Scientists report that an unlikely molecule has emerged as an attractive target for development of therapeutics aimed at a diverse spectrum of tumors, including some malignancies that are resistant to conventional therapies. Two studies published online in Cancer Cell demonstrate that the insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R) is required for the survival of tumor cells and provide direct evidence that inhibition of IGF-R1 using selective small molecules represents a novel potential anticance
For the first time, researchers have identified organic material in interplanetary dust particles (IDPs), gathered from the Earth’s stratosphere, that was made before the birth of our Solar System.
The material was identified on the basis of its carbon isotopic composition, which is different from the carbon found on Earth and in other parts of the Solar System. Isotopes are variations of elements that differ from each other in the number of neutrons they have, making them similar chem
Against incredible odds, researchers working in separate sites, thousands of miles apart in Antarctica have found what they believe are the fossilized remains of two species of dinosaurs previously unknown to science.
One of the two finds, which were made less than a week apart, is an early carnivore that would have lived many millions of years after the other, a plant-eating beast, roamed the Earth. One was found at the sea bottom, the other on a mountaintop.
Journey to the bo
Women who used the once-a-week birth control patch, ORTHO EVRA® (norelgestromin/ethinyl estradiol transdermal system), were more likely to use their medication as directed than women who took a birth control pill, according to a study published in the current issue of Contraception.
“It’s not always easy, but it is very important for women using any birth control pill to take it at the same time every day to prevent unplanned pregnancy,” said Vanessa Cullins, M.D. FACOG. “What’s exciting i
Detecting and treating schizophrenia rapidly, following the onset of a first psychotic episode, improves the patients’ response to treatment, according to a study by a Yale researcher.
Thomas McGlashan, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine, said the length of time between the onset of psychosis and detection and treatment can stretch from several weeks to several years. This time span is a concern because the patient is sick and untreated and because there is some i
New research in monkeys may provide a clue about how the brain manages vast amounts of information and remembers what it needs. Researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center have identified brain cells that streamline and simplify sensory information – markedly reducing the brain’s workload.
The findings are reported in the on-line edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“When you need to remember people you’ve just met at a meeting,
Scientists from the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society and other groups have developed a high-tech map that predicts where wolves will prey on livestock, which in turn may allow wildlife managers and ranchers to prevent attacks in the first place. The groups, which also included authors from the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources and University of Wisconsin in Madison, published their results in the latest issue of the journal Conservation Biology.
Using geographic information sy
Where is the evidence that animal research benefits humans? (BMJ Vol 328)
Much animal research into potential human treatments is wasted because it is poorly conducted and not thoroughly evaluated, argue leading doctors in this week’s BMJ.
They call for urgent, formal reviews of existing animal research.
They identified six comprehensive reviews of animal experiments from the scientific literature. All six highlighted deficiencies in the contribution that animal re
Astronomers at the University of California, Berkeley, have discovered the nearest and youngest star with a visible disk of dust that may be a nursery for planets.
The dim red dwarf star is a mere 33 light years away, close enough that the Hubble Space Telescope or ground-based telescopes with adaptive optics to sharpen the image should be able to see whether the dust disk contains clumps of matter that might turn into planets.
“Circumstellar disks are signposts for planet formati
For the first time, scientists from UC Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore, in conjunction with astrophysicists from the California Institute of Technology, UC Santa Cruz, the National Science Foundation’s Center for Adaptive Optics and UC’s Lick Observatory, have observed that distant larger stars formed in flattened accretion disks just like the sun.
Using the laser guide star adaptive optics system created by LLNL scientists, the team was able to determine that some of the relativel
Scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Washington University have seen carbon and nitrogen anomalies on a particle of interplanetary dust that provides a clue as to how interstellar organic matter was incorporated into the solar system.
Interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) gathered from the Earth’s stratosphere are complex collections of primitive solar system material and carry various isotopic anomalies. Using an ion microprobe that allows isotopic imaging at a scale o
Stress is a well known culprit in disease, but now researchers have shown that stress can intensify the effects of relatively safe chemicals, making them very harmful to the brain and liver in animals and likely in humans, as well.
Even short-term exposure to specific chemicals — just 28 days — when combined with stress was enough to cause widespread cellular damage in the brain and liver of rats, said Mohamed Abou Donia, Ph.D., a Duke pharmacologist and senior author of the study.
The combination of two drugs – both partly effective for rheumatoid arthritis patients when given individually – could be an important development in substantially reducing symptoms and joint destruction for people with rheumatoid arthritis, conclude authors of a study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET.
Rheumatoid arthritis affects around 1% of people worldwide. Etanercept and methotrexate are known to be effective in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis; however, no data exist on concurre
Rainfall but Ultimately Increases Its Intensity
Air pollution and smoke suppress rainfall, but cause the remaining rain amounts to fall in greater intensities, with lightning and hail, says a researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The researcher, Prof. Daniel Rosenfeld, was one of a group of scientists that included also participants from Germany, Sweden and Brazil who conducted measurements of smoke and its impact on the development of clouds and precipitation i
The secret of how flowering plants evolved into one of the Earth’s most dominant and diverse groups of organisms is revealed in study led by researchers from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Imperial College London.
Described by Charles Darwin as an “abominable mystery”, the team publish the first complete evolutionary ’super-tree’ of relationships among all families of flowering plants in current edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
Using a combination
A single gene has been discovered that helps plants cope with stressful situations such as disease or poor environments – according to a report published in Nature, 26 February 2004.
Scientists at the universities of Bristol and Oxford isolated and characterised the gene called OXI1 from thale cress, a common roadside weed. OXI1 boosts the plant’s ability to stop fungal infection from spreading, and helps roots to grow despite poor conditions.
Dr Claire Grierson from Bristol
Feedback
