What's the Connection Between Multiple Sclerosis and the JC Virus?

The John Cunningham Virus, also known as the JC virus, is a typically harmless virus.

It is found in the blood samples of 70 to 90 percent of people worldwide.

Children with JC virus often show no symptoms. The JC virus can also be found in the body much later in life without complications. It is commonly found in the kidneys, bone marrow, and some body tissues.

Read more:  What's the Connection Between Multiple Sclerosis and the JC Virus?

The risk of PML is higher in people who take certain medications to treat multiple sclerosis.

Source: medicalnewstoday

The Father of All Men is 340,000 Years Old

Albert Perry carried a secret in his DNA: a Y chromosome so distinctive that it reveals new information about the origin of our species. It shows that the last common male ancestor down the paternal line of our species is over twice as old as we thought.

One possible explanation is that hundreds of thousands of years ago, modern and archaic humans in central Africa interbred, adding to known examples of interbreeding – with Neanderthals in the Middle East, and with the enigmatic Denisovans somewhere in southeast Asia.

Perry, recently deceased, was an African-American who lived in South Carolina. A few years ago, one of his female relatives submitted a sample of his DNA to a company called Family Tree DNA for genealogical analysis.

Read more:  The Father of All Men is 340,000 Years Old

Dwarfed by the X chromosome, the Y seems more ancient than we thought

Source: newscientist

Sickle Cell Disease: Nurses Need Better Training, says Health Union

The NHS needs nurses to be better trained in dealing with sickle cell disease, a union has warned.

The Royal College of Nursing described a poor level of awareness and knowledge in accident and emergency units about the potentially fatal disease.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the name for a group of inherited conditions that affect the red blood cells - the worst of which is sickle cell anaemia.

Read more:  Sickle Cell Disease: Nurses Need Better Training, says Health Union

Source: bbc.com/news/health

Ovarian Cancer: New Imaging Technique Helps Surgeons Remove More of Tumor.

The amount of tumor tissue that is left after surgery is an important factor in ovarian cancer patient survival. Currently, surgeons have to rely on their eyes and hands to find malignant tissue. Now, new research shows how an imaging technique using a new type of fluorescent compound helped surgeons detect and remove nearly 30 percent more ovarian tumor tissue than usual.

The new technique was tested in a small exploratory study led by Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) in the Netherlands and published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.

One of the study leaders, Dr. Alexander L. Vahrmeijer, who heads an image-guided surgery group at LUMC, says:

"Surgery is the most important treatment for ovarian cancer, and surgeons mainly have to rely on their naked eyes to identify tumor tissue, which is not optimal."

Read more: Ovarian Cancer: New Imaging Technique Helps Surgeons Remove More of Tumor.

The experimental study shows that the new imaging system helped surgeons remove more tumor
issue in patients with ovarian cancer.

Source: medicalnewstoday

Food Pathogen Detection via Handheld 'Nanoflower' Biosensor

At present, harmful pathogens in food are mostly only discovered when people get sick. Earlier detection - preferably before food reaches consumers - could prevent many cases of foodborne illness and save the cost and effort involved in food recalls. Now, a team working toward solving this problem has developed a portable biosensor based on "nanoflowers" that detects harmful bacteria.

The new technology is the work of researchers at Washington State University (WSU) in Pullman, who describe how they developed and tested it in a paper published in the journal Small.

Even tiny amounts of harmful bacteria and other microbes can give rise to serious health risks, but the available sensor technology is unable to detect them easily and quickly in small quantities.

The key challenge in solving this problem is finding a way to detect the faint chemical signals that the harmful microbes emit at the molecular level.

Read more:  Food Pathogen Detection via Handheld 'Nanoflower' Biosensor

The nanoflower biosensor detects tiny chemical signals emitted by bacteria and amplifies them so they
can be picked up easily with a simple handheld pH meter.

Source: medicalnewstoday

Molecular Biology Videos: How to Perform Colony PCR!

This video on molecular biology demonstrates how to perform colony PCR as part of a cloning workflow using Thermo Scientific DreamTaq DNA Polymerase.

Republished for Medical Education, Awareness & Information

Source: ThermofisherScientific

Obesity Linked to Abnormal Reward Response to Sugary Foods

An unhealthy diet is considered a key contributor to obesity. When it comes to cravings for sweet treats, however, impairments in the brain's reward system might be to blame.

In a new study published in the journal Diabetes, researchers found age and receptor levels of the reward-associated chemical dopamine influence preference for sweet foods among people of a healthy weight, but not for people who are obese.

First author M. Yanina Pepino, Ph.D., of the Washington University School of Medicine, and colleagues reached their findings by enrolling 44 adults aged 20-40 years.

Read more: Obesity Linked to Abnormal Reward Response to Sugary Foods

Researchers say the reward system in the brains of obese individuals appears to be impaired in
response to sweet foods.

Source: medicalnewstoday

Biomedical Laboratory Automation

Improve safety and efficiency in various types of clinical laboratories with Thermo Scientific™ TCAutomation™ Laboratory Automation Solutions. This expandable and scalable, fully-featured laboratory automation solution allows labor-intensive tasks in pre- and post-analytical phases of sample management to be automated in different combinations. Depending on the floor plan and efiiciency requirements, the TCAutomation™ systems can be expanded step-by-step.

TCAutomation™ systems throughput can range from 250 up to 1000 tubes per hour. Because solutions are modular, they are easy to expand. Automating can be started from a certain function and built up towards total laboratory automation. Samples are transported in the system within dual-lane conveyors in a multitube carrier which accommodates several tube sizes. The carrier includes an embedded microchip, based on RFID technology, making sample identification fast and reliable, and enabling excellent real-time sample tracking possibilities.

Read more: Biomedical Laboratory Automation

Download: Thermo Scientific TCAutomation Laboratory Automation Solution

Source: ThermoFisherScientific

How stress increases seizures for patients with epilepsy

It is well known that stress can increase the frequency and severity of seizures for patients with epilepsy. Now, researchers have shed light on why this is, and they may have even found a way to stop it.

Published in the journal Science Signaling, the researchers reveal how epilepsy alters the way brain reacts to stress to cause seizures.

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by recurrent seizures, which are sudden surges of electrical activity in the brain.

Read more: How stress increases seizures for patients with epilepsy

Researchers have shed light on why stress increases seizure frequency for patients with epilepsy.

Source: medicalnewstoday

All You Need to Know About Insulin Sensitivity Factor

Insulin is a hormone that plays and important role in the body's metabolism by controlling blood sugar levels and other processes.

It is produced by beta cells in the pancreas and released it into the bloodstream after we eat to enable some body cells, such as muscle, fat, and heart cells, to absorb the sugar from the food we eat.

Insulin also helps store glucose in the liver as glycogen when it is not needed, so it can be released it when blood sugar levels are low or when more energy is needed.

Read more: All You Need to Know About Insulin Sensitivity Factor

Insulin sensitivity factor reflects how blood sugar levels fall after taking 1 unit of insulin.

Source: medicalnewstoday