Cancer connection
Combining therapeutics with dietarychanges could prove effective against some forms of cancer. Continue Reading →
Category: National Institutes of Health
Princeton researcher bringing single-cell gene expression studies to a benchtop near you
: Princeton researcher Britt Adamson, together with collaborators, developed improvements to high-throughput technologies that can be used to explore how cells respond to experimentally-induced changes in gene expression. Continue Reading →
Researchers identify factors essential for chronic hepatitis B infection
A study published in the journal Nature Microbiology identified factors that the hepatitis B virus uses when establishing long-term infection in the liver. The findings could help lead to treatment strategies for chronic HBV infection, a condition that increases the risk of developing liver cancer and is responsible for almost 900,000 deaths worldwide each year. Continue Reading →
Mathematical model reveals behavior of cellular enzymes
Mathematical modeling helps researchers to understand how enzymes in the body work to ensure normal functioning, and how genetic mutations alter the enzymes’ behavior in ways that cause disease, including cancer. Continue Reading →
Researchers unlock secrets of cell division, define role for protein elevated in cancer
Researchers at Princeton University have successfully recreated a key process involved in cell division in a test tube. Continue Reading →
Motion-capture technology assists in neuroscience studies
A new technology can automatically track animals’ body parts in video to measure the behavior of animals. Continue Reading →
Deep learning detects mutations behind autism
A Princeton-led team has decoded the impact of a new class of mutations in people with autism. Continue Reading →
People adapt to societal diversity
The team examined 22 years of psychological, sociological and demographic data from more than 338,000 respondents in 100+ countries. Continue Reading →
Neuroscientists develop models to identify internal states of the brain
Researchers studied the courtship behaviors of fruit flies to gain insight into how the brain creates “internal states” which culminate from mood, past experiences and other variables. Continue Reading →
Princeton researchers explore how a carbon-fixing organelle forms via phase separation
A new study yields insights into how an organelle called the pyrenoid, which helps algae remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, forms inside the cell via a process similar to how oil separates from water. Continue Reading →
How hepatitis B and delta viruses establish infection of liver cells
Princeton University researchers have developed a new, scalable cell culture system that allows for detailed investigation of how host cells respond to infection with hepatitis B (HBV) and delta virus (HDV). The paper describing their Continue Reading →
Danger avoidance can be genetically encoded for four generations
Princeton University researchers have discovered that learned behaviors in worms of the species C. elegans can be inherited for multiple generations, transmitted from parent to progeny via eggs and sperm cells. The paper detailing this Continue Reading →
“Doing science,” rather than “being scientists,” more encouraging to those underrepresented in the field
Over the course of a school year, elementary school children lose confidence that they can “be scientists,” but remain more confident that they can “do science,” finds a new psychology study by researchers at New Continue Reading →
New progress in developing an animal model of hepatitis C
Small differences in a liver cell protein have significant impacts on hepatitis C virus replication in mice and humans, findings that could facilitate the development of a mouse model of the infection. The report, led Continue Reading →
For infection-fighting cells, a guideline for expanding the troops
T cells are like the special ops forces of the immune system, detecting and killing infected cells. When a new threat is detected, the cells ramp up from just a few sentry cells to a Continue Reading →
“Doing science,” rather than “being scientists,” more encouraging to girls, new research shows
Asking young girls to “do science” leads them to show greater persistence in science activities than does asking them to “be scientists,” finds a new psychology study by researchers at New York University and Princeton Continue Reading →
Finding meaning among the junk
By Kevin McElwee Only about 10 percent of the human genome are actually genes. The other 90 percent? Once called “junk DNA,” researchers now know that this genetic material contains on-off switches that can activate Continue Reading →
Lights, camera, action – of genes in development
By Yasemin Saplakoglu MOLECULAR BIOLOGIST MIKE LEVINE likes to recall his childhood when he talks about the reason he came to Princeton. “I grew up near Hollywood and I always loved movies as a kid, so Continue Reading →
A challenge to help kids
By Yasemin Saplakoglu A collaborative approach to sociology aims to target fundamental and perhaps overlooked issues to improve policies that affect the lives of disadvantaged children. The effort, called the Fragile Families Challenge, brings together Continue Reading →
Probing the genetic basis for dog-human relationships
By Pooja Makhijani A new study has identified genetic changes that are linked to dogs’ human-directed social behaviors and suggests there is a common underlying genetic basis for hyper-social behavior in both dogs and humans. Continue Reading →
How cancer stem cells evade the immune system
By Yasemin Saplakoglu When Daniel D. Liu first encountered the world of research, he saw giants in white lab coats shaking flasks and squirting liquids into small vials. He was 4 years old, and his Continue Reading →
In cells, self-destructive behavior suggests strategy for fighting cancer
SOMETIMES, TO SURVIVE, our cells destroy their own ribonucleic acid (RNA), the part of our genetic instruction code that helps turn genes into proteins. Cells do this as part of the first line of defense Continue Reading →
Bright future: Princeton researchers unlock the potential of light to perform previously impossible feats
By Bennett McIntosh One hundred years ago, Italian chemist Giacomo Ciamician predicted a future society that would run on sunlight. In a paper presented in 1912 to an international meeting of chemists in New York Continue Reading →
Tiny delivery capsules for new drugs
Some drugs cannot be delivered via a normal pill or injection because they cannot readily dissolve in water. About 40 percent of new pharmaceuticals have this hydrophobic (water-fearing) character, and like a globule of oil Continue Reading →
Imaging system tracks brain activity of a freely moving worm
TO EXPLORE HOW THE BRAIN controls behavior, researchers have for the first time captured the whole-brain activity of a freely moving animal, in this case a nematode worm called Caenorhabditis elegans. Using an imaging system Continue Reading →
Energy boost: Study sheds light on mitochondrial disease
INSIDE OUR CELLS, TINY FACTORIES convert nutrients from food into a form of energy that cells can use. Failure of these factories, known as mitochondria, can lead to metabolic disorders that are difficult to diagnose Continue Reading →
Listening in on bacterial communications
BACTERIA SPEAK TO ONE ANOTHER using a soundless language known as quorum sensing. In a step toward translating bacterial communications, researchers have revealed the structure and biosynthesis of streptide, a signaling molecule involved in the Continue Reading →
Measles may weaken immune system up to three years
THE MEASLES VIRUS can lead to serious disease in children by suppressing their immune systems for up to three years, according to a study published in the journal Science on May 8, 2015. The study Continue Reading →
Bioengineering: Unlocking the secrets of human health
By Takim Williams RED-HOT RIVERS OF MOLTEN COPPER and aluminum alloys streamed from one receptacle to another. As an undergraduate watching the demonstration in a materials science class, Clifford Brangwynne was reminded of cells migrating Continue Reading →
Striking resemblance: A physical law may govern very different biological activities
FLOCKS OF BIRDS FLY ACROSS THE SKY in shifting configurations. In the retina of an eye, millions of neurons ignite in ever-changing combinations, translating light into meaningful images. Yet both of these seemingly random behaviors Continue Reading →
No more mirrors: a new way of making molecules for tracking disease
RADIOACTIVITY IS USUALLY ASSOCIATED with nuclear fallout or comic-book spider bites, but in very small amounts it can be a useful tool for diagnosing diseases. Small molecules containing a radioactive isotope of fluorine, called 18F, Continue Reading →
How to train your worm to explore the circuits involved in learning
AS AN UNDERGRADUATE, Angelina Sylvain was fascinated to learn that devastating declines in cognition and muscle coordination could be caused by changes in a single gene — the cause of Huntington’s disease. She was intrigued Continue Reading →
Far from random, evolution follows a predictable pattern
Evolution, often perceived as a series of random changes, might in fact be driven by a simple and repeated genetic solution to an environmental pressure, according to new research. “Is evolution predictable? To a surprising Continue Reading →
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