Image Source: Serial/Trash Life expectancy has increased continuously over the past several decades, and with it, a host of new age-related ailments have emerged as contemporary medical issues. Muscle function decreases with age, leaving increasing numbers of elderly people incapable of being physically independent. This not only has devastating personal effects but is also a major public health issue.

Image design: Serial/Trash A number of genes have been implicated in neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neurone disease, and Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). However, the core biological processes involved in these disorders are extremely difficult to model and this is hampering the effort to develop treatments.

Image Source: Serial/Trash Understanding how blood vessels are born and propagated is vital for the treatment of a whole host of diseases including heart disorders, diabetes and cancer. Scientists from Oxford’s Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research have begun to reveal the mechanism by which the switching on of specific genes leads to the development of arteries.

Our External Links Service enables links to be created from articles on Europe PMC to free third-party resources that enrich our articles. Since launching the service last July we’ve been joined by providers who have set up links to an ever widening range of useful resources, including data underlying articles, press releases and plain English summaries, and article full text not otherwise held by Europe PMC – to name but a few. We now

Image Source: Serial/Trash There is good news for rheumatoid arthritis sufferers: scientists are a step closer to predicting which patients will benefit the most from a particular type of drug using just a urine sample. Imagine being in pain whilst carrying out routine, daily tasks such as opening a door, reaching for something in the cupboard, or writing.

By Elizabeth McAdam, a postdoctoral researcher at the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute, UK Note: Elizabeth was awarded second place in this year’s Access to Understa nding competition. Check back tomorrow to read her winning entry. Congratulations Elizabeth! Writing always terrified me. Growing up, I didn’t enjoy English at school;

Image Source: Serial/Trash Skin is not the only thing to wrinkle with age. Our genes also show signs of ageing – a process that can lead to cancer. A new study indicates that healthy eating can prevent cancer development and explains how this works. When genes get old Thanks to modern medical advancements, our average life expectancy has increased dramatically in recent decades.

By Lucia Aronica, Max F Perutz Laboratories, Austria Note: Lucia won the first ever Access to Understanding People’s Choice award. Tomorrow the blog will feature her popular piece! My research field is epigenetics, which means that I am interested in understanding how environmental factors can influence our genes and thereby impact both our health and predisposition to diseases. This scientific passion inspired me to write about Dr.

Additional new funders joining Europe PMC further expand the perspective and scope of the resource. Two new funders have today formally announced that they have joined the Europe PMC funders group, and in doing so the outputs of the research they fund will be freely available via Europe PMC. This brings the total Europe PMC funders to 26, and marks a steady growth in the open access commitment of research funders.

Image Source: Serial/Trash Cancer results from an accumulation of mistakes or abnormalities in genes that normally control cell survival, growth and migration. Genes are the instruction manual for our cells, and when these instructions are altered cells may begin to multiply (proliferate) uncontrollably.

By Clare Finlay, a PhD student at the Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Disease, King’s College London Note: Clare was highly commended for her entry. Check back tomorrow to read her brilliant summary on the blog.