- 2016
- What's on? - 28.04.2016
Tuesday 3 May 2016: World Asthma Day
Asthma, a chronic inflammatory disease, usually results from the combination of a genetic predisposition and environmental factors such as allergens (moulds, house dust mites and pollen), tobacco smoke or air pollution. During an episode, the lining of the bronchi swells, causing their diameter to become narrower, and leading to breathing difficulties, accompanied by wheezing. The […]
- Press releases - 26.04.2016
How can the onset of psychosis be explained?
A research team from Paris Descartes University, Inserm and Sainte-Anne Hospital, led by Professor Marie-Odile Krebs, has demonstrated that epigenetic modifications accompany the onset of a psychotic episode in a cohort of young at-risk people aged 15–25 years. These modifications compromise systems for responding to oxidative stress and inflammation. Through this new work, the researchers have shed new light on this disease, for which the main biological explanation, before now, was based on disruption of dopamine secretion in the brain.
- Press releases - 25.04.2016
Researchers provide guidance on criteria to identify Endocrine Disruptors in the context of European legislation
The European Commission is legally required to provide criteria identifying Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs), a process that has been blocked for almost three years, allegedly because of a lack of scientific consensus and because an impact assessment study was deemed necessary. Now, a group of 7 independent researchers from universities and research institutions from Europe and the United States* show how little controversy there is around the definition of EDCs, and that the simple logic used for the identification and regulation of carcinogens can be used for EDCs. The study is published this Monday as a commentary in the scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
- Press releases - 25.04.2016
Involvement of Inserm and its Aviesan partners in research on the ZIKA virus
In the last two years, nearly 2 million people have been infected with the Zika virus in Latin America and the Caribbean. At the end of 2015, REACTing and members of the Aviesan alliance immediately became involved, particularly Inserm, Institut Pasteur, the Institute for Development Research (IRD), the French Blood Transfusion Service and the associated university hospitals. Initial contact was made with Brazilian researchers from Fiocruz in November 2015. The international Zika Summit conference, taking place at Institute Pasteur on the 25 and 26 April 2016, will review ongoing research projects:
- What's on? - 20.04.2016
Monday 25 April 2016: World Malaria Day
Caused by a parasite of the genus Plasmodium, malaria is transmitted to humans through bites from the female Anopheles mosquito. World Malaria Day is held every year on 25 April and the theme for this year will be: “End Malaria For Good”. Advances in the prevention and treatment of malaria have led to a considerable […]
- Press releases - 19.04.2016
The origin of heart dysfunctions in myotonic dystrophy identified
An international team, including researchers in France at Inserm, CNRS and the University of Strasbourg, brought together at IGBMC[1] is lifting the veil on the molecular mechanisms causing heart dysfunctions in myotonic dystrophy, a genetic disease affecting one person in 8,000. This new study, published this week in Nature Communications, could contribute to discovering a treatment.
- Press releases - 15.04.2016
Recycling an anti-hypertensive agent to fight brain tumors
Treatments available for glioblastoma—malignant brain tumors—have little effect. An international collaboration[1] led by the Laboratoire Neurosciences Paris-Seine (CNRS/ INSERM/UPMC)[2] tested active ingredients from existing medications and eventually identified one compound of interest, prazosin, on these tumors. Not only did it seem to be effective in this type of cancer, but it also acted on a signaling pathway that is common with other cancers. These promising findings are available online (advance publication) in EMBO Molecular Medicine.
- Press releases - 14.04.2016
A quadriplegic man regains partial use of his right hand by means of a brain implant
A patient paralysed in his hands and legs is able to use his hand through a device able to restore communication between the brain and muscles, bypassing the spinal cord. According to the French Press Association, a chip containing 96 electrodes, implanted in the patient’s brain, transmits the quadriplegic man’s thoughts to a computer that decodes them and sends commands to a sleeve that stimulates the muscles in the arm electrically.
- What's on? - 14.04.2016
A quadriplegic man regains partial use of his right hand by means of a brain implant
A patient paralysed in his hands and legs is able to use his hand through a device able to restore communication between the brain and muscles, bypassing the spinal cord. According to the French Press Association, a chip containing 96 electrodes, implanted in the patient’s brain, transmits the quadriplegic man’s thoughts to a computer that […]
- Press releases - 14.04.2016
New scientific evidence of sexual transmission of the Zika virus
A study by researchers from Inserm, the Paris Public Hospitals (Bichat Hospital, AP-HP), Aix-Marseille University, and the National Reference Centre for Arboviruses confirms that the ZIKA virus can be transmitted sexually. Their analyses have shown 100% genetic correlation between the form of the virus present in a man who contracted the virus in Brazil and that of a woman who had never travelled in the epidemic area, but who had sexual relations with him.
These results are published in The New England Journal of medicine.