A preliminary university investigation has revealed that University of Texas (UT) environmental health and safety officials disposed of multiple brain specimens in approximately 2002 in accordance with protocols concerning biological waste, according to a Dec. 3 statement  by the school.

3D printers are driving a new wave of engineering and design

Using a new imaging technique, National Institutes of Health researchers have found that the biological machinery that builds DNA can insert molecules into the DNA strand that are damaged as a result of environmental exposures. These damaged molecules trigger cell death that produces some human diseases, according to the researchers. The work, appearing online Nov. 17 in the journal Nature, provides a possible explanation for how one type of DNA damage may lead to cancer, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular and lung disease, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Catalog of mouse functional genome pinpoints similarities and some significant differences.

The Mouse ENCODE (ENCyclopedia Of DNA Elements) project is building a comprehensive catalog of functional elements in the mouse genome, and is comparing them to those in the human genome.

A couple of years ago a scientist looking at dozens of MRI scans of human brains noticed something surprising. A large, fiber pathway that seemed to be part of the network of connections that process visual information showed up on the scans, but the researcher couldn’t find it mentioned in any of the modern-day anatomy textbooks he had.

We’re entering the era of big neuroscience. In a little over a year, the United States, Europe, Japan and Israel have launched brain research projects with big budgets and bold ambitions. Several other countries are expected to follow suit. But what has propelled neuroscience to the vanguard, and what impact will these initiatives have on the field?

Damaged messenger RNA can jam cellular machines that make protein. The failure to clear the jams and chew up bad messengers is associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

Study identifies new player in brain function and memory.

Induced neural stem cells (iNSCs) created from adult cells hold promise for therapeutic transplantation, but their potential in this capacity has been limited by failed efforts to maintain such cells in the desirable multi-potent NSC state without continuous expression of the transcription factors used initially to reprogram them. 

New TSRI study shows how brain maps develop to help us perceive the world.

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) researcher Vladimir Zharov, Ph.D., D.Sc., recently was awarded a  $1.5 million grant by the National Institutes of Health to investigate the use of nanoparticles in cancer diagnosis and treatment.