UK scientists have made a major scientific advance by establishing proof of principle that the development of prion disease can be prevented in mice using monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). The work lays the foundation for further research to explore the potential of mAbs to treat specific prion diseases such as CJD and vCJD. The work is published today (6 March 2003) in Nature.
Mice in the 17 month study treated with mAbs remain clinically healthy almost a year after the untreated mice succumbed
Mathematical models have given physicists a new look at DNA’s chemical counterpart, RNA.
The models – showing that RNA behaves differently depending on the temperature of its environment – may help biologists better understand how life evolved on Earth.
The models suggest that high temperatures give twisted strands of RNA the flexibility to fold into many different shapes, while low temperatures cause it to collapse into a single shape.
Ralf Bundschuh, assistant pro
Unlike humans, bears seem to recover from bone loss caused by inactivity
Wild black bears may hold some secrets to preserving bone in humans.
Researchers at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Michigan Technological University recently studied the animal’s unique ability to rebound from significant bone loss suffered each year during hibernation. Their study, published in the March 2003 issue of Clinical Orthopedics and Related Research, shows that wild black bea
Defects in a protein called alphaV beta3 ntegrin appear to contribute to the development of osteoporosis, and these effects can be reversed by enhancing a protein called macrophage-colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF), according to research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
The study appears in the first March issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation and is published online March 4.
“Because of our previous research with these proteins, new drugs already
Mutants from a lowly weed. That’s where many solutions to maladies – from salt stress in plants to HIV in humans – may lie in wait for scientists to discover.
“I look for mutants. I take a sick plant and find out what’s wrong,” said Dr. Hisashi Koiwa, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station horticulturist.
It’s the Arabidopsis plant, a common weed, that attracts Koiwa and other researchers because of its simple genetic makeup. Scientists have looked at every nook and cranny of the
Biologists in Manchester have helped create a breakthrough in alcohol production that could save industry millions of pounds and help clean up the environment.
Many distilleries across Europe still rely on 19th century technology pioneered by Louis Pasteur, so the invention of a vastly more efficient fermenting system offers exciting possibilities.
The technology, developed at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), also allows continuous production of the chemical, an improvement from
Information overload? It is becoming increasingly important for companies and developers to present complex coherences clearly and concisely. In order to structure the growing amount of information, new methods are being conceived at the man/machine interface. This is where GoVisual software, developed at the international caesar research center, comes into play. It automatically generates a clear layout for a number of different diagrams in a second; particularly for UML (Unified Modeling Language)
Genomic rearrangements discovered using DNA microarrays are expected to reveal genetic regions important to human health
Mountain View, CA ¾ March 3, 2003 ¾ Perlegen Sciences, Inc. today announced the publication of a scientific paper in the latest issue of the peer-reviewed journal Genome Research. The paper, “Genomic DNA insertions and deletions occur frequently between humans and nonhuman primates,” describes novel findings suggesting that genomic rearrangements, not single base pa
Researchers at the University of Rochester have created the highest resolution optical image ever, revealing structures as small as carbon nanotubes just a few billionths of an inch across. The new method should open the door to previously inaccessible chemical and structural information in samples as small as the proteins embedded in a cell’s membrane. The research appears in today’s issue of Physical Review Letters.
“This is the highest resolution optical spectroscopic measuremen
Concern is rising among governments worldwide about electronic wastes — discarded computers, televisions, cell phones, audio equipment and batteries — leaching lead and other substances that may seep into groundwater supplies.
Just one color computer monitor or television can contain up to eight pounds of lead. Consider that amount in light of the estimated 12 million tons of “e-wastes” that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates may soon be dumped into American landfills.
Fruits and veggies grown organically show significantly higher levels of cancer-fighting antioxidants than conventionally grown foods, according to a new study of corn, strawberries and marionberries. The research suggests that pesticides and herbicides actually thwart the production of phenolics — chemicals that act as a plant’s natural defense and also happen to be good for our health. Fertilizers, however, seem to boost the levels of anti-cancer compounds.
The findings appear in the
Some of the most important compounds are the shortest lived — transient molecules that exist for only thousandths of a second or less during chemical reactions. Characterization of such “reaction intermediates” can play a key role in understanding the mechanisms by which molecules change, shedding light on processes ranging from basic chemical reactions to complex diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Yet by their very nature, reaction intermediates exist for brief periods too short to be seen by most
Using a simple intervention, clinicians and health scientists working in Haiti successfully cut the incidence of congenital syphilis in a rural region of that impoverished nation by 75 percent — meaning that far fewer babies will inherit the dangerous illness from infected mothers.
The scientists decentralized prenatal syphilis screening, shifting blood testing from a regional hospital out to 14 community dispensaries. Those dispensaries enjoy almost none of the amenities people in develo
Arf gene became more effective in stemming cell growth when it joined forces with p53
Researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have looked back in evolutionary time and identified what may be a gene that was once only moderately effective in slowing down cellular reproduction, until it linked up with a more efficient set of genes to create a powerful anti-cancer response.
The gene, called Arf, was already known to have cancer-suppressing activity. Arf respon
New research into the origin of kidney stone formation published in the March 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation may well change the direction of the most basic level of research in that area.
The study, conducted at Indiana University School of Medicine, Clarian Health Partners and the University of Chicago, will dispel the current beliefs of where stone formation begins, said Andrew P. Evan, Ph.D., the article’s lead author. Dr. Evan, who is a professor of anatomy and c
Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have identified a protein that leads to the development of preeclampsia, a serious and potentially life-threatening complication of pregnancy.
These findings, which could help lead to the development of diagnostic tools and therapies for this baffling condition, appear in the March 2003 issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Also known as toxemia, preeclampsia occurs in an estimated 5 percent of all pregnancies, a
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