Rare diseases are notoriously difficult to diagnose and treat. There are a number of reasons for this, but chief among them is the very fact of their rarity. With only small patient numbers, it can be challenging to carry out research leading to new diagnostics and treatments. Today is Rare Disease Day, a movement which… Read more »
Our readers might have gotten distracted this month by discussions on whether it is right or wrong for Illumina to limit researchers’ use of their kit, and so we are here to help you regain focus: after a deliberately thematic issue on the RBPome, we have just published an accidentally thematic issue on DNA methylation…. Read more »
Rare Disease Day is an annual, awareness-raising event co-ordinated by the European Organization for Rare Diseases (EURORDIS), national alliances and patient organisations. Rare diseases are easily neglected, and this international advocacy day is important because everyone living with a rare disease should be able to receive high-quality services, treatment and support. Although these diseases are… Read more »
This guest blog is written by Vera Unwin. With an MSc in Medical Parasitology and experience as a Parasitology Research Technician, Vera regularly writes for Bugbitten, our blog on parasites and vectors. Insecticides are fundamental to vector control programs for vector borne diseases. Malaria is one of the most dangerous of these diseases, with an estimated 627,000 deaths… Read more »
Analysis of 19th century harvest records from an isolated Swedish community reveals that female grandchildren have an increased risk of death from heart disease if their paternal grandmother experienced a drastic change in food availability in their childhood. Staying stress free, keeping fit, eating well – these are all things we’re advised to do to… Read more »
Written by Professor Monika Puzianowska-Kuznicka, Warsaw University, Poland One of the hallmarks of epigenetic drift is a progressive change in DNA methylation. This was very nicely shown by Fraga and co-workers who discovered that young monozygotic twins are epigenetically very similar, but older monozygotic twins exhibit remarkable differences in their overall content and genomic distribution of… Read more »
Do you feel you’re drowning in the dating scene? Have you suffered a string of failed relationships or flings? Is love a distant dream you are beginning to lose faith in? Well, cheer up, because if you think your life is lacking in romance, you should see how awful the animal kingdom can be. Here… Read more »
“There is grandeur in this view of life”*. Let’s see it. After the success of last year’s competition, BMC Ecology once again wants to see—and share—your images of the natural world. The “BMC Ecology Image Competition 2014” is open to everyone affiliated with a research institution, from Undergraduates to Emeritus Professors. Whether your research is… Read more »
Cell & Bioscience is delighted to welcome a new Associate Editor to the team, Dr Lin Mei, director of the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics at the Medical College of Georgia. Dr Mei’s laboratory works on brain cell communication and impairment in conditions such as schizophrenia and myasthenia gravis. In 2013, Dr Mei was elected… Read more »
Much of what we know about the cardiac Ryanodine receptor (RyR2) relates to its role in excitation-contraction (EC) coupling. During this process, cell membrane voltage-gated Ca2+channels are activated by depolarization and transport Ca2+ into the cytosol where it binds to the high-affinity Ca2+ activation sites of RyR2. When RyR2 channels open, a large amount of… Read more »