Welcome to the LabRoots blog, where you can catch up on all the exciting news from the company, as well as check out all the comings and goings of the team.

22 Aug, 2013 | by

While antibiotics have dramatically reduced the incidence of illness and death from infectious diseases, overuse of the drugs has been a growing problem for decades, resulting in antibiotic-resistant “superbugs.”  Prolonged and even short-term use of antibiotics can often be likened to dropping Napalm on healthy gut flora, killing not only harmful bacteria but healthy organisms...

21 Aug, 2013 | by

Cancer is caused by genetic mutations. However, the causes and biological processes that lead to these mutations have been somewhat of a mystery. Now, the genetic cause of tumor development in common cancers is becoming evident. This is helping to identify the biological processes that damages the DNA originally and causes cancer. Researchers at University of...

19 Aug, 2013 | by

When certain hormones are missing in the womb, the deprived fetus might be at a greater risk of suffering from high anxiety later in life. Researchers at Cardiff University are interested in how disrupting the delicate balance of hormones during fetal development can influence emotional behaviors as an adult. Development is very complex, with lots of...

16 Aug, 2013 | by

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have discovered a protein in two different strains of bacteria that can control cell division. Once these proteins are isolated and studied more closely, they could be the basis for new antibiotics that could stop bacterial cell division, killing the cells. The bacteria, Bacillis subtilis and Escherichia coli, have...

15 Aug, 2013 | by

There is a potential new treatment technique in the works using nanoparticles to reprogram immune cells that can recognize and attack cancer cells. Most cancer cells are able to bypass detection by the immune system because they are so similar to normal cells. This allows the cancer cells to multiply and grow freely. Researchers at...

14 Aug, 2013 | by

A neuroscience study being conducted at USC has led researchers to connect abnormal levels of fear in mice models with a missing brain protein. Small amounts of learned fear are not only normal, they are actually healthy. Fear makes us cognizant of our important decisions, and keeps animals and humans from making unnecessarily risky choices. But there...

13 Aug, 2013 | by

Scientists at the Massey Cancer Center at Virginia Commonwealth University are conducting a fascinating preclinical study on a novel new drug. The clinical applications of an ATM inhibitor are varied, but the most exciting of its uses is related to its ability to increase the effectiveness of radiation treatment on glioblastoma multiforme. GBM is the deadliest...

12 Aug, 2013 | by

Scientists and cell biology experts at the University of Michigan’s Medical School have taken a stem-cell-based approach to studying the origins and possible treatment routes for epilepsy. Converting skin cells from current epilepsy patients into stem cells, the scientists could turn those stem cells into neurons. Utilizing these brain nerve cells, the team was then...

09 Aug, 2013 | by

New research from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute shows it is possible to therapeutically target cancer cells to keep them from entering quiescence or a state of “cell sleep”. Drugs created to help treat cancer normally do not destroy quiescent cells. This allows these once quiescent cancer cells to cause tumor progression. By inhibiting...

08 Aug, 2013 | by

Infectious pathogens known as prions are responsible for illnesses like Mad Cow Disease. But recent news points to the true cause of the protein’s destructive nature, and why some prion proteins remain completely harmless while others become toxic. Prion protein occurs naturally in the human brain cell membrane. Sometimes, those normally harmless proteins will morph or...