Duke University Medical Center researchers have found that a “fountain of youth” that sustains the production of new neurons in the brains of rodents is also believed to be present in the human brain. The existence of a vital support system of cells around stem cells in the brain explains why stem cells by themselves can’t generate neurons in a lab dish, a major roadblock in using these stem cells for injury repair

Joseph Heitman, MD, PhD , James B. Duke Professor and chair of the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at Duke University, has received an NIH MERIT (Method to Extend Research in Time) Award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases . This MERIT Award will fund a project entitled: “The genetics of Cryptococcus sexual reproduction” in an extended cycle of 10 years, rather than the typical five-year time frame of R01 grants, which Heitman had received previously

Robert J.

An international team of scientists lead by researchers from Duke University and Johns Hopkins University have discovered a key “switch” in the brain that allows neurons to stop dividing so that these cells can migrate toward their final destinations in the brain. The finding may be relevant to making early identification of people who go on to develop schizophrenia and other brain disorders. “This work sheds light on what has been a big black box in neuroscience,” said Nicholas Katsanis, PhD , co-senior author of the work and Jean and George Brumley Jr., MD, Professor of Developmental Biology, Professor of Pediatrics and Cell Biology.

Despite what you might have heard, genetic sequencing alone is not enough to understand human disease. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have shown that functional tests are absolutely necessary to understand the biological relevance of the results of sequencing studies as they relate to disease, using a suite of diseases known as the ciliopathies, which can cause patients to have many different traits

New research shows that 2010 set new records for the melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet, expected to be a major contributor to projected sea level rises in coming decades. “This past melt season was exceptional, with melting in some areas stretching up to 50 days longer than average,” said Dr. Marco Tedesco, director of the Cryospheric Processes Laboratory at The City College of New York (CCNY – CUNY), who is leading a project studying variables that affect ice sheet melting

With little more than a conventional photocopier and transparency film, anyone can build a functional microfluidic chip.