An artificial disc being studied as a replacement for damaged discs of the spine has been approved to move into Phase II trials, making it available to more patients, according to John J. Regan, M.D., director of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s Institute for Spinal Disorders. A recently completed Phase I study compared the prosthesis to traditional fusion. In that phase, patients were randomized, with one having a fusion operation for every two that received the artificial disc. Now all patien
Results from two large European studies suggest that adjuvant chemotherapy immediately after surgery for early-stage ovarian cancer can increase some patients’ chances of both overall and recurrence-free survival. The findings are reported in three articles in the January 15 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
As many as 50% of patients with early-stage ovarian cancer relapse after surgery, and these subsequent tumor recurrences are often resistant to treatment. Adju
Climate change had little to do with the demise of the dinosaurs, but the last million years before their extinction had a complex pattern of warming and cooling events that are important to our understanding of the end of their reign, according to geologists.
“The terrestrial paleoclimate record near the K-T is historically contradictory and poorly resolved,” says Dr. Peter Wilf, assistant professor of geosciences at Penn State. “In contrast, the resolution of K-T marine climates that has
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) report in an upcoming article in the Journal of the American Chemical Society their synthesis of a form of the bacterium Escherichia coli with a genetic code that uses 21 basic amino acid building blocks to synthesize proteins–instead of the 20 found in nature.
This is the first time that anyone has created a completely autonomous organism that uses 21 amino acids and has the metabolic machinery to build those amino acids.
“We
A research team led by Johns Hopkins scientists has discovered that a special, tiny group of cells at the back of the eye help tell the brain how much light there is, causing the pupil to get bigger or smaller. The findings, which appeared in the Jan. 10 issue of Science, largely complete the picture of how light levels are detected in the eye.
“This tiny group of cells, together with rods and cones, are the bulk of the eye’s mechanisms for detecting levels of light and passing that in
Important goal achieved in potential animal-to-human organ transplantation
In a session today at the annual meeting of the International Embryo Transfer Society (IETS), Randall Prather, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Reproductive Biotechnology at the University of Missouri-Columbia, announced the successful cloning of the first miniature swine with both copies of a specific gene “knocked out” of its DNA. The ultimate goal of this research, which is being conducted in partnership wi
ADE Biotec and the INASMET Foundation, both from the Basque Country, after three years of working together, have developed a new purification technique for purines. The technique is based on electroflotation and could be very beneficial for agriculture as it has a high level (80%+) of purification and very low costs (1 euro/m3). Most of the development project has been carried out at a pilot plant on a Toledo pig farm.
Nowadays purines (excrements plus sewage water from farms) constitute one
Through the study of fat storage in nematode worms, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have formulated a new model for understanding the mechanisms of obesity and diabetes in humans.
Their work appears in today’s issue of Developmental Cell.
“Obesity and its associated diseases are now among the most important medical conditions in the world,” said Dr. Jonathan M. Graff, senior author of the study and associate professor in the Center for Developmen
Nicotine administration in humans is known to sharpen attention and to slightly enhance memory. Now scientists, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), have identified those areas of the brain where nicotine exerts its effects on cognitive skills.
Their findings suggest that nicotine improves attention in smokers by enhancing activation in the posterior cortical and subcortical regions of the brain–areas traditionally associated with visual attention, arousal, and motor a
Human heart tissue has for the first time been created in the laboratory.
Generated from embryonic stem cells at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, the tissue could be used for testing and creating new drugs, for genetic studies, for tissue engineering and for studying the effects of various stresses on the heart.
“Everyone imagines the possibilities of embryonic stem cells in repairing broken hearts, but stem cell technology offers even more — and it offers it muc
A study conducted on 404 patients at several U.S. sites has determined that a new drug called Rasagiline effectively treats early-stage Parkinson’s disease. The study was reported in the December Archives of Neurology.
“These findings are especially important since hopes for treating Parkinson’s with fetal cells were recently dashed,” said Technion-Israel Institute of Technology Professor Moussa Youdim, who developed Rasagiline with Prof. John Finberg of the Department of Ph
Expanding the genetic code: the world’s first truly unnatural organism
From time immemorial, every living thing has shared the same basic set of building blocks – 20 amino acids from which all proteins are made.
That is, until now: A group of scientists say they have, for the first time, created an organism that can produce a 21st amino acid and incorporate it into proteins completely on its own. The research should help probe some of the central questions of evolutionary theory.
Scientists who built and will control the instruments to investigate plasma changes around a comet describe their contribution to the ten year long mission at a pre-launch press briefing in London.
While the actual launch date for the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission has yet to be confirmed, the scientists, engineers and technicians behind the plasma-detecting instruments on board the spacecraft are all ready to begin the journey to comet Wirtanen they hope will return a r
Simple communication technique may improve health outcomes among diabetes patients, but is underused by physicians
Diabetes management may improve when physicians use an interactive communication technique with patients. Unfortunately, physicians underuse this simple strategy, according to a new study, which appears in the January 13, 2003 issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine.
Prior research has shown that patients fail to recall or comprehend as much as half of what t
Nearly four decades of research conclude that power toothbrushes with rotation oscillation action, such as the Oral-B 3D Excel, are demonstrably more effective in removing plaque and reducing gingivitis than other types of power toothbrushes — including those featuring “sonic” technology — according to an international study announced today at the Forsyth Institute conference on evidence-based dentistry.
Half of adults age 18 or older have some evidence of gingivitis, the earliest
In recent years a new view of health has emerged. The change has been so momentous that it has been called a paradigm shift. But what kind of social transformation are we experiencing? What is actually meant by ‘health promotion’? This is what Peter Korp at the University of Trollhättan/Uddevalla has investigated in his doctoral dissertation in sociology. The study is the first to be carried out on the basis of conditions in Sweden.
The view of how health is dealt with in society ha
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