Our news internship
As described in the job listing earlier this month, Nature Medicine is currently accepting applications for its science writing internship. Read more
As described in the job listing earlier this month, Nature Medicine is currently accepting applications for its science writing internship. Read more
NEW YORK — Chimeras, part one species and part another, have a long and violent history in the world of art and religion. But the way society views the mythical creatures is changing, thanks in part to the advent of genetic engineering. Read more
Evidence is emerging that B cells, once thought to fight infection solely by producing antibodies, might also prevent disease without them. In the traditional view, antibodies specific to a bacterium or virus are produced by B cells and maintained against future infection by certain classes of T cells as part of the slow-but-smart ‘adaptive’ immune response. However, it seems that B cells also play an important role in the short-term immediate immune response to pathogens. Read more
For more than fifty years, blood smear tests for sickle cell disease have been the standard diagnostic tool for physicians. But the tests, which show whether the patient’s red blood cells have an abnormal form of the iron-carrying protein hemoglobin that will cause them to take on a crescent shape in response to low oxygen levels in the blood, fails to predict the severity of symptoms. It is a large diagnostic loophole, considering the symptoms of sickle cell disease, which affects more than 13 million people worldwide, can range from tiredness to life-threatening blood vessel clogs. A new microfluidic chip promises to change that by providing a way to measure the risk of dangerous vascular clogging before it happens. Read more
Deep-fried butter balls. Egg-bacon-burgers on donuts. Fried cheesecake. These are not recommended foods for someone suffering from a chronic metabolic disorder, but this week Paula Deen, the Food Network cooking show host behind such heart disease-inducing recipes, made public that she has type 2 diabetes, a disease she was diagnosed with three years ago. Deen also announced that she is leading a campaign called ‘Diabetes in a New Light’, which is being launched by Denmark’s Novo Nordisk to promote the company’s $500 million-a-year diabetes drug Victoza (liraglutide) in the US. Read more
We all know the pharmaceutical industry is in trouble — what, with the precipitous patent cliff, soaring price of drug development and the death of the megablockbuster. And much ink has been spilled about the potential solutions to pharma’s problems, from mergers to academic partnerships to new research units. But what if the entire R&D enterprise is fundamentally flawed? Read more
In this month’s episode of the Nature Medicine podcast, we discuss research papers demonstrating new treatment options for chronic pain and spinocerebellar ataxia, as well as news features about autism and Lou Gehrig’s disease. Read more
‘Kalydeco’ may sound like a type of Californian interior design style, but it’s actually the name of a new cystic fibrosis drug that Vertex Pharmaceutical announced today it has submitted for market approval in the US. Read more
One of the most potent players within the immune system is the so-called ‘natural killer cell’. The ‘NK’ cell attacks by emptying sacks full of destructive proteins, known as lytic granules, across its membrane into a diseased cell, causing the target to dissolve. And, in research published today in PLoS Biology, molecular immunologists from Imperial College London caught it all on film using specialized microscopy technology. Read more
In this month’s Nature Medicine podcast, we talk to the virologist tasked with ensuring scientific accuracy in the new film Contagion, and discuss ways to improve cancer treatments. Read more
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