Tag: research
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Early melting of snow in the Arctic drives advancing springtime
New research indicates that spring snow melt, and to a lesser extent temperature, are key drivers of the timing of spring in the Arctic. These findings, from studies of plants from coastal sites around the Arctic, are important for understanding and documenting how the region is responding to climate change. The Arctic is warming more…
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Dog DNA could aid quest to help breeds breathe more easily
If you have ever taken a stroll through a popular dog park, you will have seen this classic sight. A dog owner strides purposefully ahead while their pug or french bulldog struggles to keep up, a cacophony of snorts, grunts and wheezes. These noises are part of the awkward, bumbling nature of pugs and bulldogs…
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Can cannabis curb the challenges of autism?
Cannabis has long been a contentious substance in many societies. Holding a class B classification in the United Kingdom (UK) under the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act, possession of cannabis can result in a prison sentence of up to five years or a hefty fine. However, in late 2018, the UK relaxed its regulations about…
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A genetic link between inflammation and depression?
Whilst there are many different cell types in our body, each contains the same DNA. In order to perform their particular roles, the cell types react differently to the DNA’s instructions by controlling when and how much each gene is expressed. There are entire subsets of genes whose only function is to regulate the expression…
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Can whales learn deafness?
If you’re reading this on your computer then you’re probably within reaching distance of them. Go anywhere amongst the public and you’ll notice that a lot of people are wearing them. Headphones and earphones are becoming more and more commonplace throughout our lives. Some particularly sophisticated versions can even suppress environmental noises and enhance the…
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Cancers produce painkillers
Cancer is often synonymous with pain and suffering. Abnormal cell growths produce multiple substances which increase the sensitivity and excitability of nociceptors (pain transmitting neurons), inducing hyperalgesia, a general increased sensitivity to pain, as well as allodynia, when a pain response is triggered by stimuli which do not normally provoke pain. However, not all types…
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Ancestral interbreeding: our Neanderthal relatives may be closer than we thought
Neanderthals, our enigmatic and extinct relatives, may have been even more closely related to us then we thought, new research suggests. It is well established that modern humans interbred with Neanderthals in Europe around 50,000 years ago, leaving Eurasians with around 1-3% of our genome containing Neanderthal DNA. However, it now appears that this was…
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The clock is tic-ing for Tourette’s syndrome
Tourette Syndrome, or simply Tourette’s, has historically captured the public eye, and ear, by being simply too bizarre to ignore. It causes sufferers to perform ‘tics’ – brief involuntary actions such as arm movements and fragments of speech. Notoriously, the vocal tics can sometimes be socially inappropriate, e.g. swear words, horrific obscenities or comments on…
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Artificial intelligence is improving Down syndrome diagnosis
Artificial intelligence is being widely employed across research and applied medicine, offering attractive new opportunities for diagnosis and treatment. Recently, a team of research groups from the Netherlands, Cyprus and the UK proposed an algorithm to improve diagnosis of trisomy 21, or Down syndrome. Their results were published in the most recent ‘Ultrasound in Obstetrics and…