With new technology that uses short strands of genetic material to shut down a specific gene, researchers have regulated immune system proteins to boost production of cells that seek and destroy cancer cells. This approach may improve the effectiveness of vaccines in the treatment of tumors, including malignant brain tumors.
Results of the study appear in the June issue of the European Journal of Immunology, and the research was conducted at Cedars-Sinai’s Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical I
Researchers from Nottingham University in the United Kingdom have developed a new method for reducing the level of contamination of chickens by the foodborne bacterium Campylobacter jejuni. They are using bacterial viruses to target and kill the organism. They report their research today at the 104th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.
In the study, the researchers isolated a number of naturally occurring bacterial viruses (called bacteriophage) that can infect and kil
New studies conducted at Pace University have indicated that White Tea Extract (WTE) may have prophylactic applications in retarding growth of bacteria that cause Staphylococcus infections, Streptococcus infections, pneumonia and dental caries. Researchers present their findings today at the 104th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.
“Past studies have shown that green tea stimulates the immune system to fight disease,” says Milton Schiffenbauer, Ph.D., a microbiologist
Ohio State University engineers are helping satellites form a clearer picture of water quality in the Great Lakes.
The study — the first ever to rate the effectiveness of various computer models for monitoring the Great Lakes — might also aid studies of global climate change.
As algae flourishes in the five freshwater lakes every summer, satellite images show the water changing color from blue to green, explained Carolyn Merry, professor of civil and environmental engineeri
Across the world, rivers wash mountains into the sea. In the beautiful and rugged mountains of southeast Alaska, glaciers grind mountains down as fast as the earth’s colliding tectonic plates shove them up.
“Like an ice palace cheese grater, glaciers sweep and grind rocks off of mountains. No matter how fast the plate pushes the rock up, the glacier will erode it just as fast,” said James A. Spotila of Blacksburg, assistant professor of geosciences at Virginia Tech. The National Science
The American Thoracic Society (ATS) and the European Respiratory Society (ERS) announced the establishment of a set of unique, web-based guidelines to help physicians throughout the world treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The announcement came at the 2004 ATS International Conference in Orlando, Florida.
COPD usually involves severe emphysema and chronic bronchitis, which severely affect the alveoli of the lungs, leading to illness and death. Smoking is a leading cause of
High efficacy ratings further validate research on molecules anti-infective and anti-inflammatory properties
Zengen Inc. announced today positive phase I/II results for its proprietary molecule CZEN-002 for the treatment of vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC), commonly known as vaginal yeast infection. The open label, non-randomized study was designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of CZEN-002 in patients with VVC.
The majority of subjects in the study
Good news for red wine drinkers
It’s well known that drinking red wine in moderation can have some health benefits, mainly attributed to a compound called resveratrol. Now, scientists at the University of Virginia Health System have discovered how.
They found how resveratrol helps to starve cancer cells by inhibiting the action of a key protein that feeds them. The protein, called nuclear factor- kappa B (NF-kB), is found in the nucleus of all cells and activates genes respo
Werewolves notwithstanding, the full moon does not influence the frequency of epileptic seizures, reports a University of South Florida study.
“Contrary to the myth, epileptic seizures are not more common during a full moon,” said Selim Benbadis, MD, associate professor of neurology and neurosurgery at the USF College of Medicine. “In fact, we found the number of epileptic seizures was lowest during the full moon and highest in the moon’s last quarter.”
The study, to be publi
A deadly combination of industry and human activity may soon wipe out Alberta’s grizzly bear population, but new University of Alberta research that identifies the province’s highest mortality spots.
Scott Nielsen, from the Department of Biological Sciences, has isolated specific spots where the bears are dying at the highest rates, all sites where grizzly habitats overlap areas that humans frequent regularly. Nielsen’s paper, published in the journal “Biological Conservation
With support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Protection Service, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are using sophisticated computer modeling to track the spread of the fungal disease known as Asian soybean rust.
In recent years, the aggressive form of the disease has moved from Asia to Africa and into parts of South America. It first showed up in Paraguay in 2001 and now is a problem for many of the major soybean-growing are
Volunteers now sought for Stanford trial
Doctors may someday have a new way to combat AIDS by going straight to the source: destroying the virus before it has a chance to wreak havoc on a patient’s immune system.
Thomas Merigan, MD, the George and Lucy Becker Professor of Medicine in infectious diseases at Stanford University School of Medicine, is seeking volunteers for a study to test a possible method of empowering an infected person’s own cells to destroy HIV a
Better Prevention; Evidence Does Not Support Links to Wider Array of Illnesses
Scientific evidence links mold and other factors related to damp conditions in homes and buildings to asthma symptoms in some people with the chronic disorder, as well as to coughing, wheezing, and upper respiratory tract symptoms in otherwise healthy people, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. However, the available evidence does not support an association between ei
When it comes to restoring nature, some members of the natural world are shunned for good reason
Restoring wetlands has a foreseeable and inevitable downside: the creation of mosquito habitat.
Breeding disease-transmitting mosquitoes isn’t just a surprising side effect of creating wetlands, but an inevitable and foreseeable consequence that must be acknowledged when planning wetland restoration projects, said Elizabeth Willott, an assistant professor in the department o
Alcoholism tends to run in families, suggesting that addiction, at least in part, has an underlying genetic cause. Now, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered a gene linked to alcohol dependency.
Laboratory mice deficient in the gene were found to consume excessive amounts of alcohol, preferring ethanol to water and evincing highly anxious behavior in a maze test.
Results of the study are published in the May 26 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
The fact that a newborn baby can experience pain has previously been taken as evidence that pain reflexes are inborn, not learned. This is because the baby in the womb has been protected from everything that could cause pain and should therefore not have been able to learn what pain is. But according to a team of scientists at Lund University, Sweden, headed by Professor Jens Schouenborg, the tactile feeling of fetal movements in the womb is sufficient to initiate a process of learning in the undevel
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