Articles by Delthia Ricks
Medical Xpress / On the hunt for a dengue antiviral: Scientists comb through scores of compounds to find a drug for 'breakbone fever'
The 'dengue belt' stretches around much of the planet crossing continents, cultures and time zones, a vast region linked by a common fate: a mosquito-borne disease that can be prevented for a select number of people with ...
Medical Xpress / Seafaring nightmare: Aerosol transmission drove SARS-CoV-2's spread aboard a star-crossed cruise ship
Among the many startling images of the early coronavirus pandemic were the luxury cruise ships that garnered the nickname "floating incubators."
Medical Xpress / How dark matter of the genome interacts with mitochondria—and affects the fate of cancer
If an opinion poll were taken for the most popular component of mammalian cells, the result probably would be a 50-50 split: Half of respondents would likely vote hands down for the nucleus and the other half for the mitochondria—a ...
Medical Xpress / New insights into B cells and why humans can produce trillions of disease-fighting antibodies
No story in biology is more intriguing than the one involving B cells and the intricate processes that result in antibody production—it's a story about mathematics, a tale of genetics and a saga of how vast armies of tiny ...
Medical Xpress / Opening a new door into kinder, gentler therapies for chronic inflammation
A naturally occurring antibody capable of stimulating the body's immune-suppressing regulatory T cells has been discovered by a team of Harvard scientists, a finding that may eventually open a new door into kinder, gentler ...
Medical Xpress / The two sides of inflammation—the cure and the curse
One of the many wonders—and mysteries—of human biology is the complex response of the innate immune system, which is known for its swiftness in annihilating invading pathogens and capacity to mount an explosive inflammatory ...
Medical Xpress / Antibiotic resistant bacteria are a global threat—oak surfaces might thwart their growth
Drug resistant superbugs are expected to overwhelm the healthcare system, reverse a century's worth of medical progress and claim more lives than cancer by 2050 unless efforts are accelerated to stop antibiotic resistant ...
Medical Xpress / 'Turncoat' macrophages in the tumor 'micro-environment' underlie breast cancer progression
New research that is examining the "tumor microenvironment" reveals not only how macrophages can become extraordinary turncoats but also how they can actively support tumor growth and metastatic progression in certain forms ...
Medical Xpress / Harnessing a forgotten plague: Mathematical models suggest vaccine control of TB in hard hit countries
It has been a pandemic since at least biblical times, and unless effective strategies harness the global tuberculosis scourge, the disease will remain problematic and pervasive—an unending plague throughout many regions of ...
Medical Xpress / Binge drinking may cause Alzheimer's disease—and it might strike younger and in a severe form
Binge drinking may be linked to both the onset and severity of Alzheimer's disease, but scientists have only now embarked on a path to decipher each molecular step involved in how excessive alcohol consumption leads to the ...
Medical Xpress / Scientists test a 'bispecific' antibody that helps T cells zero in on treatment-resistant cancers
Although immunotherapy has achieved increasing prominence in the panoply of innovative cancer treatments, it remains an imperfect tool—too many tumors simply do not respond.
Medical Xpress / Battle royale: How bacteria fight antibiotics and up the ante in chemical warfare
Inadequate development of new antibiotics and rising rates of resistance by bacteria to existing antimicrobials are dual forces pushing the world ever closer to a post-antibiotic era.
Medical Xpress / Moving the diagosis of rheumatic diseases into the era of precision medicine
Many rheumatic conditions develop slowly and initially have inflammatory arthritis as the first sign that something is amiss. The trouble with such close similarity is the difficulty that clinicians have differentiating one ...
Medical Xpress / Greedy for glucose: Cancer cells rely on a primeval energy-producing pathway to proliferate and spread
To fuel their rapid proliferation, tumor cells rely on glycolysis, a primordial metabolic pathway that is easily exploited by cancers to gain energy to grow—and spread.
Medical Xpress / Discovery: Scientists find for the first time how the eyes drain cellular waste and debris
Just as the brain is a privileged organ, so too are the eyes. Often poetically called the windows to the soul, a unique set of studies has begun to regard the eyes in another way. Like the brain, the eyes lack the classic ...
