Â鶹AV

Â鶹AV researchers once again figure prominently in magazine’s annual list of the top 10 scientific discoveries in Quebec.Ìý

For 2018, four of the selected discoveries were led by Â鶹AV-affiliated scientists. Their groundbreaking studies, published during the past year, provide new insights into:

• the makeup of Earth’s ancient biosphere (Peter Crockford and Galen Halverson, Earth and Planetary Sciences)
• a plant-derived compound that could help treat cerebral malaria (Philippe Gros and Jerry Pelletier, Biochemistry, and David Langlais, Human Genetics)
• the aftermath of a cosmic smash-up that shook the universe (Daryl Haggard, John Ruan, and Melania Nynka, Â鶹AV Space Institute)
• the development of a gene-based screening test for early detection of ovarian and uterine cancers (LucyÌýGilbert, Kris Jardon, and Ziggy Zeng,Obstetrics and Gynecology, and RI-MUHC)

Here’s a closer look at the Â鶹AV-led research honoured by Québec Science’s panel of judges:

Neutron-star merger yields new puzzle for astrophysicists
The afterglow from the distant neutron-star merger detected in August 2017 continued to brighten – much to the surprise of astrophysicists studying the aftermath of the massive collision that took place about 138 million light years away and sent gravitational waves rippling through the universe.

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Products derived from plants offer potential as dual-targeting agents for experimental cerebral malaria
A recent study conducted as a collaboration between the labs of Dr. Philippe Gros, Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Vice-Dean, Life Science, and Dr. Jerry Pelletier, Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, shows that rocaglates – a class of naturally-derived products from plants of the Aglaia species – effectively block blood-stage parasite replication in several mouse models as well as in infected human red blood cells.

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Billion-year-old lake deposit yields clues to Earth’s ancient biosphere
A sample of ancient oxygen, teased out of a 1.4 billion-year-old evaporative lake deposit in Ontario, provides fresh evidence of what the Earth’s atmosphere and biosphere were like during the interval leading up to the emergence of animal life.

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Pushing screening of ovarian and endometrial cancers one step further
A team from the Research Institute of Â鶹AV Health Centre (RI-MUHC) has joined forces with researchers at Johns Hopkins to bring screening and early detection of ovarian and uterine cancers one step closer to clinical implementation.

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