Tens of millions of people worldwide are affected by diseases like macular degeneration or have had accidents that permanently damage the light-sensitive photoreceptors within their retinas that enable vision. The human body is not capable …
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Disrupted Biochemical Pathway in the Brain Linked To Bipolar Disorder
Posted onBipolar disorder affects millions of Americans, causing dramatic swings in mood and, in some people, additional effects such as memory problems. While bipolar disorder is linked to many genes, each one making small contributions to …
Study Finds Evidence of Bartonella Infection in Schizophrenia Patients
Posted onA new study led by University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Veterinary Medicine professor Erin Lashnits shows evidence of Bartonella infection in the blood of people with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. “Researchers have been looking at the connection between bacterial …
Mystery Disease at Sierra Leone Chimpanzee Sanctuary Linked To Bacterial Infection
Posted onIn 2005, chimpanzees at the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Freetown, Sierra Leone, started getting sick. They would stumble, vomit and stop eating. The illness came on quickly; some chimps were found dead before caretakers even knew they …
Viral Sequencing Catches Mutations, Guides Effective Public Health Response
Posted onThousands of daily cases. Hundreds of thousands of deaths. Hundreds of millions of vaccine doses. As the tallies of COVID-19’s effects in the United States have mounted to a dizzying scale, a team of University …
Gene-Edited Monkey Embryos Give Researchers New Way To Study HIV Cure
Posted onA gene that cured a man of HIV a decade ago has been successfully added to developing monkey embryos in an effort to study more potential treatments for the disease. Timothy Brown, known for years …
Early Mutation in SARS-CoV-2 Virus in Europe Led To Its Domination Worldwide
Posted onIn late 2019, the SARS-CoV-2 virus emerged in China and quickly spread across the world, leading to the COVID-19 pandemic. In early 2020, that virus mutated, likely in Europe, and that mutation is now the …
Tracking Virus Mutations Reveals Success of Stay-at-Home Orders
Posted onA family tree of more than 200 variations in the virus that causes COVID-19 helps explain why two Wisconsin counties — just 75 miles apart, but far from the origins of the virus — had …
First Relatives of Rubella Virus Discovered in Bats in Uganda and Mice in Germany
Posted onAt night in a Ugandan forest, a team of American and African scientists take oral swabs from insect-eating cyclops leaf-nosed bats. In a necropsy room near the Baltic Sea, researchers try to determine what killed …
New Vaccine Strategy Harnesses ‘Foot Soldier’ T-Cells To Provide Protection Against Influenza
Posted onAs Americans begin pulling up their sleeves for an annual flu vaccine, researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have provided new insights into an alternative vaccine approach that provides broader protection against seasonal influenza. In a …