Tiny tweaks in DNA folding can have big effects. A study from Umeå University shows that even the most subtle changes in DNA's shape have an important influence on gene activity and energy production.

People need to sleep, and sleep deprivation can cause many changes in the brain. But we have a poor understanding of why sleep is so crucial. New research has examined a fruit fly model to assess how ...

Researchers have a new hypothesis for how brain cells called astrocytes might contribute to memory storage in the brain. Their model, known as dense associative memory, would help explain the brain's ...

A new study from Karolinska Institutet shows that damage to small blood vessels in the hereditary disease CADASIL may disrupt ...

The regulatory division of the immune system is vital for its overall function. Immune T cells originate in the bone marrow and then travel to the thymus—a kind of biological police academy. 2 Here, ...

Improvements in public health have allowed humankind to survive to older ages than ever before, but, for many people, these added golden years are not spent in good health. Aging is a natural part of ...

A study suggests red blood cells can become more harmful to blood vessel function the longer someone lives with type 2 diabetes Newly diagnosed people did not show the same effect initially, but ...

Cancer is a disease that causes abnormal cells to reproduce and spread to other parts of the body, which can result in tumors or damage to the immune system that may become fatal. Healthy cells follow ...

Parkinson's disease is associated with toxic clumps of the alpha-synuclein protein in the brain, which disrupt healthy cell communication. Now, a new study shows another way this protein may damage ...