Duke University

Nearly two decades after a class of once-promising cancer drugs called MMP inhibitors mysteriously failed in clinical trials, scientists think they may have an explanation for what went wrong. The findings in C. elegans worms could lead to better ways to prevent the first steps of metastasis, the spread of the disease responsible for 90…

Thumb through any old science textbook, and you’ll likely find RNA described as little more than a means to an end, a kind of molecular scratch paper used to construct the proteins encoded in DNA. But over the last decade, scientists have begun to see RNA as an end in itself. Research programs and biotech…

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have used a CRISPR/Cas9 genetic engineering technique to turn off a gene that regulates cholesterol levels in adult mice, leading to reduced blood cholesterol levels and gene repression lasting for six months after a single treatment. This marks the first time researchers have delivered CRISPR/Cas9 repressors for targeted therapeutic gene…

 A new way of producing the seasonal flu vaccine could speed up the process and provide better protection against infection. For decades, vaccine manufacturers have used chicken eggs to grow the flu virus strains included in the seasonal flu shot. But because these human strains frequently mutate to adapt to their new environment in eggs,…

Biomedical engineers have developed a way to deliver drugs to specific types of neurons in the brain, providing an unprecedented ability to study neurological diseases while also promising a more targeted way to treat them. Drugs are the tool of choice for studying the connections between neurons, and continue to be the mainstream treatment for…

Bacterial cells have an added layer of protection, called the cell wall, that animal cells don’t. Assembling this tough armor entails multiple steps, some of which are targeted by antibiotics like penicillin and vancomycin. Yet one step in the process has remained a mystery because the molecular structures of the proteins involved were not known.…

Bacterial cells have an added layer of protection, called the cell wall, that animal cells don’t. Assembling this tough armor entails multiple steps, some of which are targeted by antibiotics like penicillin and vancomycin. Yet one step in the process has remained a mystery because the molecular structures of the proteins involved were not known.…

Duke University researchers have identified a common mechanism underlying separate forms of dystonia, a family of brain disorders that cause involuntary, debilitating and often painful movements, including twists and turns of different parts of the body. Described online Dec. 8 in the journal Neuron, the research has also led to the development of a new…

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have reconfigured a popular drug-delivery technology to evade immune responses that have halted some clinical trials. Polyethylene glycol, commonly known as PEG, is a polymer commonly found in commercial products from toothpaste to cosmetics, and also in pharmaceuticals. PEG is used as a thickener, solvent, softener and moisture-carrier, but it…

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have reconfigured a popular drug-delivery technology to evade immune responses that have halted some clinical trials. Polyethylene glycol, commonly known as PEG, is a polymer commonly found in commercial products from toothpaste to cosmetics, and also in pharmaceuticals. PEG is used as a thickener, solvent, softener and moisture-carrier, but it…

Cancer rewires the metabolism of tumor cells, converting them into lean, mean, replicating machines. But like Olympic athletes who rely on special diets to perform, tumor cells’ amped-up metabolism can also make them dependent on specific nutrients for survival. For years, scientists have been trying to identify and understand these cellular cravings in hopes of…

A single chemical receptor in the brain is responsible for a range of symptoms in mice that are reminiscent of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), according to a Duke University study that appears online in the journal Biological Psychiatry. The findings provide a new mechanistic understanding of OCD and other psychiatric disorders and suggest that they are…

A single chemical receptor in the brain is responsible for a range of symptoms in mice that are reminiscent of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), according to a Duke University study that appears online in the journal Biological Psychiatry. The findings provide a new mechanistic understanding of OCD and other psychiatric disorders and suggest that they are highly…