11.13
Health Sciences
Jumping Genes Provide Extensive “Raw Material” for Evolution, Penn Study Finds
PHILADELPHIA - Using high-throughput sequencing to map the locations of a common type of jumping gene within a person’s entire genome, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found extensive variation in these locations among the individuals they studied, further underscoring the role of these errant genes in maintaining genetic
Penn-Led Collaboration Mimics Library of Bio-Membranes for Use In Nanomedicine, Drug Delivery
PHILADELPHIA –- An international collaboration led by chemists and engineers from the University of Pennsylvania has prepared a library of synthetic biomaterials that mimic cellular membranes and that show promise in targeted delivery of cancer drugs, gene therapy, proteins, imaging and diagnostic agents and cosmetics safely to the body in the emerging field called nanomedicine.
Mary Naylor of Penn Nursing Named to Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
PHILADELPHIA -- Mary Naylor of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing has been appointed to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.
Gene Therapy Success Sets Stage for New Treatments for Inherited Blindness, Penn Veterinary Researchers Say
PHILADELPHIA –- Veterinary vision scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have safely and successfully used a viral vector in targeting a class of photoreceptors of the retina called rods, a critical first step in developing gene therapies for inherited blindness caused by rod degeneration.
Gene Therapy Cures Canines of Inherited Form of Day Blindness, Penn Veterinary Researchers Say
PHILADELPHIA –- Veterinary ophthalmology researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have used gene therapy to restore retinal cone function and day vision in two canine models of congenital achromatopsia, also called rod monochromacy or total color blindness.
Penn Dental School Alumnus/World War II Commander Gives $17.3 Million In Largest Ever Gift to Penn Dental
PHILADELPHIA – Dr. Louis Schoenleber, Jr. (C’42, D’43), an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, World War II Navy Commander and oral surgeon, has left the majority of proceeds from his multi-million-dollar estate to Penn Dental Medicine’s Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
New Tissue-Hugging Implant Maps Heart Electrical Activity in Unprecedented Detail
PHILADELPHIA – A team of cardiologists, materials scientists, and bioengineers have created and tested a new type of implantable device for measuring the heart’s electrical output that they say is a vast improvement over current devices. The new device represents the first use of flexible silicon technology for a medical application.
Virtual Driving Leads Penn Psychologists to the Cells That Sense Direction in the Brain: Path Cells
PHILADELPHIA – Psychologists led by the University of Pennsylvania have used implantable electrodes and a first-person driving game to identify the cells of the brain that indicate travel in a clockwise or counterclockwise motion, called “path cells.” The study will be published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Double Agents: Penn Researchers Identify Immune Cells That Fight Parasites May Promote Allergies and Asthma
PHILADELPHIA –- Millions of people in both the developing and developed world may benefit from new immune-system research findings from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.
In the News
The New Yorker
The mystery of the Havana Syndrome
The Perelman School of Medicine’s Douglas Smith offered commentary on the concussion-like symptoms experienced by American diplomats in Havana in the winter of 2017. While some have suggested that their symptoms were psychosomatic, Smith said that “there was not one individual on the team [at Penn] who was not convinced that this was a real thing.”
FULL STORY →
Philadelphia Inquirer
Rate of births to white single moms accelerates, as low-income women wrest ‘beauty’ from hard lives
The Graduate School of Education’s Rebecca Maynard said that middle- and upper-class women are taught that having kids before marriage can derail one’s college and career, which explains why higher-income women use contraception more consistently than lower-income women.
FULL STORY →
Philadelphia Inquirer
Black people more likely to die of sudden cardiac arrest, but why?
Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine have found that the black people were more than twice as likely as white people to die of sudden cardiac arrest. Lead author Rajat Deo said that “a combination of awareness, education, and resource allocation may help reduce the burden of sudden cardiac death in a city like Philadelphia.”
FULL STORY →
CBS News
Eating more fish or taking omega-3 fish oil supplements can cut heart attack risk, studies find
To lower one’s risk of heart disease, the Perelman School of Medicine’s Helene Glassberg recommended eating more fish over taking fish oil supplements. “Get it in your diet if you can, from omega-3 fatty fish like salmon or sardines,” said Glassberg. “This is the best way to get it and not spend $30 on a bottle of supplements at a health food store.”
FULL STORY →
Popular Science
Cell phones pose plenty of risks, but none of them are cancer
Reviewing the results of a study exploring the relationship between cell phones and cancer, Kenneth Foster of the School of Engineering and Applied Science remains unconvinced of potential dangers. “Health agencies are saying that if there’s something there, it’s probably so small that there’s not likely to be a large effect on the population,” Foster said.
FULL STORY →