Doing research in molecular biology is not straightforward, because most of the experimental work is based in the study of molecules which cannot be seen by the unaided eye. Instead, we rely on indirect evidence given by methods which are specific for each area of research. Let’s focus here as an illustrative example at someone […]
The stem cell research field shocked the scientific community back in 2006 thanks to Shinya Yamanaka, who found a way to obtain pluripotent stem cells from adult somatic cells . The recipe consisted of just four genes encoding for transcription factors allowing him to reprogram mouse fibroblasts into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The “Yamanaka […]
Laboratory mice are one of the most valuable tools scientists rely on to understand how pathologies work. In order to find a cure for a disease, we need to have comprehensive knowledge of the physiological processes which are impaired. For instance, we can manipulate mice genetically to assess the effect of either the deletion, overexpression […]
We perceive the world surrounding us through our senses. Thanks to them we can have a pleasant time listening to Claude Debussy or get delighted by the scent of rosemary. We blindly trust them, but are they always truthful? A good answer would be they are accurate most of the time, although it seems nature […]
The way we approach pain therapies doesn’t differ from the ones taken for other diseases. The aim is to look for molecular targets, which can be suitable for chemical intervention thoroughly assessing both efficacy and safety profiles for the drug, issues that are addressed throughout various stages of clinical trials. In the specific case of […]
We all have listened about gene therapy, and for those who are old enough not in a good way, at all. Gene therapy became the most promising clinical therapy in the 1990s and this technology was meant to transform medicine. In essence, the concept of gene therapy is pretty simple: the introduction of an exogenous […]
Last Friday I was, as is always the case listening to an enthusiastic talk given by one of the PhD students from my department. As part of her PhD work, she is trying to understand why periodontitis, an inflammatory disease where gums get swollen as a consequence of bacterial infection, is essentially painless. This is […]
We are one of a kind because our genetic background says so. When our parents conceived us, one set of chromosomes from each of them merged to create a brand new diploid cell called zygote, which is already unique. Yet, such singularity doesn’t start with the zygote itself, but much earlier with our progenitors. The […]
Most people in Spain have heard about the ongoing bitter polemic between the Victims of Hepatitis C Platform and the Spanish government with regard to the access to a new medication called Sovaldi approved by the Spanish government last 1st October. The main reason for such clash between them is simple: the asking price for […]
In 1968, the Canadian psychologist from McGill University Ronald Melzack described pain as being multidimensional and complex, with sensory-discriminative, affective-motivational and cognitive-evaluative components . Such definition may be a hint as to why the biological meaning of pain has been an (to date) unceasing matter of debate since Aristotle, who thought pain is just a […]