Spotting disease causing germs has just become a lot easier with a new technique developed by researchers from Newcastle upon Tyne, scientists learned today, Wednesday 10 September 2003, at the Society for General Microbiology’s meeting at UMIST in Manchester.
“Knowing exactly which bacteria and micro-organisms are around at any given time is vital if you want to be able to kill the dangerous ones,” says Dr Olivier Sparagano, from the School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development at the
People with weakened immune systems, including patients with cystic fibrosis, could be better protected in future from a highly resilient bacteria thanks to work by medical scientists from the University of Leeds. The research is presented today, Wednesday 10 September 2003, at the Society for General Microbiology’s meeting at UMIST in Manchester.
“British soldiers stationed in South East Asia and North Australia, as well as local people, can be exposed to infection by a dangerous bacterium
How fat contributes to high blood pressure is the focus of a new study at the Medical College of Georgia that is part of a National Institutes of Health initiative to understand the relationship between obesity and cardiovascular disease.
“You have obesity and you have hypertension. Where is the link?” says Dr. Gregory A. Harshfield, principal investigator on the $1.4 million grant from the NIH’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute that will study 160 adolescents, half lean and ha
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of the National Institutes of Health, has reached a milestone in its efforts to support accelerated development of malaria vaccines. Working with an international group of public and private partners, NIAID has launched its first trial of a candidate malaria vaccine in a country where malaria is endemic. The Phase I trial, taking place in Mali, seeks to confirm the safety and immunogenicity in adults of a candidate vaccine called
Making sugar coated proteins for use in medicines is a step closer thanks to a chance discovery by scientists from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The research is presented today, Tuesday 9 September 2003, by Professor Brendan Wren at the Society for General Microbiology’s meeting at UMIST in Manchester.
“We were trying to find out exactly how a particular bacteria, Campylobacter jejuni, causes severe diarrhoea,” says Professor Wren, “and discovered that it can also make
A Duke University research collaboration has identified a likely route for “leakage” of therapeutic gene-bearing viruses out of tumors in experimental anti-cancer gene therapy experiments in laboratory animals. The group also found this toxic leakage can be avoided by using a chemical extracted from common brown algae.
Their work was described in a 9:30 a.m. Sept. 8 presentation at the American Chemical Society’s national meeting in New York, as well as in a research paper accepted for
Two short protein segments, called peptides, have been identified by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine, for their ability to recognize and bind to beta-amyloid-containing plaques that accumulate abnormally in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients, providing a possible “Trojan horse” mechanism to diagnose and treat the disorder.
“These peptide sequences are potential new tools for the delivery of medication to the amyloid plaques that are fo
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women. To successfully fight the disease, doctors use a variety of techniques to diagnose the cancer and determine the extent of its spread throughout the body. When using positron emission tomography (PET) as a diagnostic tool, 18F-FDG has proven to be a reliable and accurate tracer, but false positives have been noted in areas of inflammation. Recently, German researchers conducted a study comparing the results of 18F-FDG PET and 18F-
Test for EZH2 protein reveals how aggressive — and deadly — breast tumors will be
U-M, Harvard team shows EZH2 helps cancer cells form colonies and invade tissue
Like a killer charged with more than one murder, a tiny protein that has already been linked to deadly prostate cancer is now being implicated in lethal breast cancer. And it may soon help doctors tell cancer patients just how dangerous their tumors are.
The double-duty offender, called EZH2, appears to hel
A gel-like material being developed by scientists at the VA Hospital and Washington University in St. Louis could eventually mean the end of bifocals and contacts for millions of middle age and older people who suffer from presbyopia — literally “old vision.” The material, which could be used to replace old hardened lenses in patients, including those with cataracts, was described today at the 226th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.
Scientists have known for some time that red wine is healthy for the heart. Now, they have found evidence that provides yet another explanation for this effect.
Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have identified another group of chemicals in red wine that is linked to the ability to lower cholesterol. Called saponins, these glucose-based plant compounds are being found in an increasing number of foods. This is the first time they’ve been found in wine, says Andrew Water
Using MRI scans can help make the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) more quickly, according to a guideline developed by the American Academy of Neurology. The guideline is published in the September 9 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
The point at which MS can be diagnosed has been under debate, according to guideline author Elliot Frohman, MD, PhD, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas.
“Before, the crit
Stuffing yourself with good bacteria could prevent repeat attacks from bugs responsible for ulcers and stomach upsets, according to scientists from the University of Reading. Food scientist Belinda O’’Grady is presenting the research today, Monday 8 September 2003, at the Society for General Microbiology’s meeting at UMIST in Manchester.
“We wondered whether prevention really is better than cure,” says Ms O’’Grady, of the University of Reading, “There is a school of thoug
Scientists from the Institute for Animal Health announced progress towards controlling the deadly E. coli bacterium that causes food poisoning and kidney failure, today, Monday 8 September 2003, at the Society for General Microbiology’s meeting at UMIST in Manchester.
“This bacterium, E. coli O157, is passed on by eating meat and dairy products or through contact with dung from infected animals. It is the leading cause of acute kidney failure in children in the UK,” says Dr Mark Stevens fro
Millions of dollars are being spent unnecessarily each year on treatments for high blood pressure says research published this week in BMC Health Services Research. Vast amounts could be saved if doctors prescribed thiazides, the recommended and cheapest drugs, rather than expensive alternatives.
Atle Fretheim and his colleagues from the Norwegian Directorate for Health and Social Affairs estimated the potential annual savings for six countries if thiazides were prescribed whenever there was
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the heart and lungs is a valuable diagnostic tool in the medical industry, but the detailed images it produces are often marred by artefacts (unwanted signals) created by the motion of cardiac and respiratory cycles.
A team of inventors at Oxford University has now developed a method of suppressing MRI artefacts to a negligible level. This has potential to allow more precise conclusions to be made from a small number of experimental trials, with obvious po
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