communicate with each other by transmitting electric signals, or firing action potentials, through long processes named axons (which send out signals) and dendrites (which receive signals). The capability of firing action potentials, among other functions of ...