From garden compost to forest greenery, the mold Aspergillus fumigatus lurks across much of the world. And so does its impact. The most common mold causing infection, A. fumigatus triggers allergic reactions, asthma attacks–and even deadly infections among people with weakened immune systems.
Now, in the December 22 issue of the journal Nature, scientists at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) and their collaborators report the mold’s sequenced genome. The genome could
Scientists have identified 570 genes that act abnormally during the development of Parkinson’s Disease, a finding which could help doctors predict the likelihood of it developing, and provide targets for new treatments.
The research published in Neurogenetics, by the team from Imperial College London and the University of Liege, Belgium, uses microarrays to analyse brains from Parkinson’s patients. Microarrays are laboratory chips able to pick out which genes are active
Chlorine solutions much weaker than previously believed can still be used to kill more than 99 percent of noroviruses, the chief cause of outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness around the world, a new University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study concludes.
Researchers presented their findings over the weekend at the 2005 International Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, which ends today (Dec. 19) in Washington, D.C. They discovered for the first time that di
A multi-institutional study offers additional insight into the evolutionary process by examining how albinism evolves in cavefish. Researchers, including New York University Biology Professor Richard Borowsky, examined two populations of Mexican cavefish and found that albinism in both populations was linked to Oca2–a pigmentation gene also responsible for the most common form of albinism in humans. They observed different deletions in the gene in each population and found that both deletions caus
UNC scientists’ findings have diverse implications
Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have purified a novel protein and have shown it can alter gene activity by reversing a molecular modification previously thought permanent.
In the study, the authors showed that a protein called JHDM1A is able to remove a methyl group from histone H3, one of four histone proteins bound to all genes. Until just last year, the addition of a methyl gro
Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have found that the risk of developing melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, is only partially associated with exposure to ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation, the rays in sunlight that increase in summer and cause sunburn.
The report in the Dec. 21 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute also indicates that only nonmalignant skin cancers (basal and squamous cell carcinoma) are strongly ass
Power of ’’FUZEON effect” provides much needed hope for HIV patients facing treatment failure
Exciting interim data presented at the annual ICAAC* conference show that adding FUZEON (enfuvirtide) to the investigational boosted protease inhibitor (PI), TMC114/r, more than doubles the proportion of patients reaching undetectable levels of the virus.
This latest study provides further evidence that FUZEON now makes undetectable viral loads more achievable for pati
Technique to pick healthy embryos highly reliable, but small margin of error remains
Screening embryos for genetic diseases during in vitro fertilization offers couples the best chance for a healthy child, but a genetic glitch could potentially cause doctors to misdiagnose a small fraction of them, University of Florida researchers say.
Citing concerns about the accuracy of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, the method many practitioners use to pick the healthiest emb
“Scientists have an obligation to do no harm”, according to the InterAcademy Panel on International Issues (IAP), a global network of science academies that includes the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, which has recently published a set of principles, to be taken into account when formulating codes of conduct. The IAP statement on biosecurity is being issued prior to the Meeting of States Parties of the Biological Weapons Convention which was held in December, it has b
Researchers believe they’ve found the source of a stinking problem that has plagued areas surrounding sewage treatment plants for decades. Much of the “rotten cabbage” smell near these facilities, they say, is likely caused by trace amounts of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in waste water. The joint U.S.-German study will appear in the Jan. 1 issue of the American Chemical Society journal, Environment Science & Technology. DMSO, a common industrial solvent used in paint stripping, is not odorous o
Phase I trial will gauge safety and potential of using child’s own bone marrow stem cells to treat brain trauma
A unique clinical trial will gauge the safety and potential of treating children suffering traumatic brain injury with stem cells derived from their own bone marrow starting early next year at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston and Memorial Hermann Children’s Hospital.
The clinical trial is the first to apply stem cells to treat tra
Studies in drosophila genetics inform development of human heart
Researchers at The Burnham Institute for Medical Research have provided detailed insights into the early formation of the heart. A team lead by Dr. Rolf Bodmer found that two proteins, called Robo and Slit, are required for normal development of the heart and that malfunction of either of these proteins severely impacts the heart’s structure, resulting in congenital heart defects. These findings were publish
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered how to block a molecular switch that triggers brain damage caused by the lack of oxygen during a stroke. The Hopkins study, conducted on mice, is believed to be the first to demonstrate that a protein on the surface of nerve cells called the EP1 receptor is the switch, and that a specific compound, known as ONO-8713, turns it off.
The finding holds promise for the development of effective alternatives to anti-inflammatory drugs called CO
Working with heart attack-stricken mice, a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists has shown that embryonic stem cells may one day live up to their clinical promise.
In a paper to be published in the January 2006 issue of the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, a team led by UW-Madison stem cell researcher and heart specialist Timothy J. Kamp reports that all-purpose embryonic stem cells, transplanted into mouse hearts damaged by experimentally induced heart a
In recent years horizontal, or lateral, gene transfer has been seen frequently in prokaryotes and also occasionally in eukaryotes. This lateral transfer involves the movement of genetic material between species as opposed to the vertical transfer of genes from parent to progeny. Horizontal transfer has been observed between the mitochondrial DNA of different plant species. Until now, however, no one had found evidence for horizontal transfer in the nuclear DNA of plants.
In a new
At the Institut Curie, an Inserm team has just identified the molecular mechanism long suspected to account for the formation of malignant cells in the most frequent leukemia – acute myeloid leukemia. For a cell to become leukemic, it must not only proliferate but also no longer become specialized. Mutations in its gene confer autonomous activity on the Kit receptor, thereby allowing cells to proliferate in the absence any external signal.This study was published in the 12 December 2005 issue
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