Research News

Two of the four known groups of human AIDS viruses originated in western lowland gorillas in Cameroon, according to a new study. An international team of scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Montpellier, the University of Edinburgh, and colleagues conducted a comprehensive survey of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection in African gorillas.

Scientists have successfully developed healthy cartilage from embryonic stem cells, a breakthrough that could help treat arthritis patients.

US researchers have successfully used a dog to sniff out thyroid cancer in people who had not yet been diagnosed. The trained scent dog accurately identified whether patients' urine samples had thyroid cancer or were benign (noncancerous) 88.2 per cent of the time, researchers said.

A young Indian scientist based in Germany has been awarded a grant of 1.5 million euros to investigate the role of gut microbiota in autoimmune diseases of the central nervous system such as Multiple Sclerosis. The Starting Grants of the European Research Council (ERC) seek to give talented scientists at an early stage in their careers the freedom to pursue their most creative ideas.

The appearance of infectious diseases in new places and new hosts, such as West Nile virus and Ebola, is a predictable result of climate change, scientists say. Humans can expect more such illnesses to emerge in the future, as climate change shifts habitats and brings wildlife, crops, livestock, and humans into contact with pathogens to which they are susceptible but to which they have never been exposed before, researchers said.

An experimental drug may help treat patients with hormone-resistant breast cancer, scientists say. Palbociclib, an investigational oral medication that works by blocking molecules responsible for cancer cell growth, is well tolerated and extends progression-free survival (PFS) in newly diagnosed, advanced breast cancer patients, including those whose disease has stopped responding to traditional endocrine treatments, researchers said.

Our taste cells regenerate about every 10 days, much like skin cells, scientists say.A person who loses their hearing may never get it back. It is also likely that they won't get back any brain cells they may have burned out.

In a remarkable medical feat, neurologist Dr. Naeem Sadiq has successfully treated a patient suffering from Parkinson's disease (PD) for the last 12 years by using stem cell therapy. 59 years old Ashok Kumar, who couldn't talk, walk, sit or eat due to the tremors and rigidity is now doing all these activities without any support, much to the astonishment of his family. Just two doses of stem cell transplant in a span of four months helped Kumar to recover.