Disrupting Itch-Related Process Could Relieve Relentless Itching
By Brandon Levy
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
For most people, the arrival of spring time means more time spent outdoors — and greater exposure to nuisances like biting insects and poison ivy that make us itch. New IRP research has revealed a detailed picture of how a particular type of cell causes itching, findings that may ultimately help researchers develop treatments for disorders that cause severe and long-lasting itch.
New Insights Could Help Reduce Premature Births
By Brandon Levy
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Any baby born less than 37 weeks after conception is considered premature, but not all premature births have the same root cause. In a new study, IRP researchers have detailed how a particular component of the immune system can trigger premature labor, which could help doctors prevent more preterm births.
New Technique Overcomes Major Obstacle to Stem-Cell-Based Treatments
By Brandon Levy
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Your brain cells need plenty of oxygen and nutrients to survive — that is, unless you’re a hibernating ground squirrel. By tapping into the cellular process that keeps these animals’ brains healthy during the long winter months, IRP scientists have discovered a way to increase the survival of neuron-producing stem cells implanted into the brain after a stroke, a development that could one day dramatically improve stroke treatment.
DNA Day Reddit “Ask Me Anything” Prompts Rousing Discussion
By Brandon Levy
Monday, May 6, 2019
Each year on April 25, we celebrate National DNA Day, which commemorates the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 and the discovery of DNA's double helix in 1953. On this day students, teachers, and the public learn more about genetics and genomics. In honor of DNA Day this year, on April 24, the NIH IRP partnered with the NIH's National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) to host a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) with three experts on the many ways that advances in the genomic sciences are changing our lives.
Drug Candidate Calms Overzealous Immune Response in the Eye
By Brandon Levy
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Our immune cells don’t like strangers and attack many organisms and substances that they have never seen before, including harmless ones. In autoimmune diseases, this reaction gets out of hand and our own cells are caught in the crossfire. IRP scientists have found that a new therapeutic compound can curb this sort of autoimmune carnage in the eye.
Supercomputing Helps IRP Researchers Complete Our Genetic Blueprints
By Brandon Levy
Monday, April 22, 2019
While the Human Genome Project accomplished a remarkable feat in sequencing all the genes in the human genome, technological limitations still left significant swaths of our genetic blueprints unexplored. Recent advances in DNA sequencing are starting to fill in those gaps, but these new technologies require new computational tools to make sense of the data they generate. That’s where computer scientists like the IRP’s Adam Phillippy, Ph.D., come in.
Study Results Could Help Improve Treatment for Alcohol-Related Problems
By Brandon Levy
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Your brain is always busy, even when you’re not thinking about anything. Scientists believe the way brain cells communicate with one another when the brain is in that ‘resting state’ might differ in individuals with certain diseases. In a recent study of this idea, IRP researchers found that resting state brain activity could effectively predict the severity of alcohol-related problems.
Computational Biology Research Conducted at NIH Garners $25,000 Prize
By Brandon Levy
Monday, April 8, 2019
The IRP is home to some of today’s and tomorrow’s greatest scientific minds. Hundreds of budding biomedical pioneers begin honing their scientific skills here in high school, but very few win distinction as quickly as seventeen-year-old Daniel Schäffer, whose IRP research earned him inclusion among this year’s 40 finalists in the prestigious Regeneron Science Talent Search.
New System Could Boost Treatment Effectiveness and Curb Side Effects
By Brandon Levy
Tuesday, April 2, 2019
Cancer kills more than half a million men, women, and children each year in the U.S, and chemotherapy is only slightly more discriminating than the disease it treats. As a result, many cancer treatments kill cells throughout the body and cause severe side effects. New IRP research could solve this problem by creating a way to release those toxic compounds only when and where doctors desire.
Discovery Could Lead to New Approaches for Boosting Blood Cell Counts
By Brandon Levy
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Much of human biology is a black box — scientists know the key players and the end results, but not how those outcomes come about. Consequently, it remains a mystery why some medications help patients. A new IRP study has cracked open the black box to reveal how high levels of an inflammatory molecule inhibit blood cell production in some individuals and why a particular medicine helps reverse this life-threatening condition.
