Surprise packages sent by cancer cells can turn normal cells cancerous, but Cornell scientists have found a way to keep their cargo from ever leaving port. Published in Oncogene in January 2012, their study demonstrates the parcels’ cancer-causing powers, describes how they are made, and reveals a way to jam production. Treatments that follow suit […]
Category: Research
Stories about real scientific research, publications, and discoveries.
Prime suspects in mystery fevers may hold new tick-borne diseases Suddenly your horse is sick and you don’t know why. She breathes normally but her temperature is rising, her eyes grow yellow with jaundice, she seems depressed, and barely eats. The fever is clear but the cause is not; even the most experienced experts can […]
Dr. Cynthia Leifer, assistant professor of immunology at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, has been selected to receive the Pfizer Animal Health Award for Veterinary Research Excellence. The award fosters innovative research by recognizing outstanding research and productivity from a faculty member early in his or her career. Nominees are selected for innovative research […]
An ancient union between cell and organelle has shown the first sign of fracture, challenging common conceptions of a primordial partnership all multicellular organisms rely on to live. Cornell researchers have recorded the first direct evidence of cells expelling intact mitochondria, the cellular machinery responsible for energy production. Malfunctioning mitochondria produce free-radicals that damage cells, […]
Feb. 21, 2012 Cancer cells must prepare for travel before invading new tissues, but new Cornell research has found a possible way to stop these cells from ever hitting the road. Researchers have identified two key proteins that are needed to get cells moving and have uncovered a new pathway that treatments could block to […]
First Indonesian to receive major fellowship will help save world’s rarest rhinoceroses Deep in the Indonesian rainforest on the island of Java roam the last of earth’s most critically endangered large mammal species: the Javan rhinoceros. Once Asia’s most widespread rhinoceroses, these secretive forest-dwellers disappeared altogether from the continent’s mainland in October 2011, when the […]
Cornell-Israel collaboration works backwards to fight virus threatening livestock trade worldwide European livestock beware: bluetongue virus is coming your way, and it’s deadlier than ever. Once limited to warmer climes, the insect-borne virus’s new highly pathogenic strain has been spreading northward since 2006, reaching farther into Europe than ever before. Bluetongue’s rise threatens ruminants and […]
Horses will help unlock immunological mysteries of allergies and herpes For horses, Iceland is a safe haven from disease. Several pathogens never made it to the island, whose native horses evolved for almost 1,000 years in isolation. Without facing diseases common outside, such as equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) and insect-induced allergies (called sweet itch or […]
November 29, 2011 By Carly Hodes One in five Americans suffers from autoimmune disease, in which the immune system goes off-track and attacks the body’s own cells. Cornell researchers have identified a signaling mechanism in immune-system cells that may contribute to this mistake, opening the door for possible new therapies for autoimmune diseases such as lupus […]
Nov. 8, 2011 By Carly Hodes Will a fresh glass of “raw” milk nourish or poison you? Pasteurization almost always provides protection from contamination. Unpasteurized “raw” milk, on the other hand, provides a potential breeding ground for disease-causing bacteria such as E. coli, Listeria, Campylobacter and Salmonella, all of which have caused outbreaks spread by raw […]