Secrets to Binocular Vision

Without binocular vision, it’s harder to judge distances or depth,  or see an image in 3D. As a result, everyday activities such as catching a ball, driving a car, reading or even walking or running are challenging. Now scientists at University of Utah Health have found that a gene, called Arc, is critical for cells in the […]

Hibernating Mammals Offer Clues to Controlling Obesity in Humans

Hibernation is one of nature’s strangest quirks,  inducing bears and other mammals to pack on massive weight—amounts that would be unhealthy for humans—so they can survive months of slumber. Yet when these animals reemerge, they are as fit as ever. Now University of Utah Health scientists say they have detected new genetic clues about this phenomenon that […]

Animal Research Helps Animals, Too

Many first-time pet owners quickly learn how many diseases and conditions affect our four legged friends just as they do people. Dogs get urinary tract infections and cancer. Cats develop cataracts and hyperthyroidism. But researchers have developed ways to help pets—often using the same treatments originally designed for their human counterparts. Watch the video to […]

A Tropical Fish is Helping Us Learn About Human Disease

Finding Alternatives to Opioids

Opioids and opiates are the most effective painkillers available to contemporary medicine. In the late 1990s, physicians began prescribing the newly available OxyContin, a semi-synthetic long-lasting opioid, to treat chronic pain. And Pandora’s box was blown wide open. During the past 20 years, more than 350,000 people have died from an opioid-related drug overdose. A sobering comparison, […]

Finding Solutions for the Loneliest Diagnosis: Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia

When 6-year-old Harper Clyde looked through the microscope, she immediately burst into tears. She knew she was looking at a tiny replica of the injury that caused her brother Tyler to nearly die as a newborn and continued to cause him suffering. On the microscope slide was a cross section of a mouse diaphragm  — a […]

Understanding the Limitations of Antidepressants

Three common antidepressants ­– Paxil® (paroxetine), Lexapro® (escitalopram), and Prozac® (fluoxetine) – could be less effective at high elevations, suggests research involving lab rats and led by scientists at University of Utah Health. When rats were placed in conditions that simulate moderate-high altitudes, the three pharmaceuticals failed to suppress behaviors that model human depression. By […]

Pigeon Research Hatches a Way to Eradicate Head Lice

University of Utah professor Dale Clayton, PhD, turned a vexing problem into a solution that is helping people worldwide combat an unwanted pest: head lice. As a biologist who investigates how hosts adapt to defend against parasites, Clayton grew frustrated after moving his laboratory to Utah. The arid climate was killing the lice that resided […]