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Scientists detect how gene guides earliest social behaviors

Little is known about how social behavior develops in the earliest stages of life. But most animals––including humans––are born with an innate ability to interact socially or form bonds with others. And that contributes to success throughout life. Now, a new animal study conducted by University of Utah researchers and colleagues nationwide, points to a […]

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Transplanted immune Cells Speed Recovery of Muscle Strength in Older Mice

Many people don’t realize it, but our immune system has a vital role in healing ankle sprains and other muscle injuries. In fact, injured muscles send out signals to the immune system that attract white blood cells to the damaged tissue. Some of these white blood cells, called macrophages, cause swelling but also remove debris […]

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This Fungus Shrinks to Infect the Brain

It doesn’t quite have the same abilities as Transformers (the popular sci-fi superheroes) to morph into cars, trucks, boats, and airplanes, but a harmful fungus undergoes a remarkable transformation once it enters the body. Studies in mice show that as the fungal intruder travels to different organs, including the brain, it changes in size and […]

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New Treatment Approach for Multiple Sclerosis

Millions of people worldwide live with multiple sclerosis (MS), a disease in which the immune system attacks cells in the central nervous system (CNS). MS causes unpredictable symptoms that can include tremors, weakness, vision problems, and fatigue. Treatments for MS aim to protect neurons by reining in the immune system. This slows progression of the […]

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A New Approach to Preventing Surgical Complications

Each year, almost 500,000 open heart surgeries are performed in the United States. During these operations, surgeons rely on heart-lung machines to keep patients alive while they transplant healthy arteries and veins onto an ailing heart. However, these machines aren’t perfect. Often oxygen doesn’t flow or reach organs as well as it would naturally. As […]

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Genetic Risk for Lou Gehrig’s Disease

Lou Gehrig, the legendary “Iron Horse” of baseball known for his durability on the diamond, is among the most famous people to develop amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a rare progressive neurodegenerative disease. In fact, 80 year after his death, ALS is often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Then, as now, there is no cure. […]

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Insights Into Diabetes

An experimental treatment can essentially reverse type 1 diabetes in certain types of laboratory mice. An injection of the therapeutic agent converts cells that normally control glucose production into ones that generate insulin. What this implies for millions of people who have type 1 diabetes is that there is a chance that individuals could eventually […]

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Promising HIV Treatment

University of Utah scientists have developed an injectable drug that blocks HIV, the virus that causes the life-long disease acquired immunodefiniciency syndrome (AIDS). The new drug potentially offers long-lasting protection from the infection with fewer side effects. The drug, which was tested in non-human primates, could eventually replace or supplement combination drug “cocktail” therapies currently used […]

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Animal Research Essential in Battle Against COVID-19

With the COVID-19 pandemic in full swing, there is a clear need for new treatments and a vaccine against the disease. Animal research has long been one of the first steps in medical discovery. In the battle against COVID-19, the approach remains crucial for developing strategies to understand and combat the disease. Mice and monkeys are […]

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