Exploit Plant Defenses, Build Local Drug Discovery Industry
Misty-eyed idealism alone will not save Earth’s dwindling tropical rainforests. But a five-year, $3 million study in Panama indicates rainforests can be protected if the pharmaceutical industry establishes Third World laboratories and hires local researchers to look for new medicines extracted from plants that evolved defenses against insects.
“Until now, efforts to find drugs in the rainforest haven’t really led to
A good night’s sleep may be one weapon in the fight against cancer, according to researchers at Stanford University Medical Center. Their work is among the first to piece together the link between mental well-being and cancer recovery.
Previous studies have found people with cancer who go through group therapy or have a strong social network fare better than those with weaker social support. The question has been how psychosocial factors exert their influence on cancer cells. David Spi
A new study shows that molecular analysis of a very small tissue sample can identify hidden melanoma metastases in lymph nodes. The presence of melanoma in the lymph nodes is the single most important factor in determining a patient’s prognosis and is a key factor in determining a patient’s course of treatment.
Published in the October 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the study is the first to use such a thin section of archival paraffin-embedded tissue and show that a
Researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Boston have developed a fast and systematic method that could make it easier to understand how cells from complex animals work. Their results, published this week in Journal of Biology, should inspire scientists to perform comprehensive screens of the fruit fly genome to find molecules that control a variety of cellular processes. The research team, led by Norbert Perrimon, systematically inhibited the function of around 1,000 Drosophila
An exciting and powerful service, using a new tool to investigate the genetics of human diseases, is announced today [1st October]. MRC geneservice, located in Cambridge, UK, is now able to supply researchers with fast and sensitive Affymetrix SNP genotyping in order to identify genome-wide linkage of diseases to particular markers in the human genome.
The GeneChipâ Mapping Assay kit from Affymetrix enables genotyping of more than 11,500 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on a single arr
The first results from British and Japanese researchers working with the world’s largest computer, the gigantic Earth Simulator supercomputer in Japan, are being showcased at a climate workshop which starts today at Cambridge University.
Professor Julia Slingo, the Director of the NCAS Centre for Global Atmospheric Modelling said: “These results are very exciting. They show that, for the first time, our climate models can be run at resolutions capable of capturing severe weather events such
Catalysts which cause cancer cells to ’’commit suicide’’ have been developed in the laboratory by West Country scientists.
The research groups of Dr Claus Jacob, of Exeter University and Dr Nicholas Gutowski at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, with support from the Peninsula Medical School, are investigating the anti-cancer effects of biocatalysts that mimic the activity of the human selenium enzyme, glutathione peroxidase. Their work opens up a very promising
Angioplasty surpasses clotbuster drugs only when treatment comes quickly
In a perfect world, heart attack patients would get to the hospital within minutes after their symptoms start.
And most would immediately get sent for an emergency angioplasty, which uses a tiny balloon to clear blood clots that are clogging arteries. Study after study has shown that quick access to this life-saving treatment, also called percutaneous coronary intervention, surpasses fibrinolytic (clot-
A non-human, cellular molecule is absorbed into human tissues as a result of eating red meat and milk products, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine, published online the week of September 29, 2003 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers also showed that the same foreign molecule generates an immune response that could potentially lead to inflammation in human tissues.
Several previous studies ha
Targeting angiogenesis alone not effective
Scientists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and colleagues found that by inhibiting both the proteins responsible for breast cancer growth and those required for the formation of new blood vessels, they could more effectively suppress the growth of extremely aggressive breast tumors in mice. In a surprising finding, the researchers showed that mice harboring a mutation commonly found in human breast cancers developed tumors that were
The contents of ancient pottery could help archaeologists resolve some longstanding disputes in the world of antiquities, thanks to scientists at Britain’s University of Bristol. The researchers have developed the first direct method for dating pottery by examining animal fats preserved inside the ceramic walls.
Archaeologists have long dated sites by the visual appearance of pottery fragments found around the site. The new analytical technique will allow archaeologists to more accurate
Twelve-month-old infants can use previous observations as a basis to understand new interactions, although five-month-olds cannot, according to a Yale study.
“This finding shows not only that one-year-old infants are paying attention to the actions of others, but that they can focus on a behavior in one scene and use that information to interpret behavior in a different scene,” said Valerie Kuhlmeier, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychology and lead author of the study
With new, one-of-a-kind test equipment, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers aim to stamp out costly, delay-causing errors in the design of dies used to make sheet-metal parts ranging from car hoods to airplane wings to pots, pans and cans.
The U.S. auto industry alone is estimated to spend more than $700 million a year on designing, testing, and correcting new dies for its latest models, each containing about 300 stamped parts shaped by dies and presses. About
If Mohini Sain has his way, cars of the future may be fitted with tough, durable and completely biodegradable bumpers made of hemp.
Sain, a professor in the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Forestry and Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, creates biocomposites from processed plant fibres. His latest research, published in the August issue of Materials Research Innovations and the July issue of Macromolecular Materials and Engineering, describes a way to create a
Girls who go through puberty earlier than their peers are more likely to be involved in delinquency, but not for the reasons often suspected, according to a new study.
Researchers had long speculated that early-developing girls were nudged into delinquency because they had more older friends, and more male friends.
But, instead, new research suggests that the key factors appear to be the fact that these girls are dating and that they have more friends – regardless of age – w
A new technique accurately identifies breast cancers that are difficult to detect with conventional mammography, according to a study appearing in the October issue of the journal Radiology.
“The dual-energy contrast-enhanced digital subtraction mammography technique is feasible for hard-to-demonstrate breast cancers and is worthy of further study,” said the study’s lead author, John M. Lewin, M.D. Dr. Lewin is an associate professor of radiology at the University of Colorado Health Sc
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