Could the grey mouse lemur help researchers better study human disease? Mark Krasnow, MD, PhD, a Stanford professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, suspects …
Category: Medical Research
Why researchers need to communicate the story behind the science
A post yesterday on Observations reinforces the importance of researchers pairing patient stories, testimonials and narratives about the scientific process with statistical data to foster …
Using high-tech devices to study football and concussions
In case you didn't see it, a recent Contra Costa Times article provides a closer look at an ongoing study during which Stanford University football players are …
Avoiding sun exposure may lead to vitamin D deficiency in Caucasians
A new Stanford study shows that light-skinned people who avoid the sun are more likely to suffer from vitamin D deficiency than others. As my colleague details in a recent …
Stanford medical school develops private, internal social-networking service to foster collaboration
To foster collaboration within the School of Medicine community, the school's Office of Information Resources & Technology (IRT) is launching a private, internal social-networking service, …
Federal government tests potential health risks of 10,000 chemicals using high-speed robot
Much as been written about the potential health risks of bisphenol-A and other chemicals to which we're commonly exposed in our daily lives. But it …
Stanford researchers identify a new pathway governing growth of insulin-producing cells
The beta cells of the pancreas are the only cells in your body that can produce insulin. While beta cells proliferate robustly in newborn and …
Petri dish gets a 21st century upgrade
Petri dishes, while not the most exciting pieces of laboratory equipment, play an important role in the process of cell culture, where researchers grow cells …
New York Stem Cell Foundation researchers create human stem cell lines from SCNT
Happy International Stem Cell Awareness Day! Researchers from the New York Stem Cell Foundation are celebrating by publishing (subscription required) the first reports of human …
Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded to three for work in immunology
In case you haven't seen the news yet, three researchers were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine earlier today for their work in immunology. The …
Mending blood vessels with glue instead of sutures
As previously reported here, Geoffrey Gurtner, MD, a microsurgeon at Stanford Hospital & Clinics, and colleagues have developed a sutureless method of reconnecting severed blood …
"Grow your own" organs and other life-changing innovations
The latest issue of AARP The Magazine has a nice round-up of "amazing medical discoveries" that could benefit older adults. Among the advances that made the cut were artificial …
Why a scientific theory isn't barroom speculation
I quite like this post by Keith Humphreys, PhD, about the theory of evolution today on The Reality-Based Community: Conservative candidates are now routinely asked …
Reconnecting severed blood vessels without sutures
As someone who struggles with threading a needle, I naturally was awed with a story Geoffrey Gurtner, MD, a microsurgeon at Stanford Hospital & Clinics, …
She's a Barbie girl, living in a Barbie world (that discourages careers in science)
It's no secret: Women scientists are a rare breed. And who better to know this firsthand than Athene Donald, a physics professor at the University …
Cheap data! Stanford scientists' “opposites attract” algorithm plunders public databases, scores surprising drug-disease hook-ups
Depending on how you stroke the numbers, it costs anywhere between $500 million and $1 billion to develop a new drug from scratch. So the idea …