enzymedirectory
Translate English - Français - Español - Deutsch - Italiano advertisement
A resource portal for enzymes  
Enzymedirectory Enzymedirectory
Advanced search
Search:   Products Companies Contact Us - 800.246.7587 
You are here: Home » Resources » News  
 

Return to the previous page
Sponsor of the Month
News
Title: Black Men Most at Risk for Kidney Disease Complications
Category: Health News
Created: 2/5/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/5/2008
Title: New Guideline Urges Screening for Fall Risk
Category: Health News
Created: 2/5/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/5/2008
Title: Eye Blinks May ID Fetal Alcohol Exposure
Category: Health News
Created: 2/5/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/5/2008
Title: Health Highlights: Feb. 4, 2008
Category: Health News
Created: 2/5/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/5/2008
Title: Sugar Water Eases Pain of Infant Vaccinations
Category: Health News
Created: 2/5/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/5/2008
Title: Parental Drinking Boosts Teen Alcohol Risks
Category: Health News
Created: 2/5/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/5/2008
Title: Toy Magnets Can be a Very Real Threat
Category: Health News
Created: 2/5/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/5/2008
Title: 1 in 3 Hit Songs Mentions Substance Abuse, Smoking
Category: Health News
Created: 2/5/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/5/2008
Title: Elderly Women Hard Hit by Depression
Category: Health News
Created: 2/5/2008
Last Editorial Review: 2/5/2008
Title: Health Tip: Cleaning Safety for Pregnant Women
Category: Health News
Created: 2/6/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/6/2008 2:00:01 AM
Title: Measles Vaccine: No Autism Link
Category: Health News
Created: 2/5/2008
Last Editorial Review: 2/5/2008
Title: Pregnancy Stress, Schizophrenia Linked?
Category: Health News
Created: 2/5/2008
Last Editorial Review: 2/5/2008
Title: Bush's Budget Proposal Would Cut Medicare Funding
Category: Health News
Created: 2/5/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/5/2008
Title: Baby Shampoo Awash in Chemicals?
Category: Health News
Created: 2/5/2008
Last Editorial Review: 2/5/2008
Title: Health Tip: When Baby is Crying
Category: Health News
Created: 2/5/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/5/2008
Title: Very Premature Babies Don't Get Follow-Up Care
Category: Health News
Created: 2/5/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/5/2008
Title: Asmanex Approved for Asthmatic Children
Category: Health News
Created: 2/6/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/6/2008
Title: Smokers Sleep Less Soundly
Category: Health News
Created: 2/6/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/6/2008
Title: Health Highlights: Feb. 5, 2008
Category: Health News
Created: 2/6/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/6/2008
Title: Health Tip: Healthy Nails, Healthy Body
Category: Health News
Created: 2/5/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/5/2008
Title: Health Tip: Before Giving Yoga a Try
Category: Health News
Created: 2/6/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/6/2008
Title: Cultural Beliefs May Keep Blacks From Hospice Care
Category: Health News
Created: 2/6/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/6/2008
Title: GPS Devices Measure Severity of Peripheral Artery Disease
Category: Health News
Created: 2/6/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/6/2008
Title: 9/11 Exposure Linked to Behavior Trouble in Kids
Category: Health News
Created: 2/6/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/6/2008
Title: Study: Stopping Plavix May Be Risky
Category: Health News
Created: 2/6/2008
Last Editorial Review: 2/6/2008
Title: Brain Injury May Not Erase Long-Term Memory
Category: Health News
Created: 2/6/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/6/2008
Title: Pick Up Weights to Take Off Pounds
Category: Health News
Created: 2/6/2008
Last Editorial Review: 2/6/2008
Title: Obesity's Roots May Be in the Brain
Category: Health News
Created: 2/6/2008
Last Editorial Review: 2/6/2008
Title: Less Invasive Way to Stage Lung Cancer Shows Promise
Category: Health News
Created: 2/6/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 2/6/2008
Title: Marijuana Linked to Early Gum Disease
Category: Health News
Created: 2/6/2008
Last Editorial Review: 2/6/2008
New research suggests that two recently discovered genes are critically important for controlling cell survival during embryonic development.The genes, called E2F7 and E2F8, are the least understood members of a family of genes that play a fundamental role in animal development. Members of this family are also involved in cancers of the breast, bladder, stomach and colon.
Iodized table salt may be low in iodine, raising health concernsAmid concern that people in the United States are consuming inadequate amounts of iodine, scientists in Texas have found that 53 percent of iodized salt samples contained less than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended level of this key nutrient. Iodized table salt is the main source of iodine for most individuals, they note in a study scheduled for the Feb.
The study was published online February 5 in the February 2008 edition (Volume 6, Issue 2) of the journal PLoS Biology.The research team found that the hypertension drugs diltiazem and verapamil increased the overall function of mutant lysosomal enzymes associated with the conditions Gaucher disease, fN-mannosidosis, and type IIIA mucopolysaccharidosis in patient-derived cell lines.
The ability to deliver drugs to specific cells has long been regarded as the next major milestone in drug therapeutics. Targeting drugs to the cellular level is expected to minimize drug side effects, expand their use and improve patient outcomes. Patient compliance remains a major obstacle to improving the clinical outcomes of efficacious drugs. While a number of factors contribute to compliance issues, avoidance of drug side effects is known to be a key determinant.
For most people with Parkinson's disease, the only relief from the tremors, rigidity and impaired movement associated with the progressive loss of their motor skills is a drug called L-DOPA. But as the disease progresses, L-DOPA can cause prominent side effects that counteract its effectiveness.
Research underway at the University of Leeds will provide a completely fresh insight into the workings of nano-scale systems, and enable advances in the development of nano-electronic devices for use in industry, medicine and biotechnology.
Lysosomes are organelles that break down macromolecules in a cell, and this process is crucial for maintaining healthy cells. A lysosomal storage disease results from deficient activity of the hydrolytic enzymes, responsible for the breakdown of defunct molecules. Currently, lysosomal storage diseases are treated by enzyme replacement therapy. This can be challenging because the enzyme has to find its proper way into cells and lysosomes to function.
Using a mouse model of Treacher Collins Syndrome (TCS), the Stowers Institute's Trainor Lab has demonstrated that it can prevent this rare disorder of craniofacial development either by inactivating a gene implicated in the abnormality or by inhibiting its protein product.The work, which was posted to the Web site of the journal Nature Medicine, is a follow-up to the team's 2006 discovery of the cellular cause of TCS.
Amyloids are highly organized protein aggregates that are associated with both neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer disease and benign functions such as skin pigmentation.  Amyloids self-polymerize by recruiting their soluble protein counterpart and remain stable against harsh physical, chemical and biochemical conditions.  These extraordinary properties make amyloids attractive for applications in nanotechnology.
More than 13,000 biological and biomedical scientists will gather for the Experimental Biology 2008 meeting in San Diego April 5-9.The theme of the annual meeting, now in its 18th year, is "Today's Research: Tomorrow's Health." Thousands of lectures, symposia, research presentations and exhibits have been selected because of their potential to shape future and current clinical advances.
Parts of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) isolated from wild lions have undergone substantial genetic recombination, says research published in the online open access journal BMC Genomics. The sequencing of the two full FIV genomes of different lion subtypes shows the importance of whole-genome analysis in understanding complex genetic events. These findings will be relevant to big cat conservation and developing more effective animal models for HIV.
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and Arizona State University have sequenced the genome of a rare bacterium that harvests light energy by making an even rarer form of chlorophyll, chlorophyll d. Chlorophyll d absorbs "red edge," near infrared, long wave length light, invisible to the naked eye.In so doing, the cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina, competes with virtually no other plant or bacterium in the world for sunlight.
A 'barcode' gene that can be used to distinguish between the majority of plant species on Earth has been identified by scientists who have published their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.This gene, which can be used to identify plants using a small sample, could lead to new ways of easily cataloguing different types of plants in species-rich areas like rainforests.
The Wellcome Trust, the UK's largest independent funder of medical research, has announced plans to increase its spending to almost 4 billion pounds over the next 5 years in what is believed to be the largest ever charitable spend within the UK.The Wellcome Trust was established in 1936 through an endowment in the will of Sir Henry Wellcome.
People with manic depression have a distinct chemical signature in their brains, according to a new study. The research, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, may also indicate how the mood stabilisers used to treat the disorder counteract the changes in the brain that it appears to cause.
Springer and the International Society for Cardiovascular Translational Research (ISCTR) are founding a new, quarterly biomedical publication called the Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research (JCTR). The journal will be officially introduced at the Inaugural Meeting of the International Society for Cardiovascular Translational Research to be held 9 -10 February 2008 in San Diego, CA, USA. The first issue will be published in March 2008.
A new plan to further reduce, refine and replace the use of animals in research and regulatory testing commonly referred to as the 3Rs Has been unveiled at a symposium marking the 10-year anniversary of the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM). The plan identifies priority areas for research, development, translation, and validation activities necessary to achieve regulatory acceptance of alternative test methods.
The citric acid cycle, one of the most important metabolic processes in our bodies, was formulated in 1937. Since then, all of the intermediates have been produced in multigram quantities - with one exception, (2R,3S)-isocitric acid. Athanassios Giannis and his team at the University of Leipzig have finally done it.
FEI Company (Nasdaq:FEIC) has introduced a revolutionary, high-throughput, cryo transmission electron microscope (TEM) that combines high- throughput sample handling with state-of- the-art electron optics. It provides fast, fully-automated three-dimensional data about biological molecules and macromolecular complexes.
In the United Kingdom, public support for the use of human tissue inresearch has risen over the past decade, suggests a study publishedon February 6, 2008 the Journal of Clinical Pathology. This isin contrast to the negative publicity generated by incidents at theBristol Royal Infirmary and Liverpool's Alder Hey Hospital, whichrecently prompted new legislation including the Human Tissue Act of2004.
Insmed Inc. (Nasdaq GM:INSM), a developer of follow-on biologics and biopharmaceuticals, announced that it has launched a broad education campaign on the importance of establishing a regulatory pathway in the U.S. for large molecule protein-based drugs, known as follow-on biologics (FOBs), which are also commonly referred to as biosimilars or biogenerics.
"British scientists have created a mouse that can catch colds," reported the Guardian. The paper and other sources report on a "breakthrough" scientific experiment in which a mouse model of the common cold has been created. The development of a mouse susceptible to rhinoviruses (the most common cold-causing virus and one that worsens asthma) challenges the long-held theory that the virus could only infect humans and chimpanzees.
An experimental drug that has proven effective in treating muscular dystrophy also works for cystic fibrosis, according to researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).The new study is the latest on a compound called PTC124, which helps to "rescue" faulty proteins that lead to illnesses. The drug holds promise in treating more than 2,400 genetic diseases caused by a certain class of DNA mutation.
1. Regulation of Intracellular Chloride Concentration and GABAA SignalingAudrey C. Brumback and Kevin J. StaleyActivating GABAA receptors opens an intrinsic chloride channel, which normally results in chloride influx and hyperpolarization. In some contexts, however (e.g., development, neuropathic pain, and epilepsy), the intracellular chloride concentration (Cli ) is elevated; thus, GABAA receptor activation leads to chloride efflux and depolarization.
A burger and fries may be the quintessential North American meal but it can also be viewed as the perfect example of humanity's increasingly varied diet, according to researchers who have conducted a unique study of the plants used around the world for food.
Researchers at Duke University have developed a new printing technique using catalysts to create microdevices such as labs-on-a-chip. Their inkless printing technique uses enzymes from E. coli bacteria and has an accuracy of less than 2 nanometers. While they're are now using enzymes to stamp nanopatterns without ink, the research team is already working with non-enzymatic catalysts. And it added that 'future versions of the inkless technique could be used to build complex nanoscale devices with unprecedented precision.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Title: Mom's Low Cholesterol Tied to Preemie Births
Category: Health News
Created: 10/2/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 10/2/2007
Title: Health Highlights: Oct. 1, 2007
Category: Health News
Created: 10/2/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 10/2/2007
Title: Breast-Feeding Doesn't Contribute to Cavities
Category: Health News
Created: 10/2/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 10/2/2007
Title: First Puff Can Turn Kids Into Smokers: Study
Category: Health News
Created: 10/2/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 10/2/2007
Title: Ozone Breaks Down Lungs' Defenses
Category: Health News
Created: 10/2/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 10/2/2007
Title: Kids' TV Viewing Tied to Behavioral Problems
Category: Health News
Created: 10/2/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 10/2/2007
Title: Coronary Disease Might Toughen Up Heart
Category: Health News
Created: 10/2/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 10/2/2007
Title: Topps Expands Ground Beef Recall
Category: Health News
Created: 10/2/2007
Last Editorial Review: 10/2/2007
Title: Panic Attacks May Increase Heart Risk
Category: Health News
Created: 10/2/2007
Last Editorial Review: 10/2/2007
Title: Conscience Curbs Alzheimer's?
Category: Health News
Created: 10/2/2007
Last Editorial Review: 10/2/2007
Title: Low Back Pain: Many Options for Relief
Category: Health News
Created: 10/2/2007
Last Editorial Review: 10/2/2007
Title: Health Tip: Caffeine Facts
Category: Health News
Created: 10/2/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 10/2/2007
Title: Medicare Offers Smallest Rise in Premiums in 6 Years
Category: Health News
Created: 10/2/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 10/2/2007
Title: Antibiotic Shows Promise as Stroke Treatment
Category: Health News
Created: 10/2/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 10/2/2007
Title: Drug Plus Psychotherapy Best Treatment for Depressed Teens
Category: Health News
Created: 10/2/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 10/2/2007
Title: Women Less Likely to Get Heart Defibrillators
Category: Health News
Created: 10/3/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 10/3/2007
Title: Toy Blocks Might Boost Toddlers' Language Skills
Category: Health News
Created: 10/3/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 10/3/2007
Title: Drug Combo Helps Fight Marfan Syndrome
Category: Health News
Created: 10/3/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 10/3/2007
Title: Obesity Driving Rising U.S. Health Costs
Category: Health News
Created: 10/3/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 10/3/2007
Title: Health Highlights: Oct. 2, 2007
Category: Health News
Created: 10/3/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 10/3/2007
Title: Health Tip: Quitting Smoking Has Immediate Benefits
Category: Health News
Created: 10/3/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 10/3/2007
Title: Health Tip: Symptoms of Menopause
Category: Health News
Created: 10/2/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 10/2/2007
Title: Health Tip: Treating Fatty Liver Disease
Category: Health News
Created: 10/3/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 10/3/2007
Title: Almost a Third of U.S. Kids Use Supplements
Category: Health News
Created: 10/3/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 10/3/2007
Title: Women's Cancer Prevention Falls Short
Category: Health News
Created: 10/3/2007
Last Editorial Review: 10/3/2007
Title: Study Supports Change to Prostate Cancer Biopsy
Category: Health News
Created: 10/3/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 10/3/2007
Title: Girls' Soccer: Concussion Risk
Category: Health News
Created: 10/3/2007
Last Editorial Review: 10/3/2007
Title: Chronic Disease Costs ‘Staggering'
Category: Health News
Created: 10/3/2007
Last Editorial Review: 10/3/2007
Title: Most Homeless Youth Lack Health Insurance
Category: Health News
Created: 10/3/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 10/3/2007
Title: Doctors' Groups Offer ADHD Guide for Parents
Category: Health News
Created: 10/3/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 10/3/2007
Title: Red Wine Compound May Curb Diabetes
Category: Health News
Created: 10/3/2007
Last Editorial Review: 10/3/2007
An inflammatory eye condition that is one of the world's leading causes of blindness could be treated much more effectively and easily thanks to a new discovery here.In experiments with laboratory rats, scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have developed a potential new therapy for uveitis -- the inflammation of the uvea, a layer of tissue that lies just below the outer surface of the eyeball and includes the iris. [click link for full article]
A new Joslin-led study has shown that leptin, a hormone known mainly for regulating appetite control and energy metabolism, plays a major role in islet cell growth and insulin secretion. This finding opens up new avenues for studying leptin and its role in islet cell biology, which may lead to new treatments for diabetes. This study appears in the October 2007 issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation. [click link for full article]
A study by researchers at UCL (University College London) explains why humans see illusions by showing that virtual robots trained to 'see' correctly also - as a consequence - make the same visual mistakes that we do. The study, published in the latest edition of PLoS Computational Biology, shows that illusions are an inevitable consequence of evolving useful behaviour in a complex world. [click link for full article]
Harvard University scientists have identified a virtual "speed limit" on the rate of molecular evolution in organisms, and the magic number appears to be 6 mutations per genome per generation -- a level beyond which species run the strong risk of extinction as their genomes lose stability. [click link for full article]
Quick identification of avian influenza infection in poultry is critical to controlling outbreaks, but current detection methods can require several days to produce results.A new biosensor developed at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) can detect avian influenza in just minutes. In addition to being a rapid test, the biosensor is economical, field-deployable, sensitive to different viral strains and requires no labels or reagents. [click link for full article]
Microscopic worms used for scientific research are living longer despite cellular defects, a discovery that is shedding light on how the human body ages and how doctors could one day limit or reverse genetic mutations that cause inherited diseases, according to a new University of Colorado at Boulder study.In the first formal study of its kind, researchers manipulated the metabolic state of genetically engineered lab worms called C. [click link for full article]
A protein, known as AKAP18, could help the heart to beat faster in response to adrenaline or noradrenaline, according to a study published online this week in EMBO reports.The protein has a crucial role in correctly targeting protein kinase A (PKA) to a molecular complex that helps control the rate and strength of heart muscle contractions. [click link for full article]
In work investigating the reproducibility of glycemic index values, researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University (USDA HNRCA) have reported that multiple glycemic index value determinations (measure of the rate of glucose absorption into the bloodstream) using a simple test food, white bread, resulted in a relatively high level of inter-individual (among different individuals), and intra-individual (within the same individual) variability. [click link for full article]
A new and extraordinary $22 million gift to the University of Michigan Health System is making possible a new and extraordinary institute -- one with a mission of supporting fundamental research to advance the understanding of the causes, treatment and prevention of a broad range of human diseases.The A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute, being established in the U-M Medical School, is named for the retail pioneer whose funding and vision led to its creation. Mr. [click link for full article]
The U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) is pleased to announce the six awardees of its 2007--2008 fellowship program. USP fellows are graduate students enrolled in chemistry, pharmacy and other health care and scientific programs. Students at colleges and universities around the world are eligible to apply for the program.The 2007-2008 recipients are: * Steven Allmon, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla. [click link for full article]
UroToday.com- Antiproliferative factor (APF) is a sialoglycopeptide elevated in the urine of patients with interstitial cystitis. APF is detectable in the urine of 95% of IC patients as compared to approximately 9% of controls and is also a low molecular weight glycosylated peptide related to the membrane receptor frizzled 8. [click link for full article]
A team of researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have overcome a major obstacle for using refractive lenses to focus x-rays. This method will allow the efficient focusing of x-rays down to extremely small spots and is an important breakthrough in the development of a new, world-leading light source facility that promises advances in nanoscience, energy, biology, and materials research. [click link for full article]
Research in the field of neuroscience is constantly expanding to provide knowledge about biological mechanisms that underlie our ability to experience and interact with the world around us. To facilitate such research, two neuroscience methods are featured in this month's release of Cold Spring Harbor Protocols. Both are freely accessible online (http://www.cshprotocols. [click link for full article]
Integrating silicon microchip technology with a network of tiny fluid channels, some thinner than a human hair, researchers at The Johns Hopkins University have developed a thumb-size micro-incubator to culture living cells for lab tests. [click link for full article]
1. Ramping Up A CurrentsAlexander C. Jackson and Bruce P. BeanWhen it comes to neuronal membrane excitability, a lot is going on at subthreshold membrane potentials. And sometimes you have to sneak up on a cell to find out what is happening. This week, Jackson and Bean wanted to examine how the voltage-dependent activation and inactivation properties of A-type potassium channels (IA) affected action potential firing. [click link for full article]
Phylonix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced that it has been awarded a $1,092,031 Phase II Small Business Innovation Grant (SBIR) from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop zebrafish eye disease models for drug screening. The grant for "New Models for Eye Diseases" will support the Phylonix program over a period of three years. [click link for full article]
Even a limited, regional nuclear war, such as an exchange between India and Pakistan, would cause world wide climate disruption and lead to global famine, according to papers being presented at an international conference at the Royal Society of Medicine this week. [click link for full article]
A combined treatment with rapamycin and Gleevec might reverse the effects of portal hypertension in patients with chronic liver disease, according to the results of a new study on rats. The study is in the October issue of Hepatology, a journal published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). The article is also available online at [click link for full article]
A leading researcher at the University of Leicester is to reveal how new medical advances could provide a key to 'unlocking' cancer cells. At a public lecture to be given on 20 November, entitled 'Knock and the Door will be opened' Professor Andrew Tobin will describe how cutting edge medical research aims to tackle the scourge of cancer. [click link for full article]
Even relatively low doses of resveratrol -- a chemical found in the skins of red grapes and in red wine -- can improve the sensitivity of mice to the hormone insulin, according to a report in the October issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication. [click link for full article]
Vaccine-like treatment shows promise for fighting lupusResearchers in Indiana have developed a vaccine-like treatment that shows promise for treating lupus, a disease of the immune system that affects about 1.5 million people in the United States. The new treatment, described in the September/October issue of ACS' Molecular Pharmaceutics, a bi-monthly journal, reduced disease symptoms and extended the lives of laboratory mice that researchers use to study lupus. [click link for full article]
Scientists have made an important advance in understanding the genetic processes that give flowers, leaves and plants their bright colours. The knowledge could lead to a range of benefits, including better understanding of the cancer-fighting properties of plant pigments and new, natural food colourings. The research is highlighted in the new issue of Business from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). [click link for full article]
Humans MIFfed by West Nile VirusInfection with West Nile Virus (WNV) can cause lethal encephalitis and there are currently no vaccines or specific therapeutics for use in humans. However, data generated by Erol Fikrig and colleagues at Yale University School of Medicine has provided evidence that the proinflammatory soluble factor MIF might provide a target for developing therapeutics to treat WNV encephalitis. [click link for full article]
Picture a pretzel factory production line, with conveyer belts carrying the dough, formed into unbaked pretzels, down to the oven to be cooked.Now imagine what would happen if pretzel dough started to overflow the mixer and oozed as a blob onto the conveyor, misshapen, and sticking fast to the dough of the other fully formed, unbaked pretzels. The result: a mess. [click link for full article]
In people with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), the drug Imatinib has been shown to drive cancer into remission, but the disease often returns when treatment is stopped. New research by UC Irvine scientists indicates that Imatinib could cure CML under certain circumstances if it is taken over a long enough period of time. [click link for full article]
Sony has created a battery that produces electricity by breaking down sugar. The bio cell, which measures 39 millimeters cubed, delivers 50mW — a world record for such a cell, according to the company. 'In the bio cell sugar-digesting enzymes at the anode extract electrons and hydrogen ions from the glucose. The hydrogen ions pass through a membrane separator to the cathode where they absorb oxygen from the air to produce water as a byproduct. The electrons flow around the circuit outside the device producing the electricity needed to power it.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Title: More Americans Urged to Get Flu Shots
Category: Health News
Created: 9/20/2007 8:49:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 9/20/2007
Title: Stem Cells From Testes Produce Wide Range of Tissue Types
Category: Health News
Created: 9/20/2007 8:49:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 9/20/2007
Title: Obesity Won't Affect Seniors' Memory
Category: Health News
Created: 9/20/2007 8:49:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 9/20/2007
Title: Health Highlights: Sept. 19, 2007
Category: Health News
Created: 9/20/2007 8:49:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 9/20/2007
Title: Few Americans Know of Leg Artery Danger
Category: Health News
Created: 9/20/2007 8:49:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 9/20/2007
Title: Nasal Flu Vaccine Approved for Children Ages 2-5
Category: Health News
Created: 9/20/2007 8:49:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 9/20/2007
Title: Hushed Genes Might Mean Higher Lung Cancer Risk
Category: Health News
Created: 9/20/2007 8:49:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 9/20/2007
Title: Health Tip: Soothing Infants' Sore Gums
Category: Health News
Created: 9/20/2007 8:49:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 9/20/2007
Title: Apples May Keep Asthma Away
Category: Health News
Created: 9/20/2007
Last Editorial Review: 9/20/2007
Title: Hand Foam Fights Bacteria Better
Category: Health News
Created: 9/20/2007
Last Editorial Review: 9/20/2007
Title: Male Breast Enlargement May Be Common
Category: Health News
Created: 9/20/2007
Last Editorial Review: 9/20/2007
Title: Cell Phones May Cause Hearing Loss
Category: Health News
Created: 9/20/2007
Last Editorial Review: 9/20/2007
Title: Steroids Seem Safe for Babies at Risk of Early Birth
Category: Health News
Created: 9/20/2007 8:49:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 9/20/2007
Title: Tissue-Growth Gene Tied to Scleroderma
Category: Health News
Created: 9/20/2007 8:49:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 9/20/2007
Title: Health Tip: Understanding Glaucoma
Category: Health News
Created: 9/21/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 9/21/2007
Title: Gene Test Could Boost Myeloma Treatment
Category: Health News
Created: 9/21/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 9/21/2007
Title: Americans Confused About FDA and Drug Safety
Category: Health News
Created: 9/21/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 9/21/2007
Title: Health Highlights: Sept. 20, 2007
Category: Health News
Created: 9/21/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 9/21/2007
Title: Brain Defect Helps Drive Fragile X Syndrome
Category: Health News
Created: 9/21/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 9/21/2007
Title: Health Tip: Risk Factors for Gallstones
Category: Health News
Created: 9/20/2007 8:49:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 9/20/2007
Title: Scientists Map Elephantiasis Parasite's Genome
Category: Health News
Created: 9/21/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 9/21/2007
Title: Newer Antibiotic Speeds TB Healing
Category: Health News
Created: 9/21/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 9/21/2007
Title: Cosby Star Tackles a Silent Heart Threat
Category: Health News
Created: 9/20/2007 8:49:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 9/20/2007
Title: Support System Leads to Better Diet, Nutrition
Category: Health News
Created: 9/21/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 9/21/2007
Title: Genes May Help Dieters' Longevity
Category: Health News
Created: 9/21/2007
Last Editorial Review: 9/21/2007
Stress Breaks Hearts
MedicineNet Daily News

(September 21, 2007, 6:20 pm)


Title: Stress Breaks Hearts
Category: Health News
Created: 9/21/2007
Last Editorial Review: 9/21/2007
Title: Young Women in Dark About Cholesterol
Category: Health News
Created: 9/21/2007
Last Editorial Review: 9/21/2007
Title: Stimulants Help Students With ADHD
Category: Health News
Created: 9/21/2007
Last Editorial Review: 9/21/2007
The Johns Hopkins University has announced that it has received an award of more than $100 million spread over five years to initiate the Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR). The ICTR will be tasked with enabling Johns Hopkins researchers to hasten and improve the process of getting promising research from the lab to the clinic and eventually to the community. [click link for full article]
How small RNAs enter mammalian cells It all started with flowers: in the nineties of the last century Norwegian researchers discovered that additional copies of a particular gene in petunias inhibited its activity instead of reinforcing it as had been assumed. A few years later it was found that the mechanism is based on the degradation of messenger RNA in the cells. [click link for full article]
New technology for tracking down builders of homemade bombsAnalytical ChemistryResearchers in Australia are reporting development of a portable device to help track down builders of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) -- those homemade fertilizer bombs that have wreaked such havoc in terrorist attacks around the world. Their study appears in the ACS' Analytical Chemistry, a semi-monthly journal.Paul R. [click link for full article]
When it comes to picking a mate, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young had an answer: "If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with." As it turns out, that may be a cardinal rule in the animal kingdom, too.New research that crosses several species boundaries shows that when animals must choose less-than-preferred (to them) mates, females and males apparently have ways to compensate that increase the chance their offspring will survive. [click link for full article]
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a miniature sensor that uses polymer membranes deposited on a tiny silicon disk to measure pollutants present in aqueous or gaseous environments. An array of these sensors with different surface coatings could be used during field-testing to rapidly detect many different chemicals. [click link for full article]
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded the University of Wisconsin-Madison's new Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) one of the largest grants in the history of the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, making UW-Madison a key player in an ambitious NIH plan to transform the country's clinical and translational research enterprise. [click link for full article]
For the first time scientists have been able to film, in real time, the nanoscale interaction of an enzyme and a DNA strand from an attacking virus. Researchers from the University of Cambridge have used a revolutionary Scanning Atomic Force Microscope in Japan to produce amazing footage of a protective enzyme unravelling the DNA of a virus trying to infect a bacterial host.The film is available to view [click link for full article]
Stevens Institute of Technology Professor Xiaojun Yu, Ph.D., has received an Early Career Translational Research Award in Biomedical Engineering from the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation. This award will support his research titled, "Novel structured nanofibrous scaffolds for bone healing. [click link for full article]
Biologists have determined the three-dimensional structure of an unusual viral enzyme that is required in the assembly of new viruses.The Paramecium bursaria chlorella virus infects a green alga called chlorella, transferring its DNA into host cells. Once inside the chlorella, the virus DNA makes an enzyme called glycosyltransferase, which is needed to produce structural proteins that are assembled to create the outer shells, or capsids, for new virus particles. [click link for full article]
An algorithm utilizing structure mapping and thermodynamics is introduced for RNA pseudoknot prediction. The method finds the minimum free energy in the context of the biological folding direction (5' to 3') of RNA sequences. It also identifies information about the flexibility of the RNA. Mapping methods are used to build and analyze the folded structure and add important 3D structural considerations. [click link for full article]
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has been awarded a grant of more than 9.25 million dollars from the National Institutes of Health to further the medical school's study of centenarians and the biology of aging. Led by Dr. [click link for full article]
Boston College psychology professor Lisa Feldman Barrett, a leader in the field of emotion research, has been awarded a five-year $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to fund her groundbreaking work on the psychology and neuroscience of emotion -- in particular her development of a "conceptual act" model that offers a new view of emotions and their role in mental and physical health.Barrett is one of only 12 recipients in the U.S. [click link for full article]
The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), in conjunction with the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, will host the fourth annual symposium on evolution on December 1, 2007, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. The symposium, titled "Evolution: Applications in Human Health and Populations," is part of the 2007 Professional Development Conference sponsored by the National Association of Biology Teachers. [click link for full article]
Whether it's a mugger or a friend who jumps out of the bushes, you're still surprised. But your response -- to flee or to hug -- must be very different. Now, researchers have begun to distinguish the circuitry in the brain's emotion center that processes surprise from the circuitry that processes the aversive or reward "valence" of a stimulus.C. [click link for full article]
Thomson Scientific, part of The Thomson Corporation (NYSE: TOC; TSX; TOC) and leading provider of information solutions to the worldwide research and business communities, announced the release of BONDplus, an integrated, web-based data platform to address the information and analytic needs of biological researchers. [click link for full article]
The National Institutes of Health has awarded one of 12 Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) for 2007 to a team based at the University of Chicago Medical Center. These awards, together with 12 CTSAs awarded in 2006, form the core of an NIH effort to build a national consortium of select centers that will "transform how clinical and translational research is conducted," ultimately enabling researchers to provide new and better treatments more efficiently and quickly to patients. [click link for full article]
Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRT), a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing small molecule drugs to treat diseases of aging, announced publication of a study by Sirtris and Harvard University scientists in the journal Cell that reveals a new mechanism to slow aging. This study shows for the first time that activation of SIRT3 and SIRT4, members of the sirtuin family of enzymes, protects against cell damage. [click link for full article]
In the sumptuous main hall of the Wills Memorial Building, Bristol University, almost 500 people - mostly laypersons with a percentage of international scientists and researchers - attended last Sept. 18, the public lecture "Who nearly killed Sir Ranulph Fiennes?". The lecture was organized by the Bristol Heart Institute in collaboration with the Bristol University, and took place during the joint meetings of the European Vascular Genomics Network (EVGN, [click link for full article]
Microorganisms may soon be efficiently and inexpensively producing novel pharmaceutical compounds, such as flavonoids, that fight aging, cancer or obesity, as well as high-value chemicals, as the result of research being conducted by University at Buffalo researchers.In work that could transform radically the ways in which many of these compounds are produced commercially, the UB researchers are genetically engineering microorganisms, such as E. [click link for full article]
Anti-cancer treatments often effectively shrink the size of tumors, but some might have an opposite effect, actually expanding the small population of cancer stem cells believed to drive the disease, according to findings presented in Atlanta, Georgia at the American Association for Cancer Research's second International Conference on Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development. [click link for full article]
University of Nevada, Reno researchers Jeanne and David Zeh of the Department of Biology have received a five-year, $650,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to investigate the effects of natural mitochondrial variation on sperm traits and sperm competitive ability.Researchers have found mitochondrial mutations to be one of the primary causes of low sperm count and poor sperm mobility in humans. [click link for full article]
A team of Brown University biomedical engineers has invented a 3-D Petri dish that can grow cells in three dimensions, a method that promises to quickly and cheaply produce more realistic cells for drug development and tissue transplantation.The technique employs a new dish -- cleverly crafted from a sugary substance long used in science laboratories -- that allows cells to self-assemble naturally and form "microtissues. [click link for full article]
Scientists have developed unique technology to grow stem cells and other tissue in the laboratory in conditions similar to the way they grow in the human body.The technology, developed and patented by scientists at Durham University and its spin-out company ReInnervate Limited, is a plastic scaffold which allows cells to be grown in a more realistic three-dimensional (3D) form compared to the traditional flat surface of a Petri dish. [click link for full article]
Administering hydrogen sulfide (H2S) directly into the heart during a simulated heart attack significantly reduces the tissue and cell damage often seen in oxygen-starved organs, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.H2S boosts post-heart-attack function by helping to minimize reperfusion injury, an unwanted side effect of restoring blood flow swiftly to hearts suffering from low oxygen, the study authors said. [click link for full article]
A new study by biologists at Tufts University has discovered a dark side lurking behind the magical light shows put on by fireflies each summer. Using both laboratory and field experiments to explore the potential costs of firefly courtship displays, the biologists have uncovered some surprising answers.The research, to be published in the November 2007 issue of American Naturalist and now available online ( [click link for full article]
Title: Insurance Impacts Laryngeal Cancer Detection
Category: Health News
Created: 8/23/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/23/2007
Title: Gene May Help Spur Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Category: Health News
Created: 8/23/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/23/2007
Title: Weight Loss Surgery Saves Lives
Category: Health News
Created: 8/23/2007
Last Editorial Review: 8/23/2007
Title: Women Don't Know Cholesterol Levels
Category: Health News
Created: 8/23/2007
Last Editorial Review: 8/23/2007
Title: Drug That Lowers Resting Heart Rate Being Tested
Category: Health News
Created: 8/23/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/23/2007
Title: Older Americans Have Active Sex Lives
Category: Health News
Created: 8/23/2007
Last Editorial Review: 8/23/2007
Title: Risperdal Ok'd for Kids & Teens Treatment
Category: Health News
Created: 8/23/2007
Last Editorial Review: 8/23/2007
Title: Health Tip: Before a Colonoscopy
Category: Health News
Created: 8/23/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/23/2007
Title: Melanoma Diagnosis Often Delayed for Rural Poor
Category: Health News
Created: 8/23/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/23/2007
Title: Health Tip: While Chewing Gum May Relieve Stress ...
Category: Health News
Created: 8/23/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/23/2007
Title: Traffic Fumes Plus Genes Boosts Kids' Asthma Risk
Category: Health News
Created: 8/23/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/23/2007
Title: When 'Good' Cholesterol Goes Bad
Category: Health News
Created: 8/23/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/23/2007
Title: Health Highlights: Aug. 22, 2007
Category: Health News
Created: 8/23/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/23/2007
Title: Study Probes Roots of Fearful Memories
Category: Health News
Created: 8/23/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/23/2007
Researchers have provided new information about how communication among neurons may be prevented from deteriorating in conditions such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). The new results, which appear in the August issue of Molecular & Cellular Proteomics (http://www.mcponline.org), may lead to new therapies for the treatment of not only AD but also motor neuron diseases and prion diseases. [click link for full article]
Scientists have provided the first large-scale study of proteins inside human cells called Jurkat T cells. The study, which appears in the August issue of Molecular & Cellular Proteomics (http://www.mcponline.org), could lead to a better understanding of how proteins inside a specific type of cell work together and may pave the way for future detailed studies of how proteins work in other types of cells. [click link for full article]
Researchers report in the August issue of Molecular & Cellular Proteomics (http://www.mcponline.org) the most complete list so far of proteins present in the human amniotic fluid, the liquid that surrounds a fetus during pregnancy. The new information may be used to develop new or improved markers of pregnancy-associated pathological conditions, such as preterm delivery, intra-amniotic infection, and chromosomal anomalies in the fetus. [click link for full article]
By creating "Teflon" versions of natural antibiotics found in frog skin, a research team led by biological chemist E. Neil Marsh has made the potential drugs better at thwarting bacterial defenses, an improvement that could enhance their effectiveness. Marsh discussed the work at the 234th national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston. [click link for full article]
When a cat steps over an obstacle with its front legs, how do its hind legs know what to do? A new study in Current Biology, a publication of Cell Press, reveals that it is the foreleg stepping movement itself that leaves a lasting impression. By comparison, feline memories of having just seen an obstacle proved rather fleeting.Indeed, the researchers found that cats could remember having stepped over a hurdle for at least ten minutes. [click link for full article]
Most people think of hydrogen peroxide as a topical germ killer, but the medicine cabinet staple is gaining steam in the medical community as an early indicator of disease in the body.Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University researchers are the first to create a nanoparticle capable of detecting and imaging trace amounts of hydrogen peroxide in animals. [click link for full article]
Title: Spirometry Testing for COPD Underused
Category: Health News
Created: 8/21/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/21/2007
Why Girls Prefer Pink
MedicineNet Daily News

(August 22, 2007, 11:15 pm)


Title: Why Girls Prefer Pink
Category: Health News
Created: 8/21/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/21/2007
Title: Health Highlights: Aug. 20, 2007
Category: Health News
Created: 8/21/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/21/2007
Title: Health Tip: Why Are My Eyes Red?
Category: Health News
Created: 8/21/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/21/2007
Title: Green Tea May Brew Up Healthier Skin
Category: Health News
Created: 8/21/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/21/2007
Title: Heavy Drinking Boosts Stroke Risk for Chinese Men
Category: Health News
Created: 8/21/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/21/2007
Title: Estrogen Tells Brain Where Fat Goes
Category: Health News
Created: 8/21/2007
Last Editorial Review: 8/21/2007
Title: Obesity Virus: More, Bigger Fat Cells
Category: Health News
Created: 8/21/2007
Last Editorial Review: 8/21/2007
Title: Health Tip: Children Who Play Sports
Category: Health News
Created: 8/21/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/21/2007
Title: Caution Urged for Autism Treatments
Category: Health News
Created: 8/21/2007
Last Editorial Review: 8/21/2007
Title: Alzheimer's: Study Puts 1 Alzheimer's Theory in Doubt
Category: Health News
Created: 8/21/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/21/2007
Title: Weight Loss: Early Sign of Dementia?
Category: Health News
Created: 8/21/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/21/2007
Title: Hispanic Teens Take More Skin Cancer Risks
Category: Health News
Created: 8/21/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/21/2007
Title: Antioxidant Supplements May Raise Women's Skin Cancer Risk
Category: Health News
Created: 8/21/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/21/2007
Title: Breakup Survival May Not Be So Hard
Category: Health News
Created: 8/22/2007
Last Editorial Review: 8/22/2007
Title: Health Highlights: Aug. 21, 2007
Category: Health News
Created: 8/22/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/22/2007
Title: For Health Info, Women Often Turn to the Web
Category: Health News
Created: 8/22/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/22/2007
Title: Online 'Epidemic' Gives Clues to Bird Flu Spread
Category: Health News
Created: 8/22/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/22/2007
Title: Virus Could Help Drive Obesity
Category: Health News
Created: 8/22/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/22/2007
Title: Health Tip: Treating Acne Scars
Category: Health News
Created: 8/22/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/22/2007
Title: Kids' High Blood Pressure Often Missed
Category: Health News
Created: 8/22/2007
Last Editorial Review: 8/22/2007
Title: Cranberry Could Juice Up Ovarian Cancer Treatment
Category: Health News
Created: 8/22/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/22/2007
Title: Health Tip: Keep Bugs at Bay
Category: Health News
Created: 8/22/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/22/2007
Title: Sex Differences Overrated?
Category: Health News
Created: 8/22/2007
Last Editorial Review: 8/22/2007
Title: Scientists Develop 'Natural' Protection for Stored Foods
Category: Health News
Created: 8/22/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/22/2007
Title: Vaccine Stops Alzheimer's Brain 'Tangles'
Category: Health News
Created: 8/22/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/22/2007
Title: Second Thoughts Are Real
Category: Health News
Created: 8/22/2007
Last Editorial Review: 8/22/2007
Title: Acrylamide Won't Raise Breast Cancer Risk
Category: Health News
Created: 8/22/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/22/2007
Title: One Surgery Often Enough for Peritonitis
Category: Health News
Created: 8/22/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/22/2007
Research from The University of Nottingham sheds new light on a fascinating phenomenon of the natural world -- the ability of some species to reproduce sexually without a partner.Scientists have been trying to determine how individuals of a key fungus, Aspergillus nidulans, are able to have sex without the need for a partner. [click link for full article]
A team of researchers investigating cholesterol and lipid transport has performed experiments that cast serious doubt on the dominant hypothesis of how the body rids its cells of "bad" cholesterol (LDL) and increases "good" cholesterol (HDL). Cholesterol metabolism is an area of intense inquiry because high levels of LDL cholesterol or total cholesterol put about half of all Americans at significant risk of heart disease.The team was led by Robert A. [click link for full article]
A detailed map that pinpoints the location of every atom in a 450-million-yeard-old resurrected protein reveals the precise evolutionary steps needed to create the molecule's modern version, according to researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Oregon. [click link for full article]
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) recently received approval for two new medical microbiology fellowship programs to train the next generation of leaders in clinical and public-health microbiology.With only a dozen of each type of training program nationwide, the two new fellowships at BIDMC are the only such programs in Massachusetts, and with one exception, in all of the Northeast. [click link for full article]
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have identified a new strategy that Kaposi's Sarcoma Associated Herpesvirus (KSHV) uses to dupe infected cells into replicating its viral genome. This allows the virus to remain virtually undetected by the body's immune system. [click link for full article]
For mice, carbon dioxide often means danger -- too many animals breathing in too small a space or a hungry predator exhaling nearby. Mice have a way of detecting carbon dioxide, and new research from Rockefeller University shows that a special set of olfactory neurons is involved, a finding that may have implications for how predicted increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide may affect animal behavior. The finding is reported in the journal Science. [click link for full article]
Spontaneous Astrocytic Ca2+ Oscillations and Neurite GrowthKazunori Kanemaru, Yohei Okubo, Kenzo Hirose, and Masamitsu IinoThis week, Kanemaru et al. explore the signaling pathway between spontaneous Ca2+ oscillations in cultured astrocytes and the promotion of neurite growth. Their results reveal a role for the membrane-bound adhesion molecule N-cadherin. [click link for full article]
Dr Glenn Burley has been awarded one of only 8 coveted Advanced Research Fellowships in Chemistry worth 922 K pounds, given annually by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).The highly prestigious award will allow the Leicester research to use DNA, the molecule of inheritance, to help build tiny structures for use in technology processes and medicine. [click link for full article]
Young adults who use methamphetamine may be more vulnerable to age-related brain degeneration when they grow older, new animal research suggests."The emergence of behavioral deficits in animals months after methamphetamine discontinuation may be relevant to human methamphetamine abusers," says Nora Volkow, MD, director of the National Institute for Drug Abuse. [click link for full article]
Scientists have shown that recently developed mouse breeds that mimic the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD) may not be as effective as previously assumed. Sascha Weggen, Professor of Molecular Neuropathology at Heinrich-Heine-University, Duesseldorf, Germany; lead author Eva Czirr, Ph.D. [click link for full article]
A compound related to a drug used in humans to prevent organ-transplant rejection attacks a key biochemical process in the faulty immune cells of lupus-prone mice, suggesting a possible new approach to combating the disease, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found."We found that an analog of rapamycin is very effective in improving all aspects of the disease in lupus-prone mice," said Dr. [click link for full article]
The intricate interplay of proteins and other chemicals that underlies most biological activities requires the participation of enzymes, specialized molecules that accelerate chemical reactions between molecules. The creation of totally new enzymes can help improve the synthesis of chemicals and pharmaceuticals, devise new tools for molecular biology research, and develop new therapies. [click link for full article]
Genetic studies on whole animals can now be done dramatically faster using a new microfluidic chip developed by engineers at MIT. The new "lab on a chip" can automatically treat, sort and image small animals like the 1-millimeter C. elegans worm, accelerating research and eliminating human error, said Mehmet Yanik, MIT assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science. [click link for full article]
Cancer, cardiovascular diseases, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's are often linked to DNA damage that occurs when metal ions in the body such as iron and copper produce reactive oxygen compounds that damage human cells. Studies have shown antioxidants that neutralize this activity and that occur naturally in fruits, vegetables, green tea, garlic and onions can be effective at preventing DNA damage. [click link for full article]
The recent publication of a paper in Genome Biology describing a physical map of the bovine genome provides cattle researchers with a tool to aid their search to improve cattle production and health and decrease the environmental footprint of the industry. The physical map is like a framework of a house in that it allows all the fine details to be positioned and placed in order. [click link for full article]
Your annual physical examination of the future may include a blood 'barcode' scan, which instantly provides the doctor with information to diagnose a wide-range of diseases. New generations of novel polymers will be available to replace damaged blood vessels. And in a security-minded world outside, tiny but ultra-sensitive sensors will monitor the environment for bioterrorism agents. [click link for full article]
Carnegie Mellon University scientists have developed tiny, spherical nanogels that uniformly release encapsulated carbohydrate-based drugs. The scientists created the nanogels using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), which will ultimately enable the nanogels to deliver more drug directly to the target and to dispense the drug in a time-release manner. [click link for full article]
Johns Hopkins scientists have found yet another reason why you should listen to your mother when she tells you to eat your vegetables. Sulforaphane, a chemical present at high levels in a precursor form in broccoli and related veggies (cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, etc.), helps prevent the severe blistering and skin breakage brought on by the rare and potentially fatal genetic disease epidermolysis bullosa simplex (EBS). [click link for full article]
The research group of Prof. Dr. Magdalena Götz at the Institute of Stem Cell Research of the GSF National Research Centre for Environment and Health, and the Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, has achieved an additional step for the potential replacement of damaged brain cells after injury or disease: functional nerve cells can be generated from astroglia, a type of supportive cells in the brain by means of special regulator proteins. [click link for full article]
Eyeing up a role for S1P2R in abnormal blood vessel formationMany millions of individuals worldwide suffer from vision loss as a result of the formation of an abnormal network of blood vessels in the eye. This abnormal blood vessel network forms in response to damage to the retina and often occurs in individuals who are diabetic. [click link for full article]
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and the [click link for full article]
Scientists of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) have shown that the genetic defect that causes Cockayne Syndrome affects a key function of the cell the transcription of genes coding for ribosomal RNA.Cockayne Syndrome is a recessively inherited disorder that belongs to a group of diseases in which defects in one of the numerous DNA repair systems lead to non-functioning proteins and, thus, to severe health impairments. [click link for full article]
The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) has launched a 12 week consultation on the proposed European Regulation on the classification, labelling and packaging of chemicals, based on the United Nation's Globally Harmonised System (GHS). [click link for full article]
A study in Current Biology, a publication of Cell Press, reports some of the first conclusive evidence in support of the long-held notion that men and women differ when it comes to their favorite colors. Indeed, the researchers found that women really do prefer pink -- or at least a redder shade of blue -- than men do. [click link for full article]
Findings by a team of researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee bode well for using single-walled carbon nanohorns, a particular form of engineered carbon-based nanoparticles, for drug delivery and other commercial applications.In results to be published in the journal Nanotoxicology (http://www.nanotoxicology. [click link for full article]
Title: Natural Protein Protects Against Cancer
Category: Health News
Created: 7/25/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/25/2007
Title: Drinking While Pregnant May Alter Child's Brain
Category: Health News
Created: 7/25/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/25/2007
Title: Exercising in Segments Helps Burn Fat
Category: Health News
Created: 7/25/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/25/2007
Title: Health Tip: Prevent an Overuse Injury
Category: Health News
Created: 7/25/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/25/2007
Title: Surgeon's Experience Key to Prostate Surgery Success
Category: Health News
Created: 7/25/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/25/2007
Title: Red Cell Substitute May Work Against Sickle Cell Disease
Category: Health News
Created: 7/25/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/25/2007
Title: Health Highlights: July 24, 2007
Category: Health News
Created: 7/25/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/25/2007
Title: Broccoli May Help Cut Prostate Cancer
Category: Health News
Created: 7/25/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/25/2007
Title: FDA Panel OKs Evista for Breast Cancer
Category: Health News
Created: 7/25/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/25/2007
Title: Health Tip: Your Teething Baby
Category: Health News
Created: 7/25/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/25/2007
Title: Hip Fractures: Hip Protectors No Help?
Category: Health News
Created: 7/25/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/25/2007
Title: New Clues on Breast Cancer Decline
Category: Health News
Created: 7/25/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/25/2007
Title: Cardio Monitoring Device Falls Out of Favor
Category: Health News
Created: 7/25/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/25/2007
Title: Defibrillators Can Control Dangerous Heart Condition
Category: Health News
Created: 7/25/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/25/2007
Title: Cat's 'Sixth Sense': Predicting Death?
Category: Health News
Created: 7/26/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/26/2007
Title: Tough State DWI Laws Save Lives
Category: Health News
Created: 7/26/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/26/2007
Title: Clots Reduce Aortic Tear Survival
Category: Health News
Created: 7/26/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/26/2007
Title: Health Tip: Keep Oily Hair Under Control
Category: Health News
Created: 7/26/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/26/2007
Title: Early HIV Therapy Boosts Children's Survival
Category: Health News
Created: 7/26/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/26/2007
Title: Drug May Shield Brain Cells From Huntington's Disease
Category: Health News
Created: 7/26/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/26/2007 2:00:01 AM
Title: Health Highlights: July 25, 2007
Category: Health News
Created: 7/26/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/26/2007
Title: End-of-Life Hospice Care Underused
Category: Health News
Created: 7/26/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/26/2007
Title: Heavy Drinkers Lack Omega-3 Nutrient
Category: Health News
Created: 7/26/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/26/2007
Title: Health Tip: Don't Aggravate an Upset Stomach
Category: Health News
Created: 7/26/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/26/2007
Title: Steroids Won't Help Common Respiratory Infection in Infants
Category: Health News
Created: 7/26/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/26/2007
Title: Learn Baby's Sex Early? Half Say No
Category: Health News
Created: 7/26/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/26/2007
Title: Cigarette Pack Warnings May Get Scarier
Category: Health News
Created: 7/26/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/26/2007
Title: Is Obesity Contagious?
Category: Health News
Created: 7/26/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/26/2007
Title: Testicular Cancer: A Second Chance
Category: Health News
Created: 7/26/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/26/2007
Studying chimpanzees trained to use treadmills, a team of anthropologists has gathered new evidence suggesting our earliest apelike ancestors started walking on two legs because it required less energy than getting around on all fours.The research appears in the print edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [click link for full article]
Recent outbreaks of emerging diseases such as SARS and H5N1 avian influenza have underlined the fact that animal pathogens may acquire the ability to spread efficiently in humans - but as yet have not. Monitoring the transmissibility of pathogens from animals in humans is therefore key for early detection of epidemic spread, and for effective control. [click link for full article]
Neuroscientists are attempting to understand if structural changes in the brain are related to sensory experience or the performance of learned behavior, and now University of Washington researchers have found evidence that one species of songbird apparently has something in common with a few baseball sluggers. Both rely on steroids, birds to increase the size of song production areas of their brain and some players, apparently, to knock a fastball out of the park. [click link for full article]
Toward giving artificial cells the ability to move Got legs" Chemists in Japan and Italy are reporting development of self-propelled oil droplets that could provide a basis for giving artificial cells the ability to move. Their collaborative study from the University of Tokyo and Protolife in Venice is scheduled for the August 8 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), a weekly publication. [click link for full article]
Scientists have provided new evidence that using more fish oil than vegetable oil in the diet decreases the formation of chemicals called prostanoids, which, when produced in excess, increase inflammation in various tissues and organs. The results, by William L. Smith, Professor and Chair of Biological Chemistry at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and colleagues, may help in designing new anti-inflammatory drugs with fewer side effects than the ones currently available. [click link for full article]
Organon, the human healthcare business unit of Akzo Nobel, together with MRC Technology (London, UK) announced that they have signed a collaborative agreement to develop a humanized antibody for the treatment of certain forms of cancer. The Therapeutic Antibody Group (TAG) at MRCT will use its proprietary CDR grafting technology to generate a humanized clinical candidate from a murine antibody discovered at Organon's Research Center in Cambridge, MA (USA). [click link for full article]
University of New South Wales (UNSW) researchers have uncovered an important naturally occurring mechanism in the body where "bad" cells that cause blockages in our blood vessels are kept under strict growth control, while "good" cells that keep our blood vessels free of clots and growths are left unaffected. [click link for full article]
Contributing membership in The Biomarkers Consortium now totals 30 companies and non-profit trade associations and advocacy groups, it has been announced. To date, these organizations have committed an aggregate of nearly $2 million to fund the first year of the central activities of the consortium which is managed by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. [click link for full article]
Two spin-out companies from The Institute of Cancer Research, Domainex Ltd and PIramed Pharma , have won awards for innovation at the UK BioEntrepreneurial Company of the Year Awards 2007, held on 4th July. [click link for full article]
As any child knows, to answer the question "how many," one must start by adding up individual objects in a group. This cognitive ability is shared by animals as diverse as humans and birds. Surprisingly, the exact brain mechanisms responsible for this process remained unknown until now. [click link for full article]
Phenotypic flexibility enables multicellular organisms to adjust morphologies to variable environmental challenges. Such plastic variations are also documented in reef corals. Coral colonies are made of multiple genetically identical physiologically integrated modules (polyps). Like other sedentary colonial marine organisms, corals may generate extremely broad structures, changing their morphologies by growing new polyps above existing structures. [click link for full article]
In the August 1 issue of G&D, Dr. Ronald Evans (Salk Institute) and colleagues report on their discovery that mutations in the mouse gene encoding PPARy adversely affect lactation milk quality, and have serious health consequences for nursing pups."By examining PPARγ functions in vivo, our work reveals an unexpected link between diet, inflammation and the quality of mothers milk, " explained Dr. Evans. [click link for full article]
Iron is the workhorse of trace minerals. An essential component of red blood cells, disruption of iron levels in the body will result in a myriad of serious conditions, and life cannot be sustained without it. [click link for full article]
Scientists thought that most new genes were formed from existing genes, but Cornell researchers have discovered a gene in some fruit flies that appears to be unrelated to other genes in any known genome.The new gene, called hydra, exists in only a small number of species of Drosophila fruit flies, which suggests it was created about 13 million years ago, when these melanogaster subgroup species diverged from a common ancestor. [click link for full article]
Title: Tammy Faye Messner Dies of Cancer
Category: Health News
Created: 7/24/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/24/2007
Title: Ovarian Cancer Vaccine Might Extend Survival
Category: Health News
Created: 7/24/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/24/2007
Title: 1 Daily Soda May Boost Heart Disease
Category: Health News
Created: 7/24/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/24/2007
Title: Botulism Recall Widened
Category: Health News
Created: 7/24/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/24/2007
Title: Very Low Cholesterol May Bump Up Cancer Risk
Category: Health News
Created: 7/24/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/24/2007
Title: WriterÂ’s Cramp May Start in the Brain
Category: Health News
Created: 7/24/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/24/2007
Title: Discharged Hospital Patients Run Risk of Blood Clots
Category: Health News
Created: 7/24/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/24/2007
Title: Health Tip: Feeling Forgetful?
Category: Health News
Created: 7/24/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/24/2007
Title: Health Tip: Bicycle Safety for Children
Category: Health News
Created: 7/24/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/24/2007
Title: More Hospital Nurses Mean Fewer Infections
Category: Health News
Created: 7/24/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/24/2007
Title: Health Highlights: July 23, 2007
Category: Health News
Created: 7/24/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/24/2007
Title: Newer Breast Cancer Drugs Appear to Boost Life Spans
Category: Health News
Created: 7/24/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/24/2007
Title: Gene May Help Spur Premenstrual Depression
Category: Health News
Created: 7/24/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/24/2007
Title: U.S. Heart Failure Program Is Saving Lives
Category: Health News
Created: 7/24/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/24/2007
As any child knows, to answer the question "how many," one must start by adding up individual objects in a group. This cognitive ability is shared by animals as diverse as humans and birds. Surprisingly, the exact brain mechanisms responsible for this process remained unknown until now. [click link for full article]
In a new paper in the open access journal PLoS Biology, Michael Hofreiter from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, and colleagues from Switzerland and the United States, announce the sequencing of the complete mitochondrial genome of the mastodon (Mammut americanum), a recently extinct relative of the living elephants that diverged about 26 million years ago. [click link for full article]
Title: Health Highlights: July 23, 2007
Category: Health News
Created: 7/23/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/23/2007
Title: Lactose Intolerance Doesn't Mean Goodbye to Dairy
Category: Health News
Created: 7/23/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/23/2007
Title: Scientists Make Strides Against Melanoma
Category: Health News
Created: 7/23/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/23/2007
Title: Newer Breast Cancer Drugs Appear to Boost Life Spans
Category: Health News
Created: 7/23/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/23/2007
Title: Teen Self-Injury May Be Common
Category: Health News
Created: 7/23/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/23/2007
Title: Internet Safety Risk Real for Youths
Category: Health News
Created: 7/23/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/23/2007
Title: ADHD Drug Does Stunt Growth
Category: Health News
Created: 7/23/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/23/2007
Title: Fitness Plan: Rest to Burn More Fat
Category: Health News
Created: 7/23/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/23/2007
Key industry messages 1. The industry welcomes the report and calls on the institutions to urgently address the issue of the low level presence of EU - unapproved GM materials entering Europe in traded commodities. 2. [click link for full article]
CENiMED GmbH, the leading provider of pharmacogenomic services in Germany announces its certification according to international Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) standard by the German authorities, Landesamt für Arbeitsschutz, Gesundheitsschutz und technische Sicherheit Berlin (LAGetSi). The certification applies to pharmakogenomic analyses for the in-vitro determination of the genotype and phenotype as well as to gene expression analyses. Dr. [click link for full article]
University of Delaware scientists have invented a novel biomaterial with surprising antibacterial properties that can be injected as a low-viscosity gel into a wound where it rigidifies nearly on contact--opening the door to the possibility of delivering a targeted payload of cells and antibiotics to repair the damaged tissue. [click link for full article]
Researchers have identified a gene-regulating protein in the brains of mice that triggers the animals' ability to cope with the "behavioral despair" caused by inescapable stress. They said their studies have yielded an animal model of resilience that they will use to explore how antidepressants work on the brain circuitry involved in such stress response.Led by Eric Nestler, the researchers published their findings in the journal Neuron, published by Cell Press. [click link for full article]
An enzyme that cancer cells eliminate, apparently so they can keep proliferating, may hold clues to more targeted, effective cancer treatment, scientists say.In a high-stakes tit for tat, protein kinase G enables healthy cells to stay on task to proliferate, differentiate then provide a useful function. Cancer somehow reduces or eliminates PKG and cells get stuck proliferating. [click link for full article]
An arms race is under way in the plant world. It is an evolutionary battle in which plants are trying to beef up their defenses against the innovative strategies of pathogens. The latest example of this war is a bacterium (Pseudomonas syringae) that infects tomatoes by injecting a special protein into the plant's cells and undermines the plant's defense system. [click link for full article]
The metamorphosis of biology into a science offering numerically precise descriptions of nature has taken a leap forward with a Princeton team's elucidation of a key step in the development of fruit fly embryos -- discoveries that could change how scientists think not just about flies, but about life in general. [click link for full article]
The CRESIB has presented the research programme on malaria by Plasmodium vivax, a parasite causing over 70 million yearly cases of malaria in the world. This new programme will be developed in coordination with the leading international centres and researchers on P.vivax. The aim of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of malaria by P. vivax and to support and accelerate the development of new control tools, with a special focus in vaccines. [click link for full article]
A basic scientist in the Department of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College and the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson has shared a patent on what may someday be a ubiquitous tool in DNA analysis. The discovery could have a range of applications, from forensics to cloning to bioterrorism.Jonathan Brody, Ph.D., assistant professor of surgery and colleague Scott Kern, M.D. [click link for full article]
An important clue to how anaesthetics work on the human body has been provided by the discovery of a molecular feature common to both the human brain and the great pond snail nervous system, scientists report. Researchers hope that the discovery of what makes a particular protein in the brain sensitive to anaesthetics could lead to the development of new anaesthetics with fewer side effects. [click link for full article]
Geckos are remarkable in their ability to scurry up vertical surfaces and even move along upside down. Their feet stick but only temporarily, coming off of surfaces again and again like a sticky note. But put those feet underwater, and their ability to stick is dramatically reduced.Water is an enemy of adhesives, which typically do not work well in wet environments -- think of how long a bandage on your finger lasts. [click link for full article]
New research published in the journal Nature has proved the single origin of humans theory by combining studies of global genetic variations in humans with skull measurements across the world. The research, at the University of Cambridge and funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), represents a final blow for supporters of a multiple origins of humans theory. [click link for full article]
Our experiences -- the things we see, hear, or do -- can trigger long-term changes in the strength of the connections between nerve cells in our brain, and these persistent changes are how the brain encodes information as memory. As reported in Neuron, Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered a new biochemical mechanism for memory storage, one that may have a connection with addictive behavior. [click link for full article]
Rice University physicists have unveiled an innovative way of finding out how proteins get their shape based on how they unfold when pulled apart. The experimental method could be of widespread use in the field of protein folding science, which has grown dramatically in the past decade, due in part to the discovery that misfolded proteins play a key role in diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. [click link for full article]
Why:In order for the B cells of the immune system to identify and fight disease pathogens, they produce a protein called activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID). Once a B cell is activated by the presence of a disease pathogen, it begins to make AID which directs and strengthens the B cells' response to the infection by mutating the antibodies produced by the B cells. [click link for full article]
Alfacell Corporation (Nasdaq: ACEL) today announced that a paper published in Cancer Biology & Therapy (2007; Vol. 6, Issue 8) further confirms previous in vitro research that the cytotoxic effects of ONCONASE results from its catalytic activity. [click link for full article]
Cancer patients don't have time to waste. Many go through several different treatments, however, to find one that is more effective against their particular type of tumor. Thus, an algorithm that could help rapidly sort molecular information about a patient's particular tumor and could help match this information to the right drug treatment would be a breakthrough of enormous value.Dan Theodorescu, M.D., Ph.D. [click link for full article]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first molecular-based laboratory test for detecting whether breast cancer has spread (metastasized) to nearby lymph nodes. The GeneSearch BLN Assay detects molecules that are abundant in breast tissue but scarce in a normal lymph node. [click link for full article]
Instead of immutable proprietary software, any species' genetic information resembles open source code that is constantly tweaked and optimized to meet the users' specific needs. But which parts of the code have withstood the test of time and which parts have undergone rapid evolutionary change has been difficult to assess. [click link for full article]
The traditional prescriptions for a healthy life -- sensible diet, exercise and weight control -- extend life by reducing signaling through a specific pathway in the brain, according to Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers who discovered the connection while studying long-lived mice. [click link for full article]
Human cells function through the concerted action of thousands of proteins that control their growth and differentiation. Yet, the specific function of most human proteins remains either unknown or poorly characterized. Diseases being often due to aberrations in the function of key cellular proteins, numerous large-scale research initiatives have been launched internationally to crack the function of all human proteins. [click link for full article]
A typical human mouth teems with as many as 700 different species of microbes. A handful of these have been specifically implicated in promoting gum disease, dental cavities, and bad breath, but for the most part, the make-up of this complex ecosystem and its impact on human health remain largely unexplored. [click link for full article]
Mucins are large proteins that are secreted on the surface of the gut, and while long regarded as having a role as a barrier to mucosal infection, data to support this theory have been lacking. [click link for full article]
University of Florida researchers have successfully used molecular probes to detect subtle differences in leukemia cells from patient samples, an achievement that could lead to more effective ways to diagnose and treat cancer.The strategy, described in a recent issue of Clinical Chemistry, involves engineering short, single strands of DNA or RNA called aptamers to seek out and bind with specific proteins in body fluids. [click link for full article]
Scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara have made a significant discovery relating to viral infections in humans.They studied how a certain enzyme called PKR behaves in human cells, and showed that this enzyme is important for the antiviral effect of interferon against some viruses, but not others. Interferon is a naturally occurring substance that is also used as a drug to treat certain viruses such as Hepatitis C. [click link for full article]
German scientists have succeeded in snipping HIV out of human cells after it has integrated itself into a patient's DNA. The procedure is a breakthrough in bio-technology and fuels hope of a cure for AIDS. The group is only cautiously optimistic, though, as treating a full-on infection would be substantially different than succeeding in a controlled lab environment. 'Researchers ... began with the bacterial enzyme Cre recombinase, which exchanges any two pieces of DNA flanked on either end by a certain pattern of nucleotides (DNA subunits) known as loxP. HIV does not naturally contain loxP sites, so the team created a hybrid of the two DNA molecules, which they used to select a series of mutated Cre enzymes that were increasingly able to recognize the combined DNA. The final enzyme, Tre, removed all traces of HIV from cultured human cervical cells after about three months, the researchers report online today in Science.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot.
It seems that scientists at MIT have been able to reverse the effects of autism and some forms of mental retardation in mice caused by fragile X chromosomes. They do so by targeting an enzyme that changes the structure of connections between brain cells. The treatment actually repairs these structural abnormalities which suggests that it may be possible to reverse the effects in children who already show symptoms."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
MIT biochemists have identified a molecular mechanism behind fear, and successfully cured it in mice, according to an article in the journal Nature Neuroscience. They did this by inhibiting a kinase, an enzyme that change proteins, called Cdk5, which facilitates the extinction of fear learned in a particular context."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Researchers in Madrid are claiming that they have discovered that a type of wax found in olive skin can help to slow the spread of HIV. "Their work shows that maslinic acid - a natural product extracted from dry olive-pomace oil in oil mills - inhibits serin-protease, an enzyme used by HIV to release itself from the infected cell into the extracellular environment and, consequently, to spread the infection into the whole body. These scientists from Granada determined that the use of olive-pomace oil can produce an 80% slowing down in AIDS spreading in the body."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Title: Speedy Athletic Hernia Repair Is Possible
Category: Health News
Created: 7/17/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/17/2007
Title: No Danger Found in Blood Thinner-Statin Combination
Category: Health News
Created: 7/17/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/17/2007
Title: Chemical 'Paint' Helps Surgeons See Cancer's Borders
Category: Health News
Created: 7/17/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/17/2007
Title: Patch Helps Heart Grow New Cells
Category: Health News
Created: 7/17/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/17/2007
Title: Health Tip: Feeding a Child Athlete
Category: Health News
Created: 7/17/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/17/2007
Title: Traffic Pollution Could Raise Heart Risks
Category: Health News
Created: 7/17/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/17/2007
Title: Health Highlights: July 16, 2007
Category: Health News
Created: 7/17/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/17/2007
Title: Childhood Brain Tumor Survivors Often Struggle in School
Category: Health News
Created: 7/17/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/17/2007
Title: TB Lung Surgery for Andrew Speaker
Category: Health News
Created: 7/17/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/17/2007
Title: Old Diabetes Drug Has Advantages
Category: Health News
Created: 7/17/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/17/2007
Title: Curry Spice May Counter Alzheimer's
Category: Health News
Created: 7/17/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/17/2007
Title: Gerber Recalls Organic Cereals
Category: Health News
Created: 7/17/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/17/2007
Title: Weight Training for Heart Disease
Category: Health News
Created: 7/18/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/18/2007
Title: New Surgery Brings Back a Smile
Category: Health News
Created: 7/17/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/17/2007
Title: New Test Helps Detect Spreading Breast Cancer
Category: Health News
Created: 7/17/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/17/2007
Title: Throwing Helps Protect Pitchers' Arms
Category: Health News
Created: 7/17/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/17/2007
Title: Health Highlights: July 17, 2007
Category: Health News
Created: 7/18/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/18/2007
Title: Tonsillectomy Shouldn't Dull Taste: Study
Category: Health News
Created: 7/18/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/18/2007
Title: Taking Cancer Drug With Food May Cut Costs
Category: Health News
Created: 7/18/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/18/2007
Title: Better Hospital Care Means More Lives Saved
Category: Health News
Created: 7/18/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/18/2007
Title: Vitamin C Can't Cure Common Cold
Category: Health News
Created: 7/18/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/18/2007
Title: Exercise: After a Muscle Strain
Category: Health News
Created: 7/18/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/18/2007
Title: Health Tip: Before You Use a Blood Thinner
Category: Health News
Created: 7/18/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/18/2007
Title: Artificial Disc Approved to Treat Disc Disease in Neck
Category: Health News
Created: 7/18/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/18/2007
Title: Diabetics Face More Complications After Trauma
Category: Health News
Created: 7/18/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/18/2007
Title: Bacterial Colitis on the Rise in U.S. Hospitals
Category: Health News
Created: 7/18/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/18/2007
Title: CDC: 2 Million in U.S. Have Chlamydia
Category: Health News
Created: 7/18/2007
Last Editorial Review: 7/18/2007
Title: Breast Cancer: More Veggies Not Better
Category: Health News
Created: 7/18/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/18/2007
Title: Poor Memory Tied to Sleep Woes in Aging Women
Category: Health News
Created: 7/18/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/18/2007
Title: High Triglyceride Levels Linked to Cardiac Risk
Category: Health News
Created: 7/18/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/18/2007
Title: CT Heart Scan Radiation: Cancer Risk?
Category: Health News
Created: 7/18/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 7/18/2007
Biologists have long thought that a simple on/off switch controls most genes in human cells. Flip the switch and a cell starts or stops producing a particular protein. But new evidence suggests that this model is too simple and that our genes are more ready for action than previously thought.Scientists in the lab of Whitehead Member Richard Young have discovered that many human genes hover between 'on' and 'off' in any given cell. [click link for full article]
When a cell is seriously stressed, say by a heart attack, stroke or cancer, a protein called Bak just may set it up for suicide, researchers have found.In a deadly double whammy, Bak helps chop the finger-like filament shape of the cell's powerhouse, or mitochondrion, into vulnerable little spheres. Another protein Bax then pokes countless holes in those spheres, spilling their pro-death contents into the cell. [click link for full article]
A semiconductor membrane designed by researchers at the University of Illinois could offer more flexibility and better electrical performance than biological membranes. Built from thin silicon layers doped with different impurities, the solid-state membrane also could be used in applications such as single-molecule detection, protein filtering and DNA sequencing. [click link for full article]
Lung transplants have been performed successfully for more than 20 years in humans but never before in mice -- until now. Surgeons at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed the first mouse model of lung transplantation, and they're hoping it will help explain why the success of the procedure in humans lags far behind other solid organ transplants. [click link for full article]
UCLA scientists, along with collaborators from Purdue University, have demonstrated that HIV protease inhibitors crucial drugs for HIV treatment block a cellular enzyme important for generating the structural scaffolding for the cell nucleus. [click link for full article]
Aerodynamic scaling rules that explain how flight varies according to weight and wing loading have been used to compare general speeds of a wide range of flyers, from the smallest insects to the largest aircraft. [click link for full article]
A Cornell study of genome sequences in African-Americans, European-Americans and Chinese suggests that natural selection has caused as much as 10 percent of the human genome to change in some populations in the last 15,000 to 100,000 years, when people began migrating from Africa.The study, published inPLoS (Public Library of Science) Genetics, looked for areas where most members of a population showed the same genetic changes. [click link for full article]
With gossamer white wings and a body less than 1.2mm, the whitefly does not look menacing. But beware, looks are deceiving. The pest inflicts enormous damage when it attacks the leaves of decorative flowers, cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelon, and cotton. "The whitefly attacks 500 different types of plants - vegetables, and ornamental flowers," said Dr. Murad Ghanim, an entomologist at Israel's Volcani Institute of Agriculture in Bet Dagan. [click link for full article]
Scientists studying one of nature's simplest organisms have helped to unravel the structure of a key molecule that controls pain in humans.The findings -- published in the top scientific journal Nature -- could rapidly advance research into the next generation of painkillers for relief of chronic conditions such as migraine and backache. [click link for full article]
A startling discovery on the development of human embryonic stem cells by scientists at McMaster University will change how future research in the area is done.An article published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature this week reports on a new understanding of the growth of human stem cells. It had been thought previously that stem cells are directly influenced by cells in the local environment or 'niche', but the situation may be more complex. [click link for full article]
A chemically-modified version of a mitochondrial toxin long used to control species of invasive fish in lakes has been found to selectively inhibit two "survival proteins" in cancer cells. The research is a first step toward developing a molecularly-targeted drug that could eliminate cellular-level resistance to multiple types of chemotherapy and radiation therapy found in many types of cancers. [click link for full article]
To protect us from disease our immune system employs macrophages, cells that roam our body in search of disease-causing bacteria. With the help of long tentacle-like protrusions, macrophages can catch suspicious particles, pull them towards their cell bodies, internalise and destroy them. Using a special microscopy technique, researchers from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) now for the first time tracked the dynamic behaviour of these tentacles in three dimensions. [click link for full article]
Biology textbooks suggest that blunt-neutrophils are mindless killers. These white blood cells patrol the body and guard against infection by bacteria and fungi, identifying and destroying any invaders that cross their path. But new evidence, which may lead to better drugs to fight deadly pathogens, indicates that neutrophils might actually distinguish among their targets. [click link for full article]
Monkey viruses related to HIV may have swept across Africa more recently than previously thought, according to new research from The University of Arizona in Tucson.A new family tree for African green monkeys shows that an HIV-like virus, simian immunodeficiency virus, or SIV, first infected those monkeys after the lineage split into four species. The new research reveals the split happened about 3 million years ago. [click link for full article]
Three-stage procedures offer an optimal relationship between costs and benefits in analysing genetic influences in diseases and therapies, a fact that has major practical importance for the ever growing number of gene analyses. This finding from a current project by the Austrian Science Fund FWF was presented at the 5th International Conference on Multiple Comparison Procedures (MCP2007) in Vienna, which recently drew to a close. [click link for full article]
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have managed to elucidate the crystal structure of a human membrane protein -- LTC4 synthase -- which has a major influence on the development of asthma. LTC4 synthase is extremely difficult to analyze, and previously only low resolution information has been available on two membrane protein structures from human. [click link for full article]
FINDINGS: Researchers isolated bisdemethoxycurcumin, the active ingredient of curcuminoids - a natural substance found in turmeric root - that may help boost the immune system in clearing amyloid beta, a peptide that forms the plaques found in Alzheimer's disease. Using blood samples from Alzheimer's disease patients, researchers found that bisdemethoxycurcumin boosted immune cells called macrophages to clear amyloid beta. [click link for full article]
"How does RNAi work?" Researchers across the world have been trying to answer this question for a number of years. Science has now come closer to finding the answer thanks to a research group headed by Prof. Renée Schroeder (MFPL) and Dr. Javier Martinez (IMBA) based at the Campus Vienna Biocenter. [click link for full article]
Researchers at George Mason University's National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases and its Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine are merging their expertise in host-pathogen biology, proteomics and nanotechnology to discover tissue and bloodborne markers that could be used for the early detection of exposure to infectious diseases. Funded by the U.S. [click link for full article]
A tumor paint developed by researchers at Seattle Children's Hospital Research Institute and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center will help surgeons see where a tumor begins and ends more precisely by illuminating the cancerous cells. The study, published in Cancer Research, shows that the tumor paint can help surgeons distinguish between cancer cells and normal brain tissue in the operating room. [click link for full article]
Chitin is a polymer very common in nature as part of animals' and plants' physical structures. Only cellulose is more abundant than chitin, which makes this compound a highly important renewable resource that can easily be found in arthropods, insects, arachnids, molluscs, fungus and algae. [click link for full article]
The structure of a novel protein in the bacterium that is the most persistent pathogen in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients has been solved.Hauptman-Woodward Institute scientists Dr. Andrew Gulick, Eric Drake and Dr. [click link for full article]
While no one has an authoritative answer, anthropologists have long theorized that early humans began walking on two legs as a way to reduce locomotor energy costs. [click link for full article]
Serica Technologies, Inc., a growth-stage medical device company developing silk-based biomaterial platforms for tissue regeneration, has announced that its scientists received the Cabaud Memorial Award from the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM), for their pre-clinical research demonstrating the potential of Serica's SeriACLâ„¢ Graft to regenerate or re-grow anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tissue in the knee, in a large-animal model. [click link for full article]
By bypassing a well-known gene implicated in almost one-third of all cancers and instead focusing on the protein activated by the gene, Duke University Medical Center researchers believe they may have found a new target for anti-cancer drugs.In experiments with human cells and animal models, the researchers studied the gene known as 'Ras,' which is integral in normal cell growth. [click link for full article]
You can't help it if you need to get the latest gadgets. Well... perhaps it's not quite such a serious medical affliction, but scientists have found a genetic basis for some folks' burning desire to have the latest and greatest. There's even a name for it - neophilia. Apparently, some of us have elevated levels of a cellular enzyme, monoamine oxidase A, and are more in need of stimulation from new things.
Scientists from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have developed a technique to force a variety of enzymes to self-assemble layer-by-layer on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with the help of noodle-like polymer molecules. In 'A biosensor layered like lasagna,' the researchers say that this technique can be applied to a wide range of applications. In particular, it will be possible to build other biosensors "that react specifically with other biological chemicals, environmental agents or even microbes." Read more for additional details and the most spectacular scientific image of the month.
Korean scientists are the first in the world to selectively age off and kill human cancer cells, by injecting a gene that suppresses telomerase, a cancer-specific enzyme that normally makes cancer cells immortal by protecting the telomere tips of their chromosomes. The telomere length modulation mechanism was found by two scientists from Yonsei University and colleagues at U. Central Florida, and is reported in the April 1 issue of Genes and Development magazine.
Malthooslie writes to tell us ScienceDaily is reporting that scientists have managed to regrow nerve fibers after a spinal injury. Using an enzyme called sialidase, isolated from bacteria, researchers were able to stimulate nerve fiber growth in rats. From the article: "While surgeons can sometimes reattach the yanked nerves to the spinal cord, this treatment is not as effective as physicians or patients would like. This is in part because nerves in the brain and spinal cord, unlike those in the rest of the body, fail to grow new nerve fibers. Nerves in the brain and spinal cord are surrounded by signals from other cells in the injured area that stop them from growing."
New Scientist reports the creation of an enzyme-based computer that performs AND and XOR calculations, and combinations of the two, based on the presence or absence of specific chemicals. If they can be engineered inside living cells, they could measure a patient's metabolism and deliver just the right amount of drug at just the right spot, the researchers reckon. I'm worried about the viruses.
An Icelandic cod enzyme might be the cure for bird flu. A recent experiment, which the Icelandic company Ensímtaekni hf. took part in, indicates that in five minutes, the isolated fish enzyme killed 99 percent of H5N1 viruses. The killer enzyme, called penzim, was extracted from the intestines of cod by Ensímtaekni and is currently being developed for beauty products and various types of medicine. The experiment on the H5N1 virus was conducted in London. CEO of Ensímtaekni and biochemist Jón Bragi Bjarnason said he is very excited about the results of the bird flu experiment. "People have feared that the bird flu virus will change into a human flu virus and now we have a likely cure in case that happens." Bjarnason also believes that penzim might prove a cure for common flu and cold, eczema in children and arthritis."
sylvester22 writes to mention a Mercury News article about a possible breakthrough in cancer research from a research group in Oakland. Dr. Julie Saba and her team at the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute are working with 'lyase', an intestinal enzyme which apparently can inhibit cancer growth. The problem is that this enzyme is almost never found after a growth has become active. From the article: "Using cells in a tissue culture Saba said she and her team 'have been able to turn-on the enzyme after cancer cell growth had occurred.' The Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute found that re-introducing the enzyme made chemotherapy more effective in tissue cultures. 'Although we're beginning our studies in colon cancer, we believe our research findings will have a direct impact on investigations for other cancers, including pediatric cancers,' said Saba."
Using sugar contained in corn or potatoes to build hydrogen-powered fuel cells has already been done. But now, a team of U.S. researchers has developed a new sugar-to-hydrogen technology. Why not put the starch inside the tank of your car? With the help of 13 specific enzymes, 'a car with an approximately 12-gallon tank could hold 27 kilograms (kg) of starch, which is the equivalent of 4 kg of hydrogen. The range would be more than 300 miles, estimates one of the researchers. One kg of starch will produce the same energy output as 1.12 kg (0.38 gallons) of gasoline.' The beauty behind this idea is that no special infrastructure would be needed. Starch could be distributed by your local grocery store."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The BBC is reporting that scientists claim to have discovered a technique to convert all blood into Type O with the discovery of an enzyme that can strip the A and B antigens. This has implications to transform the stored blood supply into transfusable blood for all. It does not address the RH negative issue, however."
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University may have found a way to kill cancer cells without radiation or toxic chemicals. The group is taking the step of patenting the idea, as this new approach using sugars may hold real potential for the fight against cancer. This is not the first approach to use sugars, the article states, but is (by the researchers' estimation) the most successful. From the article: 'Sampathkumar and his colleagues built upon 20-year-old findings that a short-chain fatty acid called butyrate can slow the spread of cancer cells. In the 1980s, researchers discovered that butyrate, which is formed naturally at high levels in the digestive system by symbiotic bacteria that feed on fibre, can restore healthy cell functioning ... The researchers focused on a sugar called N-acetyl-D-mannosamine, or ManNAc, for short, and created a hybrid molecule by linking ManNAc with butyrate. The hybrid easily penetrates a cell's surface, then is split apart by enzymes inside the cell. Once inside the cell, ManNAc is processed into another sugar known as sialic acid that plays key roles in cancer biology, while butyrate orchestrates the expression of genes responsible for halting the uncontrolled growth of cancer cells.'"
Title: Fibromyalgia: FDA OKs Lyrica as 1st Fibromyalgia Drug
Category: Health News
Created: 6/22/2007
Last Editorial Review: 6/22/2007
Title: Fish Oil Might Slow Prostate Cancer
Category: Health News
Created: 6/22/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 6/22/2007
Title: Does Birth Order Affect Intelligence?
Category: Health News
Created: 6/22/2007
Last Editorial Review: 6/22/2007
Title: Sea Squirt Drug Offers Cancer Hope
Category: Health News
Created: 6/22/2007
Last Editorial Review: 6/22/2007
Title: Chronic Pain: Memory Traces May Help Spur Chronic Pain
Category: Health News
Created: 6/22/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 6/22/2007
Title: Smoking Ban Helps NYC Stop Smoking
Category: Health News
Created: 6/22/2007
Last Editorial Review: 6/22/2007
Title: Parkinson's: Silver Lining for Parkinson's Disease
Category: Health News
Created: 6/22/2007
Last Editorial Review: 6/22/2007
Title: HIV: Expanded HIV Testing Pays Off
Category: Health News
Created: 6/22/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 6/22/2007
Title: Helmets Might Help Skiers
Category: Health News
Created: 6/22/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 6/22/2007
Title: Responsibilities of Caregivers
Category: Health News
Created: 6/22/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 6/22/2007
Title: HIV: Fighting Ancient Virus May Have Left Humans Vulnerable to HIV
Category: Health News
Created: 6/22/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 6/22/2007
Title: Health Highlights: June 21, 2007
Category: Health News
Created: 6/22/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 6/22/2007
Title: Helping Your Child Through Puberty
Category: Health News
Created: 6/22/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 6/22/2007
Title: Parkinson's: Study Identifies Drug Target for Parkinson's
Category: Health News
Created: 6/22/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 6/22/2007
Title: Computerized Medication Box Approved
Category: Health News
Created: 6/22/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 6/22/2007
Title: ICU: Early Palliative Care Cuts Time in ICU
Category: Health News
Created: 6/22/2007 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 6/22/2007
In a publication selected as a "2007 Hot Article" by the journal Biochemistry (http://www.buffalo.edu/news/pdf/June07/RichardBiochemistry.pdf), University at Buffalo chemists report the discovery of a central mechanism responsible for the action of the powerful biological catalysts known as enzymes.The UB research provides critical insight into why catalysis is so complex and may help pave the way for improving the design of synthetic catalysts. [click link for full article]
A free and public event, "On the origins of life and the universe: An afternoon with 2006 Nobel Laureates Craig Mello and John Mather," will be held at the Library of Congress on 26 July from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., in Room 119 of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street, S.E., Washington, D.C.John Mather, 2006 Nobel Laureate in Physics, will present the talk "From the Big Bang to the Nobel Prize. [click link for full article]
Scientists have long thought that microtubules, part of the microscopic scaffolding that the cell uses to move things around in order to hold its shape and divide, originated from a tiny structure near the nucleus, called the centrosome.Now, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center reveal a surprising new origin for these cellular "highways." In the June issue of Developmental Cell, Irina Kaverina, Ph.D. [click link for full article]
Our bodies could not maintain their existence without thousands of proteins performing myriad vital tasks within cells. Since malfunctioning proteins can cause disease, the study of protein structure and function can lead to the development of drugs and treatments for numerous disorders. For example, the discovery of insulin's role in diabetes paved the way for the development of a treatment based on insulin injections. [click link for full article]
Cornell researchers hope to learn how certain bacteria that break down pollutants do their job and then to make them more effective in cleaning up toxic wastes. [click link for full article]
While many may be familiar with potato late blight, the plant disease responsible for widespread potato shortages, the lesser known potato wart has the potential to be as devastating to economies that depend on potato production, say plant pathologists with The American Phytopathological Society (APS). [click link for full article]
The study is being published the week of June 18, 2007 in an advanced online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Until this study, the significance of pleiotrophin (PTN) expression in breast cancer had not been clearly established. These new findings could lead to a better understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of breast cancer and focus attention on PTN and its signaling pathway as possible targets for new cancer therapies. [click link for full article]
Researchers at UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) have new information on the structure of a key enzyme in bacteria that could lead to improved antibiotics and less antibiotic resistance. In findings published today online in two complementary papers in Nature, the research team describe the differences in an enzyme called RNA polymerase in bacterial cells as opposed to human cells. These differences provide potential new targets for drug design. [click link for full article]
In a paper to be published online in advance of its July 1st publication date, Drs. Niko Geldner, Joanne Chory and colleagues (The Salk Institute and HHMI) demonstrate that endosomes can function as signaling platforms in plants, as well as in animals."These findings will influence our thinking of the evolutionary origins of endosomes and hopefully help us to understand why cells use them as signaling compartments," noted lead author of the paper, Dr. Niko Geldner. [click link for full article]
An international research team has documented the link between the way an animal moves and the dimensions of an important part of its organ of balance, the three semicircular canals of the inner ear on each side of the skull. The team's article on its research will be published on 26 June in the print edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and in the journal's online early edition. [click link for full article]
Stephen Macknik, Ph.D., director of Laboratory and Behavioral Neurophysiology at Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, recently received a Competitive Advantage Award worth $120,000 from the Science Foundation of Arizona. Dr. Macknik is one of 10 biologists in Arizona who was selected to receive the one-year grant.Dr. [click link for full article]
In This Edition: * New hot pocket geography may point toward better avian flu drugs * Toward a much-needed new test for cancer of the urinary bladder * Protein-enriched milk may reduce need for antibiotics in animal feed * Crude oil contains less [click link for full article]
There is renewed hope for treatment of diabetes type 1 with gel capsules: Biotechnologists at The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have developed a new type of alginate capsule that could solve the problem of the body's immune system recognizing and attacking alien, implanted insulin cells. [click link for full article]
The term "cancer" (from the Greek karkinos, which means sea crab) was used for the first time by Greek doctor Hippocrates five hundred years B.C. to define the tumours that he observed in his patients. Nowadays it is still difficult to diagnose, and prognosis is bad. Cancer is already the main cause of death in many countries, ranking even above cardiovascular diseases. [click link for full article]
World-class pharmaceutical research undertaken at the University of Nottingham gets the royal seal of approval next month. Lord-Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire Sir Andrew Buchanan - Her Majesty the Queen's representative in the county - will present the School of Pharmacy with The Queen's Award for Enterprise in the category of Innovation 2007 on Tuesday July 3. [click link for full article]
Needle-free Vaccine May Protect Against C. Difficile InfectionResearchers from the U.S. and abroad have developed a transcutaneous (needle-free) vaccine delivered through a patch applied to the skin that protects mice from C. difficile infection. They report their findings in the June 2007 issue of the journal Infection and Immunity. [click link for full article]
It's hard to imagine, for most of us, that the bees we see buzzing between strands of orange flowers of the desert mallow could potentially usher in a medical breakthrough. However, in the right hands, these insects best known for their banded coloration, social life and skills with pollination could some day be the key to advancements in biomedical neuroscience of aging - if Gro Amdam has her way, with support from The Pew Charitable Trusts. [click link for full article]
A hundred years since Russian microbiologist Elie Metschnikow first discovered the invertebrate immune system, scientists are only just beginning to understand its complexity. Presenting their findings at a recent European Science Foundation (ESF) conference, scientists showed that invertebrates have evolved elaborate ways to fight disease. [click link for full article]
A major question in evolutionary studies today is how early did humans begin to think and behave in ways we would see as fundamentally modern" One index of 'behavioural modernity' is in the appearance of objects used purely as decoration or ornaments. Such items are widely regarded as having symbolic rather than practical value. By displaying them on the body as necklaces, pendants or bracelets or attached to clothing this also greatly increased their visual impact. [click link for full article]
Sandoz is the first company to receive a positive opinion from European Union regulators supporting the approval of a biosimilar version of epoetin alfa, achieving another important milestone in its efforts to bring follow-on biological medicines to patients. More than 250,000 patients in Europe are estimated to be treated with epoetin alfa, which is marketed under various brand names, and similar medicines to regulate the formation of red blood cells. [click link for full article]
Scientists have identified the gene responsible for one type of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disorder, a common inherited neurological disease, thanks to the chance appearance of a strain of impaired "pale tremor" mice in a University of Michigan research laboratory. [click link for full article]
A research team has identified a new biological function for a soccer ball-shaped nanoparticle called a buckyball - the ability to block allergic response, setting the stage for the development of new therapies for allergy.Allergic disease is the sixth leading cause of chronic disease in the United States, and while various treatments have been developed to control allergy, no cure has been found. These findings advance the emerging field of medicine known as nanoimmunology. [click link for full article]
Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered how a single molecular "on switch" triggers gene activity that might cause effects ranging from learning and memory capabilities to glucose production in the liver.The "on switch," a protein called CREB, is a transcription factor a molecule that binds to a section of DNA near a gene and triggers that gene to make the specific protein for which it codes. [click link for full article]
Pioneering work to reduce the use of animals in scientific research and ultimately remove them from laboratories altogether has received a major boost at the University of Nottingham.A laboratory devoted to finding effective alternatives to animal testing has been expanded and completely remodelled in a £240,000 overhaul designed to hasten the development of effective non-animal techniques. [click link for full article]
Plants absorb carbon dioxide from the air and combine it with water molecules and sunshine to make carbohydrate or sugar. Variations on this process provide fuel for all of life on Earth. [click link for full article]
 
Enzyme Directory
 
Premium companies
us biological
abr bioreagents
sigma aldrich
bio-world
new england biolabs
 
ez-enzymes
Glutathione Sepharose®
peroxidases



   

Copyright © 2007 - 10 Enzyme Directory- All rights reserved | www.enzymedirectory.com

 Top of Page

Enzyme Directory		 About Us | Contact Us | Disclaimer | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Site Map
Enzyme Directory | A resource portal for enzymes: Products: Enzymes | Substrates | Inhibitors | Recombinant Proteins | Enzyme Kits | Enzyme Supplements | Equipments | Company Directory Services: Product Listings | Promotion Listings | Article Publishing | Events Listing | Advertise with Us | Resources: Articles | Books | Databases & Software | Journals | News | Patents | Protocols | Reviews | External Links | Register: New Vendor | New Member : Promotions | Forum | Contact | See also: www.antibodydirectory.com | www.biokits.com | www.impgc.com | www.chemicalsfinder.com | www.bio-world.com | www.plantmedia.com