Acute leukemia is characterized by the proliferation and accumulation of hematopoietic progenitor cells (which are able to differentiate to create specialized cell types) in the bone marrow that impede normal blood production. D epending on the cell population affected, it can be classified in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). ALL starts […]
Two years of battling COVID-19 has been bad news for tuberculosis (TB) programmes. Respiratory clinicians and researchers have had their time and focus directed elsewhere. And TB has taken advantage. In 2021, the number of TB deaths rose for the first time in over a decade. The barriers caused by lockdowns and overstretched healthcare systems […]
C ardiovascular diseases currently form the most important class of non-contagious diseases and a leading cause of mortality in industrialized nations . Specifically, coronary heart disease is the first cause of death among the cardiovascular diseases . The myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a “heart attack”, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops in […]
How an organism can sense and cope with warming temperatures is key for survival, particularly under current global warming trends. The importance of this subject was recognized by 2021’s Nobel prize in Physiology & Medicine awarded to work on TRP channels, key mammalian peripheral heat sensors. Endotherms -such as mammals and birds – maintain their […]
Author: Marta Irigoyen is a postdoctoral researcher at CIC bioGUNE Since COVID-19 disease arrived in our lives at the beginning of last year, we are giving increased importance to our immune system status. We are worried about if it is working properly and can attack correctly the SARS-CoV-2. For this reason, lot of people are […]
DISCLAIMER: in no way is this an article to justify not getting vaccinated or not wearing a mask in closed spaces! At this point, I think most of us can agree that a diet rich in vegetables/fruits is good for your health. But what wasn’t entirely clear was the relationship between nutrition and COVID-19 risk […]
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were hints at particular genes which increased some people’s susceptibility to get infected and the severity of illness once infected. Now, an international study (nearly 3500 researchers from 25 countries) on more than 45000 people infected with SARS-CoV-2, showed a link between 13 genetic variants and the […]
Author: José R. Pineda got his Ph.D. from University of Barcelona in 2006. Since 2007 he has worked for Institut Curie and The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission. Currently he is a researcher of the UPV/EHU. He investigates the role of stem cells in physiologic and pathologic conditions. A long time ago, I […]
In a paper led by Passaro and coworkers we sought to identify a functional link between the activity of a protein called calcineurin and the response of a type of leukemic cells known as “T-ALL” to microenvironmental signals. Furthermore, we wanted to determine whether interrupting these signals could affect to leukemia development, thus providing alternative […]
Gene editing could be the solution to progeria, a genetic disease, characterized by extremely fast ageing. Progeria causes fast ageing and premature death in people carrying a single-point mutation in the LMNA gene, which basically leads to the production of a toxic protein which slowly damages the cells, ageing the bodies. This simple misspelling of […]