A specific region of the brain may become a target to develop music-based treatments to help alleviate anxiety in patients with dementia

Researchers explore drug-seeking behavior with a zebrafish animal model

Previous research has shown that pairing antibiotics can be more effective than using single drugs, but finding these perfect matches has proven elusive

Clinical trials will need to be done determine whether yeast exacerbates IBD in people as it does in mice

Researchers report on a version of genetic parental control in mice that is more targeted, and subtle than canonical imprinting

As many as 1.4 million Americans suffer from uncomfortable abdominal cramping and diarrhea that come with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. These conditions, collectively known as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), are associated with an imbalance among the thousands of species of “good” bacteria that inhabit the gut. A University of Utah study published on Jan. 22, 2015, in Cell Host and Microbe demonstrates that mice deficient for a component of the immune system, a protein called MyD88, have an imbalanced gut bacterial community – with some species dominating over others - and are more susceptible to contracting a severe IBD-like illness. Further, fecal transplants from healthy donors alleviate IBD symptoms in these mice.

Open any introductory biology textbook and one of the first things you’ll learn is that our DNA spells out the instructions for making proteins, tiny machines that do much of the work in our body’s cells. Results from a study published on Jan. 2 in Science defy textbook science, showing for the first time that the building blocks of a protein, called amino acids, can be assembled without blueprints – DNA and an intermediate template called messenger RNA (mRNA). A team of researchers has observed a case in which another protein specifies which amino acids are added. 

Findings may help explain why those less sensitive to the negative effects of alcohol may drink more heavily