New research shows that in long-lived animals, renewed but thin myelin sheaths are enough to restore impaired nervous systems and can do so for years after the onset of disease.
Campus news
New study shows how cells can be led down non-cancer path
As cells with a propensity for cancer break down food for energy, they reach a fork in the road: They can either continue energy production as healthy cells, or shift to the energy production profile of cancer cells.
With deer season on horizon, lab ramps up for CWD testing
Chronic wasting diesease (CWD), an infectious neurological disease, has been found in both wild and captive deer in at least 24 Wisconsin counties, mostly in the southern half of the state.
Microbes compete for nutrients, affect metabolism, development in mice
While research suggests that the complex link between nutrition, gut microbes, and host metabolism is vital for health, many questions remain about how to improve outcomes, either in mice or in humans.
New measure of insulin-making cells could gauge diabetes progression, treatment
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a new measurement for the volume and activity of beta cells, the source of the sugar-regulating hormone insulin.
Zika infections unlikely to be passed by kissing, casual contact
UW-Madison researchers have found in a study of monkeys that casual contact through saliva is not enough for the virus to move between hosts.
Stem cell advance brings bioengineered arteries closer to reality
New techniques have produced, for the first time, functional arterial cells at both the quality and scale to be relevant for disease modeling and clinical application.
Plants under attack can turn hungry caterpillars into cannibals
A researcher found a tomato plant can make itself taste so horrible that a caterpillar, which would typically munch on its leaves, might eat another caterpillar instead.
Old bones lead to new strategy for drug delivery
An engineering team has developed a new way to seed biomedical devices with agents that promote tissue growth and healing.
Plant derivative could help patients reliant on tube feeding
Experiments suggest it could help people who must obtain “enteral nutrition” — often due to swallowing problems related to cancer, neurological disease, surgery or developmental delay.