A major step in the development of the vertebrate embryo – the establishment of a back that morphs into a brain, spinal cord and muscles – turns out to be so important that the body uses at least three signals to make sure it happens properly.
The discovery, reported this month in the journal Developmental Cell by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, finally explains an 80-year-old observation that revolutionized the way biologists think about embryonic and fe
Earth’s ice-covered polar regions help to keep our climate cool and hold tremendous amounts of fresh water locked up in their glaciers, ice caps, and ice sheets. The ice contained in these vast freshwater reservoirs is the equivalent of nearly 220 feet of sea level. However, when most people think of polar ice, they usually do not think of Canada, the location of only a small percentage of the Arctic’s polar land ice.
Recent research conducted by NASA scientists has reve
Two papers published in tandem in the New England Journal of Medicine
A large international study conducted by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute of Canada(NCIC) Clinical Trials Group demonstrated that the addition of a novel chemotherapy agent, Temozolomide (brand name: Temodal®) to radiation therapy increases survival in patients suffering from glioblastoma, a very aggressive form of a brain tu
By injecting a therapeutic gene directly into the brain, researchers have treated a naturally occurring genetic disease in cats. This is the first genetic disease affecting the central nervous system to be successfully treated in an animal larger than mice and rats. If this approach can be successfully applied to humans, say the researchers, it might one day treat an entire class of diseases called lysosomal storage disorders, which cause severe, sometimes fatal, disabilities in about one in
A group of Dartmouth researchers has learned that the brain’s auditory cortex, the part that handles information from your ears, holds on to musical memories.
In a study titled “Sound of silence activates auditory cortex” published in the March 10 issue of Nature, the Dartmouth team found that if people are listening to music that is familiar, they mentally call upon auditory imagery, or memories, to fill in the gaps if the music cuts out. Using functional magnetic resonance im
Researchers have long suspected that fertilizer runoff from big farms can trigger sudden explosions of marine algae capable of disrupting ocean ecosystems and even producing “dead zones” in the sea. Now a new study by Stanford University scientists presents the first direct evidence linking large-scale coastal farming to massive algal blooms in the sea.
Writing in the March 10 issue of the journal Nature, the authors conclude that some highly productive regions of the ocean are mu
Dental medicine is on the brink of profound change due, in large measure, to unprecedented advances in science and technology. Advances in stem cell biology will improve our understanding of degenerative diseases and assist in developing therapies for replacing damaged or diseased parts/tissues.
During the 83rd General Session of the International Association for Dental Research, convening today at the Baltimore Convention Center, several research groups are reporting on dramatic progress
A recent study in The Journal of Finance finds that the way the stock market reacts to unemployment news conveys information about the state of the economy.
Stock prices rise on average on announcement of higher than anticipated unemployment during economic expansions, This is because unemployment news itself is a bundle of three primitive types of news: the level of future interest rates, the growth of corporate earnings and dividends in the future, and the expected return on stocks.
Could cut use of angiograms and bypass surgery, as well as patient costs
Using positron emission tomography (PET) scanning rather than other types of imaging as the first tool to diagnose heart-vessel blockages is more accurate, less invasive and saves dollars, a study by University at Buffalo researchers has shown. The research findings were presented today (March 8, 2005) at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session in Orlando, Fla.
Resul
Boston University biomedical engineers, chemists collaborate on novel method
The ability to select and develop compounds that act on specific cellular targets has just gained a computational ally — a mathematical algorithm that predicts the precise effects a given compound will have on a cell’s molecular components or chemical processes. Using this tool, drug developers can design compounds that will act on only desired gene and protein targets, eliciting therapeutic respon
A project to study new and innovative ways of diagnosing and treating cancer is underway thanks to a grant of 10.4 million euros from the ’Life sciences, genomics and biotechnology for health’ thematic area of the EU’s Sixth Framework Programme (FP6).
CANCERDEGRADOME brings together the expertise of 41 scientists from 13 countries who, looking mainly on four of the most prolific types of cancer (breast, prostate, colorectal and skin), will focus on the complement of gen
Biologists at the University of Liverpool have discovered how the plagues of the Middle Ages have made around 10% of Europeans resistant to HIV.
Scientists have known for some time that these individuals carry a genetic mutation (known as CCR5-Ä32) that prevents the virus from entering the cells of the immune system but have been unable to account for the high levels of the gene in Scandinavia and relatively low levels in areas bordering the Mediterranean. They have also been puz
Within a year a group of Spanish researchers are planning to market a remote cardiac monitoring system that has the potential to revolutionise healthcare for people with heart problems, granting them greater independence, peace of mind and quality of life.
The system, developed over two years by the IST programme project CardioSmart, will allow patients to “have a doctor by their side 24 hours a day” whether they are at home, in the street or even in another country, according to
The ICT sector has been selected as one of Finland’s five technology focus areas for the future, according to a recent report produced by the country’s National Technology Agency, Tekes. The aim is to ensure that Finland continues to be a leader in the extensive use of ICT.
The Tekes report proposes focusing on ICT services, user-friendliness, knowledge and content management, and making greater use of ICT in real-life applications benefiting people in their day-to-day life and bu
Home to some of the world’s largest forest products companies, Finland is committed to staying at the front of this sector and others where it is particularly strong, according to a recent study by the country’s National Technology Agency, Tekes.
Introducing new product and business concepts in traditional industries has been identified as one of Finland’s key six application focus areas in the future.
As leaders in the forest products sector, Finnish companies face some to
The Biaffin GmbH & Co KG is one of nine European partners of a new EU “Specifically Targeted Research Project (STREP)” started on 1 st of January 2005 for a period of three years. The project is entitled “Function of small RNAs across kingdoms (FOSRAK)” to study the hitherto unrecognised cellular role of various classes of short non-coding RNAs in regulating gene expression in a variety of organisms across different biological kingdoms like eubacteria, protists, plants and animals.
The
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