Thousands of single changes in the nucleotides that make up the human genome have been associated with an increased risk of developing cancer. But until now, it’s not been clear which are directly responsible for the uncontrolled cellular growth that is the hallmark of the disease and which are simply coincidences or minor players. Stanford … Read more
Hydrogels are polymeric materials with three-dimensional network structures containing large amounts of water. They serve as sustained-release drug delivery systems as they can encapsulate various bioactive substances, including drugs, antigens, and even cells. Hydrogels are better drug delivery alternatives than conventional systems, as they are more biocompatible, biodegradable, and easily administered as an injectable scaffold. … Read more
People genetically susceptible to Huntington’s disease often see their movement, mood, and cognition decline slowly over time. The cause is related to expansion of repeating DNA units, in which specific strings of genetic code-in this case, a series of cytosine-adenine-guanine nucleotides, or CAG, on one strand of the DNA and cytosine-thymine-guanine, or CTG, on the complementary … Read more