Switchblade. Headpiece. Propeller. Ankle. Calf. Thigh. Such are the pet names for the body parts of integrins, sticky and flexible proteins that blanket the surfaces of white blood cells, which are key components of the human immune system. Dr. Melody Campbell at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center is an expert on integrins and their various moving parts. She observes these…
Eating is one of life’s greatest pleasures, and overeating is one of life’s growing problems. In 2019, researchers from Garret Stuber’s lab at the University of Washington School of Medicine discovered that certain cells light up in obese mice and prevent signals that indicate satiety, or feeling full. Now comes a deeper dive into what role these cells play. A study published Oct. 7 in the journal…
What makes the human brain distinct? Despite more than a century of study, we still don’t understand the root of our myriad mental abilities, such as abstract thought, language acquisition, and complex learning. We also don’t understand most brain diseases, some of which — like Alzheimer’s disease — seem to afflict only us out of all mammals. Part of the difficulty in…
We are now in the “digital era” of vaccine development, University of Washington researcher Neil King said at the GeekWire Summit in Seattle on Tuesday. King talked about how to prevent the next pandemic and also discussed the development of experimental vaccines for COVID-19, flu and other viruses based on research from the UW’s Institute for Protein Design, where he…
To better identify and prevent future pandemics, the University of Washington has become a partner in a five-year global, collaborative agreement with the U.S. Agency for International Development. The newly launched Discovery & Exploration of Emerging Pathogens – Viral Zoonoses, or DEEP VZN project, has approximately $125 million in anticipated funding and will be led by Washington State University. The…
The pandemic has put immune function — and how to boost it — at top of mind. Most recommendations for boosting immune responses focus on lifestyle choices, including adequate sleep, a solid exercise program and a well-rounded diet, that can keep our immune health in tip-top shape. But new work from scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center raises the possibility that…
The quest for the ability to generate big data on humans led to the development of automated DNA sequencing and protein sequencing and their ability to decipher important information about the human DNA source code and its manifestation as mRNAs and proteins;3,4 instruments for synthesizing peptides and DNA for a multitude of uses (DNA probes for gene isolation and PCR, DNA…
Before you read any further, bring your hand to your forehead. It probably didn’t feel like much, but that simple kind of motion required the concerted effort of millions of different neurons in several regions of your brain, followed by signals sent at 200 mph from your brain to your spinal cord and then to the muscles that contracted to…
As a 13-year-old boy, Nir Barzilai would walk with his grandfather and listen to his life story. Barzilai remembers his grandfather looking old – bald with a white ring of hair, obese and slow. His grandfather was the same age Barzilai is today, but looked 20 years older. Today, Dr. Nir Barzilai is a pioneer in longevity and aging research. He…
Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation (Nasdaq: ADPT), a commercial stage biotechnology company that aims to translate the genetics of the adaptive immune system into clinical products to diagnose and treat disease, announced today the launch of an enhanced version of its clonoSEQ® B-cell Clonality (ID) report, which will now feature the immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) – V mutation status for patients with chronic…