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A new study out of the University of Chicago has found that during the initial wave of the COVID-19 outbreak in New York City, only 1 in 5 to 1 in 7 cases of the virus was symptomatic. The research team found that non-symptomatic cases substantially contribute to community transmission, making up at least 50% of the driving force of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The results were published on Feb. 10 in the
When the COVID-19 epidemic arrived in the U.S., the investigators noticed that it was very difficult to estimate what proportion of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 would go on to develop symptoms, partially due to the initial challenges with testing capacity.
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A phase 2 clinical trial providing personalized treatments based on the genetic profile of metastatic tumors in gastroesophageal cancers has found that using customized treatment approaches, and adapting them over time as tumors become resistant, led to higher rates of survival compared to historical controls. The final results were published online on Jan. 21 in
Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Advances in technology have made it possible for scientists and physicians to use information about the genetic makeup of a cancerous tumor to inform cancer treatment, but genetic heterogeneity the genetic variation between cancers in different patients and even between tumors within the same patient can make it difficult to determine the most effective targeting strategy for treating individual patients.
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A new study out of the University of Chicago and Stanford University on pairs of twins with and without food allergies has identified potential microbial players in this condition. The results were published on Jan. 19 in the
The study grew out of prior research in the Nagler laboratory at UChicago on the fecal microbiota in infants. By transplanting fecal microbes from healthy and food-allergic infants to germ-free mice (who do not possess a microbiome), investigators found that the healthy infant microbiota was protective against the development of food allergies. In this study, we looked at a more diverse population across a large range of ages, said Cathryn Nagler, PhD, the Bunning Family Professor in the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, the Department of Pathology and the College at UChicago. By studying twin pairs, we had the benefit of examining genetically identical individuals who grew up in the same environment, which allowed us to begin to parse ou
Credit: Gan Cheong Weei
A new study by researchers at the University of Chicago and the City College of New York (CCNY) has identified a unique, genetic mimicry switch that determines whether or not male and female Elymnias hypermnestra palmflies mimic the same or different species of butterflies. The results indicate that sexual dimorphism has repeatedly emerged in different palmfly populations, and linked the trait to a gene associated with melanin localization and regulation.
Published on Jan. 13 in the journal
Royal Proceedings of the Academy B, these results can help scientists start to better understand the genetics underlying phenotypic differences between males and females in the animal kingdom, investigators say.
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Advances in neuroscience and engineering have generated great hope for Luke Skywalker-like prosthetics: robotic devices that are almost indistinguishable from a human limb. Key to solving this challenge is designing devices that not only can be operated with a user s own neural activity, but can also accurately and precisely receive and relay sensory information to the user.
A new study by neuroscientists at the University of Chicago and Chalmers University of Technology, published on December 22 in the journal
Cell Reports, highlights just how difficult this may prove to be. In a cohort of three subjects whose amputated limbs had been replaced with neuromusculoskeletal prosthetic limbs, the investigators found that even after a full year of using the devices, the participant s subjective sensation never shifted to match the location of the touch sensors on their prosthetic devices.