LA JOLLA,CA—The Salk Institute received a record-setting $93 million from individuals, foundations and corporate donors during fiscal year 2012 to support the Campaign for Salk, the Institute’s first major fundraising campaign.
LA JOLLA, CA—Stem cells are key to the promise of regenerative medicine: the repair or replacement of injured tissues with custom grown substitutes. Essential to this process are induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which can be created from a patient’s own tissues, thus eliminating the risk of immune rejection. However, Shinya Yamanaka’s formula for iPSCs, for which he was awarded last year’s Nobel Prize, uses a strict recipe that allows for limited variations in human cells, restricting their full potential for clinical application.
LA JOLLA,CA—A team of scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies has identified why disruption of a vital pathway in cell cycle control leads to the proliferation of cancer cells. Their findings on telomeres, the stretches of DNA at the ends of chromosomes that protect our genetic code and make it possible for cells to divide, suggest a potential target for preventive measures against cancer, aging and other diseases. The findings were published July 11, 2013 in Molekulare Zelle.
LA JOLLA,CA—Tickets are now available online for the 18th annual “Symphony at Salk-a concert under the stars” featuring multi-talented
singer Katharine McPhee who will perform at the Institute on August 24 with the
San Diego Symphony und
acclaimed guest conductor Maestro Thomas Wilkins.
LA JOLLA,CA—Scientists studying cancer development have known about micronuclei
for some time. These erratic, small extra nuclei, which contain fragments, or whole
chromosomes that were not incorporated into daughter cells after cell division,
are associated with specific forms of cancer and are predictive of poorer prognosis.
LA JOLLA,CA—Changes in the epigenome, including chemical modifications of DNA, can act as an extra layer of information in the genome, and are thought to play a role in learning and memory, as well as in age-related cognitive decline. The results of a new study by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies show that the landscape of DNA methylation, a particular type of epigenomic modification, is highly dynamic in brain cells during the transition from birth to adulthood, helping to understand how information in the genomes of cells in the brain is controlled from fetal development to adulthood. The brain is much more complex than all other organs in the body and this discovery opens the door to a deeper understanding of how the intricate patterns of connectivity in the brain are formed.
LA JOLLA, CA—Wie ist es möglich, dass ein menschliches Auge Buchstaben erkennt, die in verrückten Richtungen verdreht und geschlungen sind, wie die in dem kleinen Sicherheitstest, den Internetnutzer oft auf Websites erhalten?
LA JOLLA, CA—The power of the brain lies in its trillions of intercellular connections, called synapses that together form complex neural “networks.” While neuroscientists have long sought to map these individual connections to see how they influence specific brain functions, traditional techniques have been unsuccessful. Now, scientists at the Salk Institute and the Gladstone Institutes, using an innovative brain- tracing technique, have found a way to untangle these networks. These findings offer new insight into how specific brain regions connect to each other, while also revealing clues as to what may happen, neuron by neuron, when these connections are disrupted.
LA JOLLA—Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have demonstrated that sensory regions in the brain develop in a fundamentally different way than previously thought, a finding that may yield new insights into visual and neural disorders.
LA JOLLA, CA—On Aug. 24, 2013, multi-talented singer Katharine McPhee will step into the spotlight as the featured headliner for the 18th annual “Symphony at Salk-a concert under the stars” to perform with the San Diego Symphony and acclaimed guest conductor Maestro Thomas Wilkins.
LA JOLLA, CA—It’s common wisdom that one rotten apple in a barrel spoils all the other apples, and that an apple ripens a green banana if they are put together in a paper bag. Ways to ripen, or spoil, fruit have been known for thousands of years-as the Bible can attest-but now the genes underlying these phenomena of nature have been revealed.
LA JOLLA, CA—Salk scientists Beverly M. Emerson, Christopher R. Kintner, und Paul E. Sawchenko were selected as inaugural holders of new endowed chairs created through the Joan Klein Jacobs and Irwin Mark Jacobs Senior Scientist Endowed Chair Challenge. In 2008, Dr. and Mrs. Jacobs created a challenge grant to establish endowed chairs for senior scientists. For every $2 million that a donor contributes toward an endowed chair at the Institute, the Jacobses will add $1 million to achieve the $3 million funding level required to fully endow a chair for a Salk senior scientist. To date, 17 out of 20 chairs have been established.
LA JOLLA, CA—Scientists have uncovered a survival mechanism that occurs in breast cells that have just turned premalignant-cells on the cusp between normalcy and cancers-which may lead to new methods of stopping tumors.
LA JOLLA, CA – Da Forscher herausgefunden haben, dass Mäusehaare eine zirkadiane Uhr haben – ein 24-Stunden-Zyklus aus Wachstum gefolgt von restaurativen Reparaturen – vermuten sie, dass Haarausfall beim Menschen durch toxische Strahlentherapie und Chemotherapie zur Krebsbehandlung minimiert werden könnte, wenn diese Behandlungen spät am Tag verabreicht werden.
LA JOLLA, CA—A drug developed by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, known as J147, reverses memory deficits and slows Alzheimer’s disease in aged mice following short-term treatment. The findings, published May 14 in the journal Alzheimer’s Research and Therapy, may pave the way to a new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease in humans.
LA JOLLA, CA—Scientists have long known that control mechanisms known collectively as “epigenetics” play a critical role in human development, but they did not know precisely how alterations in this extra layer of biochemical instructions in DNA contribute to development.
LA JOLLA, CA—Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified a protein that drives the formation of pituitary tumors in Cushing’s disease, a development that may give clinicians a therapeutic target to treat this potentially life-threatening disorder.
LA JOLLA, CA—Im Frühling nach einem Waldbrand explodieren überlebende Bäume in neuem Wachstum und Pflanzen sprießen in Hülle und Fülle aus der verkohlten Erde. Jahrhundertelang war es ein Rätsel, wie Samen, einige schon lange im Boden ruhend, wussten, dass sie sich durch die Asche drücken sollten, um den verbrannten Wald zu regenerieren.
LA JOLLA, CA—Liver fibrosis results from an excessive accumulation of tough, fibrous scar tissue and occurs in most types of chronic liver diseases. In industrialized countries, the main causes of liver injury leading to fibrosis include chronic hepatitis virus infection, excess alcohol consumption and, increasingly, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
LA JOLLA, CA—Salk researcher Terrence J. Sejnowski,
professor and head of the Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, has been elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a distinction awarded annually to global leaders in business, government, public affairs, the arts and popular culture as well as biomedical research.
