High school biology taught us that we inherit certain traits from our parents that are pre-determined. But what if you could change how these genes play out by taking certain drugs or better yet, just changing your diet? That's exactly what a team of researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have proposed through their research of epigenetics research.

Statins are the most frequently prescribed drugs in the United States and are effective in reducing cardiovascular events. However, evidence suggests that patients do not always take these medications as prescribed and may not receive their full benefit. Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), Harvard Medical School and CVS Health investigated whether the use of generic versus brand-name statins can play a role in medication adherence and whether or not this leads to improved health outcomes.

According to recent studies, approximately one out of every 40 individuals in the United States is a carrier of the gene responsible for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a neurodegenerative disease that causes muscles to weaken over time. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have made a recent breakthrough with the development of a new compound found to be highly effective in animal models of the disease.

University of British Columbia, in collaboration with BetaLogics Venture, a division of Janssen Research & Development, LLC, has published a study highlighting a protocol to convert stem cells into insulin-producing cells. The new procedure could be an important step in the fight against Type 1 diabetes.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have shown for the first time how the activation of a receptor provokes the inflammation and bone degradation of rheumatoid arthritis - and that activation of this one receptor, found on cells in the fluid of arthritic joints, is all that is required.

A new mechanism to inhibit proteasomes, protein complexes that are a target for cancer therapy, is the topic of an article published in the journal Chemistry & Biology. The first author of the study is Daniela Trivella, researcher at the Brazilian Biosciences National Laboratory at the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (LNBio/CNPEM).

A team of researchers at McMaster University and St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton have successfully evaluated a new, antibody-based drug for certain patients with severe asthma. The drug - named mepolizumab - can replace traditional, steroid-based treatments for a specific subset of patients, resulting in improved outcomes and reduced side effects.