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ALA is used in photodynamic therapy, in combination with a special light source, to treat various types of cancer, including skin and prostate cancer. A team led by Dr Lin Qingsong from the Department of Biological Sciences at NUS Faculty of Science, together with Dr Wang Jigang and Professor Shen Han-Ming from the Department of Physiology at NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, recently discovered that a combination of artemisinin and ALA could kill colorectal cancer cells and suppress tumour growth more effectively than administering artemisinin alone. "Artemisinin and ALA are both existing drugs that are well tolerated by the human body. As such, this promising cancer treatment could have fewer side effects," explained Dr Wang. The findings of the study were published in the scientific journal  ACS Central Science  in July 2017. Understanding how artemisinin kills cancer cells Dr Lin said, "Artemisinin has been reported to possess anti-cancer activities in...

Cancerous tumor tissue underneath a microscope: T cells grown underneath low oxygen situations (inexperienced) and common T cells (purple) present related distribution patterns vis-à-vis blood vessels (purple). Proper: The content material of granzyme B, a cell-killing enzyme (purple), is way larger in T cells grown underneath low oxygen situations (prime) than in common T cells (backside). Credit score: Weizmann Institute of Science Mountain climbers and endurance athletes aren't the one ones to profit from altitude coaching -- that's, studying to carry out properly underneath low-oxygen situations. It seems that cancer-fighting cells of the immune system may also enhance their efficiency by a mobile model of such a routine. In a rese...

The lncRNAs (pronounced link-RNAs) until recently received much less attention than the protein-coding genes, but they are now proving to be of increasing interest to science. Not only are there as many as 20,000 lncRNA genes in the human genome -- about the same number as the protein-coding ones -- but the lncRNAs have lately been revealed to serve as master switches in a wide variety of biological processes. They turn genes on and off and affect other regulatory genes, controlling cellular fate during fetal development, as well as cellular division and death in the adult organism. These master regulators may therefore hold the key to elucidating or even treating a variety of diseases. To make sense of lncRNAs, scientists are trying to understand how they appeared in the genome and whether they can be grouped into classes according to their activity. In a recent study published in the journal  Genome Biology , Ulitsky and his team -- research students Hadas Hezroni, Gali Housm...

PlayForward is a severe role-playing online game that engages youth with a wide range of challenges and selections in fictional but reasonable life conditions. Credit score: Lynn Fiellin, M.D., Yale College of Drugs A videogame designed by Yale researchers to advertise well being and scale back dangerous conduct in teenagers improves sexual well being data and attitudes amongst minority youth, in keeping with a brand new research. The findings validate the worth of the videogame as a device to have interaction and educate teenagers in danger for HIV and different sexually transmitted infections (STIs), stated the researchers. "We noticed important and sustained optimistic adjustments when it comes to attitudes about sexual well being and ...