And what if meditation enhanced the aging process? This is suggested by the results of a pilot study, conducted by Inserm researchers based in Caen and Lyon. 73 individuals, with an average age of 65 years, underwent brain imaging tests. Among these individuals, "meditation experts" (with 15,000 to 30,000 hours of meditation to their name) showed significant differences in certain regions of the brain. By reducing stress, anxiety, negative emotions and sleep...
A revolution in the field of nanotechnology! An Inserm researcher in collaboration with Harvard University has succeeded in creating 3D shapes of unprecedented sophistication, thanks to the four DNA bases A, T, C and G. In practice, these researchers can create nanoscopic (10-9 m) objects from 30,000 DNA sequences that fold and self-assemble like LEGO® bricks. In time, this will make it possible to manufacture new tools adapted...
Our brains are constantly bombarded with sensory information. Far from being overloaded, the brain is an expert in managing this stream of information. Researchers from Neurospin (CEA/Inserm) have discovered how the brain incorporates and filters information.
Teams from Hôpital Paul-Brousse AP-HP, Inserm and Paris-Sud University have recently evidenced a mechanism which modulates the intestinal microbiota, involving a molecule with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, known as REG3A. The latter is thought to protect the intestinal barrier and the bacteria most sensitive to oxygen forming the microbiota, thus improving "good" bacterial survival and growth. Transplantation of fecal microbiota in mice models of severe colitis or administration of...
A new version of the Inserm website is now online. Designed and created by Inserm and the W* agency, the site has been rethought, not only in terms of graphics, but also from an ergonomic, technical, and editorial perspective. Objective: to consolidate the role of the Institute as an outlet for information on health and biomedical research, and to enhance the visibility of Inserm on the web.
Juan Iovanna (Inserm Research Director) and his colleagues at the Marseille Cancer Research Center (Inserm/CNRS/Aix Marseille Université/Institut Paoli-Calmettes), in close collaboration with the "Tumor identity cards (CIT)" program run by the Ligue nationale contre le cancer and the University of Wisconsin (United States), have generated a "bank" of approximately 200 viable human pancreatic tumors, and cells derived from these tumors. The "multiomic" analysis of these tumors, i.e. the general...
Could a common mushroom help fight certain genetic diseases? Although surprising, this is indeed the new discovery made by French scientists from Inserm, the French National Museum of Natural History, the CNRS, Université de Lille, and the Institut Pasteur de Lille[1]. By examining numerous extracts, the scientists thus evidenced that the mushroom, Lepista inversa, acted significantly on three isolated cell lines taken from patients with cystic fibrosis. This research...
The “Nuclear Domains and Pathologies” team led by Jean-Jacques Diaz, Inserm Research Director at the Cancer Research Center of Lyon (Inserm/CNRS/Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1/Centre Léon Bérard), has recently demonstrated that one of the essential components of the "cellular machinery" that produces proteins – the ribosome – is altered in tumors. The researchers have observed that these modified ribosomes function differently in cancer cells, preferentially producing proteins that favor...
A new study by Olivier Tabary and his colleagues at the Saint-Antoine Research Center (Inserm Unit 938/Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC), Sorbonne Universities) has revealed a new mechanism that makes it possible to restore the functioning of a cell channel found particularly in the lung mucosa of cystic fibrosis patients. This transfer, usually operated by the CFTR protein, is deficient in patients with cystic fibrosis and known for...
After 40 years of research, researchers at the CEA, the CNRS, the University of Grenoble-Alps, the University of Montpellier and the Inserm have finally identified the enzyme responsible for the tubulin cycle. Surprisingly, it is not one enzyme but two which control the cycle of this essential component of the cytoskeletal structure. This work opens up new prospects for the improved understanding of the role of tubulin, changes in...
