Conservationists begin tracking Mom’s fourth litter
Scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and their Russian colleagues from the Russian Far East recently fitted three wild 40-day-old Siberian tiger cubs with tiny radio-collars, marking the youngest wild tigers to be tracked by scientists. The elastic collars, which eventually fall off as the tigers grow, weigh just over five ounces and would fit on a large house cat. They give researchers crucial insights i
Typically we think of rainfall as cleaning the air by removing dust as it falls through the atmosphere and helping plants grow that protect and hold the soil. But a new NASA-funded study looking at some of the world’s dustiest areas shows that heavy downpours can eventually lead to more dust being released into the atmosphere.
Typically drought reduces vegetation growth, increasing soil vulnerability to wind erosion, while rainfall tends to have the opposite effect. In the
Researchers at North Carolina State University are looking deep under water for clues on how to redesign plants for life deep in outer space. Some of the stresses inherent with travel and life in space – extreme temperatures, drought, radiation and gravity, for example – are not easily remedied with traditional plant defenses. So Dr. Wendy Boss, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Botany, and Dr. Amy Grunden, assistant professor of microbiology, have combined t
Nature’s finesse revealed in quality surveillance system
With their latest discovery, researchers have significantly advanced the understanding of how human cells protect themselves from constant and potentially destructive changes in gene expression. According to an article published in this month’s Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, the research is important because the protection itself can contribute to disease, and the ability to side-step it may lead to new treat
Rice University economist cites importance of needing trial experience
Assistant U.S. attorneys in districts with high private salaries are more likely to take a drug-trafficking case to trial than are assistant attorneys in districts with low private salaries, according to a study by economists at Rice University and Colgate University that is published in the October issue of the Journal of Law and Economics.
“Regional differences in private lawyer salaries affect whet
Little evidence exists to support the widespread use of bronchodilators to treat children and adults with cystic fibrosis, according to a new systematic review of published research.
“Recurrent wheeze and breathlessness are common in people with cystic fibrosis, and bronchodilators are commonly prescribed,” according to lead author Clare Halfhide, M.D., of the Royal Liverpool Children’s Hospital in England. “Despite their wide-scale and often long-term use, there is limited ob
This classification conveys important information about the biochemistry and metabolism of disease-causing organisms. Here are three examples. 1) Pneumocystis, an opportunistic pathogen causing mortality in AIDS patients and immunocompromised individuals, is now known to be a fungus, indicating a different treatment regimen is needed. 2) Phytophtora, an organism causing potato blight, such as the one that caused the Irish famine in the 19th century, is now known not to be a fungus, which ex
An international team of astronomers shows that even brown dwarfs start to form planets
Thus, the process of building planets is more universal and robust than had previously been assumed (Science Express, October 20, 2005).
Brown dwarfs, like more massive normal stars, are formed when interstellar gas and dust clouds collapse. When this happens, a central, dense area builds up, embedded in a rotating disc made of gas and dust. These circumstellar discs produce infrared
Study conducted in hamsters with same genetic defect as human muscular dystrophy shows great promise for treating adult heart failure
University of Pittsburgh investigators have for the first time used gene therapy to successfully treat heart failure and other degenerative muscle problems in an animal model that is genetically susceptible to a human muscular dystrophy. Reporting in the Oct. 25 edition of the journal Circulation, the authors say that this is the first successful attem
Researchers from Monash’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology have determined the structure of the protein JAK2 kinase, a discovery with huge implications for the design and development of new cancer drugs.
NHMRC Industry Research Fellow Dr Isabelle Lucet, from Monash’s Protein Crystallography Unit headed by Dr Jamie Rossjohn, was part of the team that determined the structure. JAK2 kinase was the driving force for many cancers and cardiovascular disorders,
For the health challenges facing developing countries, the numbers alone are staggering. Every day, 40,000 people –enough to fill a sports stadium — die from preventable infectious diseases and malnutrition. Entire generations of human potential are perishing.
Given the scope of these challenges, is there a way for developing countries to solve health disparities and bootstrap these efforts into economic growth? In an article published recently in the journal Science, Biodesig
Because of 1988 and 1990 amendments to the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, off-label distribution or provision of human growth hormone to treat aging or age-associated illnesses is illegal in the United States, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The findings, which were peer-reviewed by independent experts and by the journal’s legal counsel, appear in the Oct. 26 issue.
A team of three noted health researchers revealed a largely
Blocking a signaling lipid can keep nerves from developing the arm-like extensions they need to wire the body and may even cause neurons to die, researchers have found.
The researchers hope this piece of the puzzle of how the central nervous system develops in the first place will one day help them repair loss from injury or disease.
It’s already helped them understand the ailments of a spontaneous mouse mutant that has about 20 percent function of the protein that helps
People living in deprived areas or working in manual occupations are less likely to receive cholesterol and blood pressure-lowering treatment than more affluent people, according to a paper published today [28 October] in the November issue of the British Journal of General Practice.
This is because the method used to assess an individual’s risk of getting heart disease underestimates the true level of coronary heart disease risk associated with elevated risk factor levels in thes
Targeted cancer treatment without the added trauma of surgery or lengthy chemotherapy could be available to consumers in as little as 5 years according to new scientific research
Treatment could benefit NHS as a whole by reducing the cost in the long term of treating cancer patients
Treatment benefits the majority of Cancers unlike Herceptin which only works for Breast Cancer
Scientists at the University of Dundee have demonstrated that
Drug Discovery at Dundee
The Wellcome Trust, one of the world’s largest medical charities, has awarded £8.1 million over 5 years to a team of six scientists at the University of Dundee to help discover new drugs to treat some of the world’s most neglected tropical diseases.
The grant awarded to Professor Mike Ferguson, Professor Alan Fairlamb, Professor Bill Hunter, Professor Ian Gilbert, Professor Julie Frearson and Dr Daan van Aalten, all based within the School of L
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