Circulating cell free DNA fragments are found in your bloodstream when cells die and release what’s inside. Some of that DNA is your genetic material and some comes from mitochondria, the power plants of your cells. Johns Hopkins geriatrics expert …

Are circulating DNA and inflammation related? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

You may have heard the term ‘liquid biopsy.’ Most often referring to cancer detection, such technology aims to find materials circulating in the blood that give clues to a tumor’s presence. Now such a strategy is being used to look …

Can a blood test for DNA predict Alzheimer’s disease and frailty? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Some cancer tests and prenatal assessments already use DNA found circulating in someone’s blood to look for certain cancers or assure the health of a fetus. Now Peter Abadir, a geriatrics expert at Johns Hopkins, and colleagues are using such …

A blood test looking for your DNA is proving increasingly useful, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

You have quite a lot of the genetic material DNA circulating in your bloodstream. Peter Abadir, a geriatrics expert at Johns Hopkins, is looking at DNA from two different sources to provide information on aging. Abadir: The genomic DNA is …

Your own genetic material from two cellular locations can be found in your blood, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Immunotherapies for cancer can be lifesavers, but they can also provoke an overwhelming immune response that can be life threatening. Now a Johns Hopkins study may help pinpoint who is at risk for this type of reaction. Kimmel Cancer Center …

It may now be possible to tell who is going to react badly to some forms of cancer therapy, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

People with a type of advanced colorectal cancer who were treated with two different immunotherapy drugs did much better than a group treated with a standard type of chemotherapy, a new study reports. Kimmel Cancer Center director William Nelson at …

Using two immunotherapies in colon cancer helps, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

As cancer cells grow, a study looking at their three dimensional architecture reveals that they become more like cells normally seen in fetal life. Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center director William Nelson says that may be the key to enabling …

Studying cancers in three dimensions has revealed a kind of regression, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

An effort is underway to characterize cancerous tumors in three dimensions, with an eye toward a more complete understanding of their behavior. A series of papers have recently come out describing what’s been seen so far. William Nelson, director of …

What are we learning from studying cancers in three dimensions? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

When cancer exists in the body it has a three dimensional structure, an architecture, that only now is being looked at in detail to understand better how cancers behave. Kimmel Cancer Center director William Nelson at Johns Hopkins explains. Nelson: …

What can a 3D atlas of cancer teach us? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »

Childhood obesity is a worldwide problem with long term health implications, especially cardiovascular disease. Now a study co-led by Johns Hopkins pediatrics expert Eliana Perrin has shown a personalized program of text messages to parents of very young infants staved …

Text messages meeting people where they are allow children to avoid becoming obese, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read More »