Coordinating growth with heart health ensures that the heart can keep up with the demands placed on it by the body. A recent study (1) identified a molecule called growth differentiation factor 15 [GDF15, also known as macrophage inhibitory cytokine 1 (MIC1)] that was released from the heart that signals to the liver to inhibit … Read more
A friend with kids who just went back to school asked me about using various zinc products to reduce the length of or prevent the common cold. Years ago, I tried the nasal swab version of one of these products (Zicam) and was amazed at how painful they were. This prompted me to research the … Read more
One of the challenges to building artificial organs is finding or creating suitable materials for use in such devices. If the device contains living cells, then those cells need to receive nutrients from, exchange gases with, and send cellular waste products into blood. In addition, the cells should also respond appropriately to circulating regulatory signals, … Read more
Amyloid-beta (Aβ) is a collection of peptide fragments derived from cleavage of amyloid precursor protein (APP). Some of these fragments are toxic to neurons and aggregate forming oligomers and fibrils. These clusters of Aβ form plaques that accumulate in the brains of people with dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease (Figure 1). Preventing the accumulation of … Read more