A new study published by researchers at Arizona State University, led by Dr. Carlo Maley, in Nature Communications set out to examine whether vertebrates that have high blood sugar are at greater risk of developing cancer. The current study follows on the heels of prior work by his team that was published in Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health last summer showing that cancer prevalence is lower in birds than other […]
The Midland Society of Physiological Sciences, comprised of physiologists in Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota is hosting their annual chapter meeting this weekend at the University of South Dakota. Dr. Javier Stern, Distinguished University Professor and Director of the Center for Neuroinflammation and Cardiometabolic Diseases at Georgia State University will present the Keynote lecture on the role of neuropeptides in the hypothalamus of the brain. The title of his […]
Back in 2012, the American Physiological Society put together an amazing list of the top ten articles cited in each of their journals every quarter of a century in honor of their 125th anniversary. In looking through the website this week, I stumbled upon this collection and was reminded about the amazing early foundational work and excellence in physiology research found within this body of work. So, I’d like to […]
As we talked about previously, bats are amazing mammals. Like Batman, they fly and fight off many potential enemies. – albeit their enemies are typically microscopic as opposed to cartoon-like super-villains. Their remarkable resilience to cancers and various pathogens has attracted the attention of scientists and even resulted in the formation of the Bat1K Consortium aimed at sequencing the genome of various species of bats to search for clues that […]
Programmed cell death, otherwise known as apoptosis, is an important physiological process that allows the body to get rid of cells that are no longer needed or are damaged. These functions help foster normal growth and development as well as prevent cancer. Apoptosis is a highly regulated process that involves various caspase enzymes, with caspase-3 being among the “executioner” enzymes responsible for the final stages of apoptosis and ultimate cellular […]
Like the wolves of Chernobyl, small nematodes (Oscheius tipulae) in the area appear to be resistant to developing radiation-induced genetic mutations. In fact, scientists have been unable to detect any changes in their genome, in comparison to individuals living in other parts of the world, despite their highly radioactive environment. Source: SC Tintori, D Cağlar, P Ortiz, MV Rockman. Environmental radiation exposure at Chornobyl has not systematically affected the genomes […]
Like humans, dogs are at risk of spontaneously developing cancer as they age. In fact, cancer is the leading cause of death for dogs (Gardner et al., 2016). Research suggests that dogs may better model cancer than rodents because the disease progression is similar to humans including involvement of the immune system, molecular pathways, variations between animals, tumor resistance to chemotherapy, and metastasis (Gardner et al., 2016). Thus, understanding and […]
Bats are known for their strong immune systems and impressive longevity. In fact, some species live 20 years or more in the wild. Unlike many long-lived species, however, cancer is a rare occurrence in bats. A new study published in Genome Biology and Evolution examined the link between immune function and cancer resistance in bats. The team characterized the genome of Jamaican fruit bats (Artibeus jamaicensis) and Mesoamerican mustached bats […]
Scientists have come up with a truly unique tool to try to detect cancer – ants. Yes, ants. Ants are known for their strong sense of smell, which helps them locate food pretty well. Interestingly, some forms of cancer can alter the smell of urine and ants may be able to detect those changes. Their findings on the potential use of ants as “bio-detectors” of cancer were published in the […]
Scientists have created a vaccine that slows aging, at least in mice. Their findings were recently published in Nature Aging. As we age, the ability for the body to get rid of damaged cells declines, which can lead to inflammation and a host of diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, as well as atherosclerosis. The vaccine works by triggering the immune system to create antibodies against a specific protein associated with […]
Life Lines by Dr. Dolittle 