Pharmaceutical Technology

The term  sickle cell disease  (SCD) describes a group of inherited red blood cell disorders. People with SCD have abnormal hemoglobin, called  hemoglobin S or  sickle hemoglobin, in their red blood cells. Hemoglobin is a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout the body. “Inherited” means that the disease is passed by genes from parents to their children. SCD is not contagious. A person cannot catch it, like a cold or infection, from someone else. People who have SCD inherit two abnormal hemoglobin genes, one from each parent. In all forms of SCD, at least one of the two abnormal genes causes a person’s body to make hemoglobin S. When a person has two hemoglobin S genes, Hemoglobin SS, the disease is called  sickle cell anemia . This is the most common and often most severe kind of SCD. Hemoglobin SC disease and hemoglobin Sβ thalassemia (thal-uh-SEE-me-uh) are two other common forms of SCD. Some Forms of Sickle Cell Disease Hemo...

New research may change how we perceive psychopaths, as the brain wiring that drives psychopathic behavior is revealed. It is well known that psychopaths can commit violent, and often criminal, acts. But the precise neural mechanisms that underlie this behavior have remained elusive. However, new research reveals the neural circuits that may drive psychopathic behavior. What goes on in the mind of a psychopath? From specialized neuro scientific studies to popular psychology books, this head-scratching question has preoccupied scientists, ethicists, and journalists alike for years. While it is known that psychopaths sometimes display violent or criminal-like behavior, the neurological underpinnings of this condition have remained somewhat of a mystery. But a team of researchers from Harvard University in Cambridge, MA - led by Joshua Buckholtz, an associate professor of psychology - recently set out to unravel some of this mystery. By examining the brain scans of almost ...