In the early 90’s one of the most fascinating mysteries of biology attracted my curiosity: the cell’s ability to commit suicide. In my view, the existence of a specific genetic program devoted to regulate the death of a cell is something, still exciting today. At that time identification of genes and the definition of the signaling pathways, controlling cell death was a sort of gold rush.

Which are the molecular mechanisms that cause the Down syndrome (DS) phenotype?

In this second episode dedicated to the Experimental Imaging Center (EIC) of the San Raffaele Hospital we'll discover the MRI facilities, ultrasound scan and PET facilities

The inflammatory response serves a dual function. On the one hand, it deploys robust circuits of humoral and cell-mediated effector mechanisms to protect the host from harmful pathogens, both directly, through innate, rapid-onset processes and indirectly, by eliciting the adaptive arm of the immune response.

Throughout most of the 20th Century, the question of cancer causation divided oncologists between the infectious and the mutation fields. Both sides counted innumerable pieces of evidence in their favor, but the mutation theory of the origins of cancer eventually won the contest and constitutes now the paradigm in oncology.