The five most-read stories this week on Scope were:
Stanford bioengineer develops a 50-cent paper microscope: Manu Prakash, PhD, assistant professor of bioengineering, has developed an ultra-low-cost paper microscope to aid disease diagnosis in developing regions. The device is further described in a technical paper.
Step away from the DNA? Circulating *RNA* in blood gives dynamic information about pregnancy, health: Stanford bioengineer Stephen Quake, PhD, and colleagues have generated a dynamic picture of how tissues develop by monitoring changing levels of RNA in the blood, enabling them to better understand what the body is doing and why.
The rechargeable brain: Blood plasma from young mice improves old mice’s memory and learning: A recent study (subscription required) shows something in the blood of young mice has the ability to restore mental capabilities in old mice, which could spell a new paradigm for recharging aging brains. Stanford brain-degeneration expert Tony Wyss-Coray, PhD, is the paper's senior author.
Two decades with scleroderma: How I find answers to hard-to-solve questions: Scleroderma patient Melissa Ward writes about her experience living with the disorder, from her diagnosis at age 15 to treatment with Stanford rheumatologist Lorinda Chung, MD, and surgeon James Chang, MD.
Ah…OM: Study shows prenatal yoga may relieve anxiety in pregnant women: A study from the University of Manchester and Newcastle University found that women in their late second to third trimesters who attended weekly prenatal yoga classes demonstrated less pregnancy-related anxiety than those who underwent normal prenatal treatment.
And still going strong – the most popular post from the past:
The mystery surrounding lung-transplant survival rates: A 2012 article in the San Francisco Chronicle offered a look at the challenges facing lung transplant patients and explored why a significant number don’t live beyond the five-year mark, despite improvements in survival rates.
