Largest-Ever Study of Prostate Cancer Genomics in Black Patients IDs Potential Targets for Precision Therapies
Source: BU School of Medicine Black men in the United States are known to suffer disproportionately from prostate cancer, but few studies have investigated whether genetic differences in prostate tumors could have anything to do with these health disparities. Now, in the largest study of its kind to date, researchers from BUSM, UC San Francisco […]
AI Algorithm Can Accurately Predict Risk, Diagnose Alzheimer’s Disease
Source: BU School of Medicine Researchers have developed a computer algorithm based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) that can accurately predict the risk for and diagnose Alzheimer’s disease using a combination of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), testing to measure cognitive impairment, along with data on age and gender. The AI strategy, based on a deep […]
Novel respiratory cell changes identified from cigarette smoke exposure
Source: Medical Press Cigarette smoking changes the types of cells that are present in the respiratory track and some biological processes necessary for detoxification of cigarette smoke are restricted to specific types of cells. “Our study describes novel respiratory cell changes that result from cigarette smoke exposure that may be associated with the development of pre-cancerous tissue,” […]
New Publication: Scruff: an R/Bioconductor package for preprocessing single-cell RNA-sequencing data
Thursday, May 2, 2019 Source: BMC Bioinformatics Background Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) enables the high-throughput quantification of transcriptional profiles in single cells. In contrast to bulk RNA-seq, additional preprocessing steps such as cell barcode identification or unique molecular identifier (UMI) deconvolution are necessary for preprocessing of data from single cell protocols. R packages that […]
New Publication: Tobacco-Related Alterations in Airway Gene Expression are Rapidly Reversed Within Weeks Following Smoking-Cessation
Kahkeshan Hijazi, Bozena Malyszko, Katrina Steiling, Xiaohui Xiao, Gang Liu, Yuriy O. Alekseyev, Yves-Martine Dumas, Louise Hertsgaard, Joni Jensen, Dorothy Hatsukami, Daniel R. Brooks, George O’Connor, Jennifer Beane, Marc E. Lenburg & Avrum Spira Monday, May 6, 2019 Source: Nature The physiologic response to tobacco smoke can be measured by gene-expression profiling of the airway […]
How RNA Editing May Promote Tumor Growth
Thursday, March 17 2016 | Source: BUSM A new study provides insight on the potential role played by RNA (ribonucleic acid) editing in cancer. The findings, which appear online in the journal Scientific Reports, may further our understanding of an emerging mechanism implicated in tumor initiation and progression, and may thus lead to the development of […]
New test could sharply reduce risky, costly lung cancer biopsies
Press Release: May 18, 2015 | Written by Lenny Bernstein – The Washington Post When a suspicious lesion shows up in the lungs on a CT scan, the first thing your doctor wants to know is whether it’s cancerous. A specialist will pass a long, thin bronchoscope into your airway in the hope of grabbing a few cells […]
New way to determine cancer risk of chemicals found
Press Release from July 24th 2014 A new study has shown that it is possible to predict long-term cancer risk from a chemical exposure by measuring the short-term effects of that same exposure. The findings, which currently appear in the journal PLOS ONE, will make it possible to develop simpler and cheaper tests to screen chemicals […]
BUSM Researchers Identify Molecule that Could Aid Lung Cancer Detection, Treatment
Press Release: From October 28th 2013 Written by Jenny C Leary Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have discovered a molecule that could help lead to the non-invasive detection of lung cancer as well as its treatment. Using RNA sequencing, the team looked at airway epithelial cells and identified a regulatory molecule that […]
BUSM Researchers Identify Novel Approach to Study COPD and Treatment Efficacy
Press Release: From April 11, 2013 Written By Jenny C Leary BUSM researchers have pinpointed a genetic signature for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) from airway cells harvested utilizing a minimally invasive procedure. The findings provide a novel way to study COPD and could lead to new treatments and ways to monitor patient’s response to […]