Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center say they now have a clearer picture of how an extract from the leaves of the Ginkgo biloba tree reduces the risk of aggressive cancer in animal experiments.
In the January-February issue of the journal Anticancer Research, the investigators reported that treating mice with an extract of leaves of Ginkgo biloba both before and after implanting human breast or brain (glioma) tumors decreased expression of a cell receptor associa
Obtaining serum by cardiac puncture of fetal calves raises ethical concerns; non-animal alternatives scientifically superior
In the March issue of Trends in Biotechnology, scientists and doctors with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) recommend using only animal serum-free media to grow live cells in the laboratory. At issue is the use of fetal calf serum, which is obtained by puncturing the heart of a fetal calf without anesthesia. Recent breakthroughs per
Evolutionary paths to new therapeutic drugs, as well as a wide assortment of other enzyme products, have been created through, of all things, intelligent design. A team of researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California at Berkeley have developed a technique in which the evolution of an important class of proteins is steered towards a desired outcome.
“We’ve taken enzymes that are promiscuous, meaning they have the capa
University of Rochester Medical Center scientists have demonstrated a new technology that accurately and rapidly detects the meat-spoiling and sometimes dangerous E. coli bacteria.
The unique technology uses a protein from the suspect bacteria as part of the sensing system that also includes a silicon chip and a digital camera.
The journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics published an article on the technology in its February issue. Benjamin Miller, Ph.D., an associate pro
Breakthrough will lead to new insights about sense of taste
Researchers from the Monell Chemical Senses Center have succeeded in growing mature taste receptor cells outside the body and for the first time have been able to successfully keep the cells alive for a prolonged period of time. The establishment of a viable long-term model opens a range of new opportunities to increase scientists’ understanding of the sense of taste and how it functions in nutrition, health and disease.
Drawing on lab experiments and computer studies, Johns Hopkins researchers have learned how a common protein delivers its warning message to cells when an infectious agent invades the body. The findings are important because this biological intruder alarm causes the body’s immune system to leap into action to fight the infection. Learning more about how this process works, the researchers said, could lead to better treatments for diseases that occur when the immune system overreacts or pays to
Scientists from Leicester have discovered a radical new approach to making artificial platelets to help stop bleeding in patients who have too few platelets of their own. This invention could be a major breakthrough for cancer patients suffering from severe or life threatening bleeding.
The development of this highly innovative product has been made possible thanks to a major funding round of £3.1m led by Quester, including investment from NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Techn
Scientists have discovered that rarest of things: a chicken with teeth – crocodile teeth to be precise.
Contrary to the well-known phrase, ‘As rare as hens’ teeth,’ the researchers say they have found a naturally occurring mutant chicken called Talpid that has a complete set of ivories.
The team, based at the Universities of Manchester and Wisconsin, have also managed to induce teeth growth in normal chickens – activating genes that have lain dormant for 80 million ye
A recent study shows that hundreds of genes contribute to cell growth and cell division. For the first time these genes, many of which are potential contributors to cancer, have been mapped in a single systematic study.
The group led by Professor Jussi Taipale (University of Helsinki and National Public Health Institute of Finland) has identified genes contributing to cell growth and cell division by systematic silencing of most of the genes in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogast
Scientists in Germany have found that a significant route of transmission of Salmonella in non egg-laying snakes is from the mother to the offspring during pregnancy and birth.
One source of human Salmonella infection is associated with pet reptiles and these cases are often serious – sometimes causing septicaemia, meningitis or even death, especially among children and those at risk due to a compromised immune system.
A high percentage of snakes carry the food-poisoni
Would you notice if all the objects around you simultaneously moved farther away? In a virtual-reality laboratory in Oxford, researchers have obtained the puzzling finding that humans can be “blind” to changes like this.
Computer-generated vision has shown that viewing a scene with two eyes, or walking around it, provides enough information to calculate its 3D structure. To find out how far away things are by this method, however, requires knowledge of the separation of the eyes o
In one of the first studies to empirically compare the reproductive success of hermaphrodites and male and female populations, biologists from the University of Oxford make use of the rare and extreme sexual diversity displayed in a species of European weed to test the hypothesis that hermaphrodites have been selected in regions with frequent extinction and re-colonization.
“[We used] the general theory for the genetics of populations, which tells us that repeated bouts of extinction an
Researchers at the University of Virginia Health System have identified a molecular target, or receptor, for potential drugs to treat acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a sudden and life-threatening failure of the lung. Interestingly, the receptor is in the same class that gives people their sense of sight, smell and taste (G-protein coupled receptors.)
In ARDS, patients cannot breathe on their own because fluid gets into the lungs. Essentially, the body’s immune system causes lu
For decades, scientists have wondered how living organisms manufacture the essential vitamin B12. Now, using laundry whitener and dirt-dwelling bacteria—the everyday ingredients of an undergraduate science experiment—researchers may have found the major clue they need to solve the mystery.
Researchers led by Graham Walker, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) professor and American Cancer Society research professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have discovered
Absence of sharks from abyssal regions of the world’s oceans
Marine scientists have discovered that the deepest oceans of the world would appear to be shark free. In a paper published today, an international team of researchers, led by the University of Aberdeen, reveal that sharks have failed to colonise at depths greater than 3,000 metres.
Sharks occur throughout the world’s oceans and it had been hoped that as man explores deeper into the abyss and beyond th
Researchers led by UVa Health System pathologist Robin Felder, Ph.D., have demonstrated that looking for several variations of genes that control blood pressure can predict the risk for high blood pressure caused by high levels of salt. Once it is fully developed, this effective diagnostic test will be the first of its kind, says Dr. Felder, whose work will be published in the Feb. 23 issue of the journal Clinical Chemistry. When a subject had three or more variations in these genes, the new ge
Feedback
