The official MedZine Blog

The leading biomedical scientific journal PLOS Biology recently introduced a new section that focuses on meta-research. According to the editors of this section, more attention for this type of studies is necessary because biomedical research too often lacks transparency in terms of data and protocol availability, and funding. Continue reading

Scientists of the Imperial College London developed a method to prevent the spreading of malaria. They did this by adapting the genetic material of Anopheles gambiae, one of the malaria-spreading mosquito species. The researchers published their findings in Nature Biotechnology. Continue reading

Antibiotic use during the third trimester of pregnancy leads to an increased risk of childhood wheeze, according to an article published in the European Respiratory Journal. Antibiotic use in pregnancy and the risk of wheeze is a widely debated topic and a new study has evaluated whether confounding factors could explain this suggested association. But an excess risk of wheezing after antibiotic exposure during the third trimester of pregnancy remained after adjustment for confounding factors. Continue reading

Finnish researchers discovered a genetic mutation causing reckless and impulsive behaviour in carriers under the influence of alcohol. This behaviour is more extreme for what may be expected based on the alcohol use. According to the researchers, these behavioural changes are caused by a mutation in the serotonine 2B receptor gene. The results of their research is published in Translational Psychiatry. Continue reading

There is a large variation in the amount of legally required information pharmaceutical companies supply in clinical drug research. That is the conclusion of research conducted by the New York University Langone Medical Center, written in BMJ Open. Continue reading

British scientists from the Institute of Cancer Research discovered four novel genetic markers that are associated with an elevated risk of testicular cancer. That is written in Nature Communications. Including these four, a total of 25 markers have been discovered, allowing for an easier identification of men with an elevated risk of testicular cancer. Continue reading

The influenza virus is an important cause of respiratory infections in young children in Kenya, compared to the same group in the United States or Europe. This is shown by PhD research by Gideon Emukule, who works at the Primary Care Department of the Radboudumc. With data from Emukule Kenya may improve their strategies against influenza, including in the field of vaccination. The review was published in PLOS ONE. Continue reading

The genetic profile of tumor organoids made of metastases of colorectal cancer corresponds with the tumor tissue. That is the conclusion of a research group led by Emile Voest, professor of medical oncology and director of the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI). The results of the study were published in PNAS on October 12, 2015. This is an important step towards predicting the potential effect of a cancer treatment on an individual level. Continue reading

The way in which the heart ages is sex dependent. This difference is the biggest in the left ventricle – clinically relevant because its mass is a predictor of cardiovascular events. That is written in Radiology by American researchers of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Continue reading

The results from a Dutch cohort study with 13,715 gastro-intestinal (GI) cancer patients show that the use of aspirin after diagnosis increases the five-year survival rate from 42 to 75 percent. Martine Frouws, research physician at the Leiden University Medical Centre, presented her findings at the European Cancer Congress (ECC) in Vienna on the 28th of September 2015. Continue reading