The official MedZine Blog

American researchers have succeeded at imaging a mouse brain at a scale previously unachievable. They describe their imaging tool in a recent publication in Cell. Jeff Lichtman, study senior author and researcher at Harvard University: "For people who are imagers, being able to see all of these details is wonderful.” Continue reading

At the Dutch Medicines Days (DMD), the Galen awards have been presented. Led by a jury, these awards are presented anually to one researcher and one drug that is the most innovative and meaningful. This year’s best researcher was Tom Würdinger, PhD of the neuro-oncology group at the VUmc, Amsterdam. The award for the best drug went to Kalydeco from Vertex, a compound indicated for cystic fibrosis (CF). Continue reading

Scientists from Tufts University in Boston have created three-dimensional brain tissue which functions in the same manner and has a similar structure as the brain of a rat. The results are published in the early august online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Continue reading

This week, we highlight two recent publications in MedZine. One of them is a publication in Cell by researchers of the John Hopkins Institue for Cell Engineering. The cell biologists from Baltimore performed pioneering research into the mechanisms behing the onset of Parkinson’s disease (PD) by a mutation in LRRK2. The other article, by scientists of the McGill University of Montreal published in Immunity, deals with the role of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in influenza A infection. The researchers showed that inhibition of PGE2 causes an increase in the survival rate of mice, when infected with a lethal dose of the influenza virus. Continue reading

For the first time, scientists of the university of Georgetown (US), found biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) in blood samples, which were present before any visible symptoms of AD were visible. Last weekend, they published their results in Nature Medicine. These biomarkers could detect AD two to three years before any detectable memory or function loss. MedZine spoke about this development to prof. dr. Philip Scheltens, who is a professor in cognitive neurology and director of the Alzheimer Center at the VU medical center in Amsterdam, and dr. ir. Charlotte Teunissen, who is head of the neurochemistry laboratory at the VU medical center in Amsterdam and an expert on AD biomarkers. Continue reading

Also this week MedZine brings you the latest medical news on various medical specialisms. In this editorial two striking studies in the field of neurology are highlighted. The first identifies an inhibitor that slows neuronal degeneration and shows potential as a therapy against Alzheimer’s disease. The second describes how muscles accidentally fall asleep while someone is awake. Continue reading

Also this week MedZine brings you the latest medical news on various medical specialisms. In this editorial two striking studies are highlighted. The first study identifies the neuronal circuits in the spinal cord of mice that control the ability to produce the alternating movements of the legs during walking. The second shows that a liver protein has a critical role during pregnancy. Continue reading

Also this week MedZine brings you the latest medical news on various medical specialisms. In this editorial some striking studies are highlighted. This week we have selected two studies, both concerning neurological breakthroughs. The first describes the development of a process that renders a whole brain transparent. The second study sheds light on one of the major toxic mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease. Continue reading

Also this week MedZine brings you the latest medical news on various medical specialisms. In this editorial, we want to highlight two interesting neurological studies. The first study identifies a molecular memory switch in the brain. The other article tackles the question if it takes longer to make good decisions. Continue reading

Also this week MedZine brings you the latest medical news on various medical specialisms. In this editorial some striking studies are highlighted. This week you can read about a mouse model for schizophrenia, the neuronal make-up that makes peopele behave differently and about heart valve disease because of unusual cholesterol. Continue reading