New research has yielded the strongest evidence yet that irisin, a hormone discovered by Dana-Farber’s Bruce Spiegelman, PhD, that is produced in the body by muscular exercise, can by itself improve cognitive functions and potentially reverse some of the memory-destroying effects of Alzheimer’s disease. Reporting in the journal Nature Metabolism, Spiegelman and co-authors from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) show in a series of animal…
In the summer of 2021, after several US states introduced legislation to limit or criminalize gender-affirming care for trans people, Delia Sosa created “Nonbinary Bodies,” a digital art piece that features a simple, handwritten message: “Nonbinary bodies are still bodies.” As a trans nonbinary person, Sosa is acutely aware of how difficult it is for many trans and nonbinary people…
Leveraging Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s (BIDMC) existing strengths in leading edge biomedical research and extraordinary patient care, BIDMC leadership launched a new initiative designed to speed up the discovery of novel treatments and advance personalized medicine. Known as Translational Research Hubs, these interdisciplinary research communities will maximize collaboration among researchers and clinicians and will focus on therapeutic areas that…
Though accumulation of a protein called TDP-43 appears to be a signature of almost all cases of the terminal neurodegenerative disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), scientists don’t yet know exactly how that may contribute to the devastating damage to neurons that characterizes both ALS and the related condition, frontotemporal lobar degeneration with motor neuron disease (FTLD/MND). With a Transformative Research Award from…
Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and MIT have developed a new way to determine whether individual patients will respond to a specific cancer drug or not. This kind of test could help doctors to choose alternative therapies for patients who don’t respond to the therapies normally used to treat their cancer. The new study, which appears today in Cell Reports, focused…
Celia A. Schiffer, PhD, has accepted the position of chair of the newly renamed Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biotechnology, effective Oct. 1. Formerly the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Pharmacology, the new name reflects the expanded role of cutting-edge technologies such as cryo-electron microscopy and computational biology, as well as the science of pharmacology in bringing a molecular perspective…
As tumors grow within an organ, they also release cells that enter the bloodstream. These cells can travel to other organs, seeding new tumors called metastases. MIT engineers have now developed a technique that, for the first time, allows them to measure the generation rate of these circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in mice. Their approach, which also reveals how…
What if current treatment of insulin resistance was only perpetuating the disease and causing disease to get worse? According to BUSM researchers type 2 diabetes patients are often prescribed drugs that increase insulin release into the blood, which lowers blood glucose but may in fact increase the insulin resistance with long-term use. Many of these patients have elevated insulin even…
A promise of precision cancer medicine is for oncologists to tailor treatment based on a patient’s unique molecular profile. In practice, however, interpreting the vast array of data points which make up a person and their cancer is challenging, and only made more difficult as oncologists begin to consider additional complex features. Databases and analytical tools that oncologists might use…
Some time in Earth’s early history, the planet took a turn toward habitability when a group of enterprising microbes known as cyanobacteria evolved oxygenic photosynthesis — the ability to turn light and water into energy, releasing oxygen in the process. This evolutionary moment made it possible for oxygen to eventually accumulate in the atmosphere and oceans, setting off a domino…