Scientists from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and their colleagues have unraveled some of the fundamental mysteries about the genetic mechanisms that endow the immune system with its life-saving ability to generate specialized antibodies.
Without genetic fine-tuning, antibodies would be relatively ineffective in finding a good match on the surface of viruses, parasites, and other potentially dangerous foreign pathogens. The findings also reveal the workings of a gene mutation process
Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), as a major agent of non-A, non-B hepatitis (NANBH), has been described as an insidious disease and a silent epidemic, mainly because the infection is often sub-clinical. Acute infection is recognized in a minority of patients and in most cases the virus results in chronic infections taking 10-20 years before the emergence of liver disease. In the US, almost four million individuals are infected and up to 170 million worldwide.
Background
An imbalance
Stanford University Medical Center researchers have identified a protein responsible for ensuring correct skull growth in newborn mice. The protein, called Noggin, inhibits fusion of bony plates in the skull until developmentally appropriate. The scientists hope that Noggin may one day replace surgery as a way to treat premature skull fusion in infants.
“About 1 in 2,000 children has growth plates in their skull that fuse prematurely,” said Michael Longaker, MD. “The brain is rapidly expand
New study results demonstrate why caffeine and ephedra may provide a “final boost”
After Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler died during spring training earlier this year, the spotlight again turned on the dietary supplement ephedra. The Chinese herb, used for asthma in the 1960s, is attractive to athletes, because it provides and energy “boost” during games, and offers pound-dropping qualities (an attraction for Bechler, who was ten pounds overweight).
Ephedra has been
New study results offer potential explanation of complications from birth control pills
When women think about birth control, estrogen, and cardiovascular risk, they often assume that there are no answers. They would appear to be correct.
On the one hand, new pharmacological advancements have provided combination oral contraceptive (OC) formulations with lower-dose estrogen. These formulations have significantly less risk of cardiovascular adverse events compared to the olde
Retinal abnormalities in older people without diabetes are related to hypertension. Higher blood and pulse pressure are also associated with an increased incidence of macular abnormalities, including wet and dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). These are the major findings of two studies appearing in the April issue of Ophthalmology, the clinical journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Eye M.D. Association.
The first study, assessing more than 2,000 men and women without
Until the last few years, Mars has been regarded as a cold, arid world that lost most of its water long ago. However, recent observations by NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey spacecraft have provided tantalising evidence that huge amounts of water may be hidden just below the surface.
Now, a powerful new instrument is poised to probe the Martian soil, using an advanced radar system to penetrate the rust-red desert. On Friday 11 April, Professor Iwan Williams (Queen Mary) will expl
On 30 June 1908, the seemingly endless forests of Siberia received an unwelcome and unexpected visit by an intruder from deep space. As it plunged headlong through the Earth’s atmosphere, the incoming asteroid exploded a few miles above the tree tops, flattening the forest over an area about 50 km (30 miles) in diameter. If the 60 metre (200 ft) wide chunk of rock had arrived a few hours later, it could have destroyed a city the size of London or Paris.
Exactly how many of these threatening
Baby fat may be cuddly to new parents but pediatricians are increasingly warning families about serious medical problems resulting from baby fat that never goes away. Type 2 diabetes is on the increase in overweight and obese children in America. According to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center pediatric endocrinologist David Geller, M.D., Ph.D., “Childhood obesity is the primary reason we are seeing such a huge increase in type 2 diabetes in kids today. Clearly there is an inexorable increase in body girth
Spectacular VLT Photos Unveil Mysterious Nebulae
Quite a few of the most beautiful objects in the Universe are still shrouded in mystery. Even though most of the nebulae of gas and dust in our vicinity are now rather well understood, there are some which continue to puzzle astronomers.
This is the case of a small number of unusual nebulae that appear to be the subject of strong heating – in astronomical terminology, they present an amazingly “high degree of excitation”. This
“Bellwether” of what’s to come farther south, say Queen’s researchers
Dramatic clues to North American climate change have been discovered by a team of Queen’s University scientists in the bottom of 50 Arctic lakes.
Using innovative techniques that enable them to collect historic evidence from fossilized algae in lake bottom sediment, the researchers have found signs of marked environmental changes in a variety of lakes of different depths and composition, within a 750-km r
Computer Simulations Provide Insight On Light Degradation Effect in Solar Cells
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University’s Microelectronics Research Center may have solved a mystery that has plagued the research community for more than 20 years: Why do solar cells degrade in sunlight? Finding the answer to that question is essential to the advancement of solar cell research and the ability to produce lower-cost electricity from
New research from the University of Alberta has found that an online business can benefit from listing its competitors’ products, even if some of those comparisons are unfavourable for the firm.
Dr. Gerald Haeubl, the Banister professor of electronic commerce at the U of A’s School of Business, investigated how digital agents, such as the Internet, influence the online shopping experience. Surprisingly, he found that when a company lists its competitors’ prices of identical products—even if
The sex of newborns is dictated by the X and Y chromosomes – girls are XX whereas boys are XY. However, new research from Northwestern University has shown that normal testis formation depends on two genes — the so-called male-determining SRY gene, found on the Y chromosome 10 years ago, and a gene called Dax1 on the X (female) chromosome.
Based on the findings of the Northwestern study, published in the May online Nature Genetics, it now appears that Dax1 is required at several points in embr
A pioneering transport system which uses sophisticated computer technology to provide buses on demand may help to solve rural travel problems.
Passengers using the new service benefit from flexible timetables, can influence the journey routes and may be picked up and dropped off on their doorsteps.
The University of Newcastle upon Tyne’s Transport Operations Research Group (TORG) and Northumberland County Council are jointly managing the three-year £750,000 pilot project, w
British children’s lives might be saved by being routinely vaccinated for chickenpox, according to Dr Anne Gershon, speaking at the Society for General Microbiology’s Spring Meeting in Edinburgh today, Wednesday 9 April 2003.
“At the moment British children are not given routine vaccinations. In the USA and Canada one dose against chickenpox is given to children under 13 years old, and two doses are given to older children and adults, which appears to significantly cut down outbreaks of the
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