Mucus-Eating Gut Bacteria May Promote Fever After Cancer Treatment
One of the most common consequences of cytotoxic cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation, is the loss of a type of white blood cell called neutrophils—a phenomenon known as neutropenia. In some severe cases of neutropenia, patients develop a fever. Research published November 16 in Science Translational Medicine links this fever to mucus-degrading bacteria in the gut, […]
Read More
Epigenetic Manipulations Can Accelerate or Reverse Aging in Mice
As they age, mammalian cells accrue distinct epigenetic signatures—for example, variations in DNA methylation patterns. Yet it has remained unclear whether these are a cause or a consequence of aging. A study published today (January 12) in Cell provides evidence that epigenetic disruptions alone accelerate the molecular, physiological, and neurocognitive aging in mice, and that this is driven […]
Read More
Handmade Hemoglobin, 1912-2012
Today, the cause of sickle cell disease is well understood to be a point mutation in a hemoglobin gene called HBB that makes red blood cells grow stiff and misshapen. Sixty years ago, however, top scientific minds struggled to understand the mechanisms of that so-called sickling of cells. The answer came, in part, thanks to a massive […]
Read More
