Scientists are depicting a novel scheme for atherosclerosis development, suggesting that this pathology might result from an imbalance between pro-inflammatory processes and calming ones. This is one of intriguing scientific results that emerge from the Second European Vascular Genomics Network Conference (EVGN Conference – Hamburg, September 27th – 30th 2005). These results provide new insights into the role of inflammation in heart disease and led to development of new informative models of b
A Cornell University virologist has isolated a highly contagious equine flu virus that is spreading a sometimes-fatal respiratory flu among dogs, and is responsible for a major dog-flu outbreak in New York state. There is no evidence that the virus could infect people.
According to a paper published in the Sept. 26 issue of Science Express, the online version of Science magazine, this is the first time an equine flu virus has been found to jump species.
The equine influ
UK scientists are working on new methods to regenerate cartilage and bone by delivering genes to stem cells within the body to instruct them to turn into bone cells. The research, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), could lead to a new approach to tissue engineering. With the ageing populations of Western countries it holds the potential of significant benefits for patients needing joint replacement or similar treatments.
The new research will us
Scientists studying the humble fruit fly have found a family of proteins that enhances the sensitivity of a cell to a hormone that can trigger abnormal growth and cancer. Their discovery could lead to a completely new approach to tackling some cancers and the development of new drugs to stop uncontrolled growth in a wide variety of tumour cells.
The researchers at the University of Oxford, funded in part by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), discove
Iron key to nitric oxide reduction
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the John Innes Centre in the United Kingdom have uncovered a mechanism with which disease-causing bacteria may thwart the body’s natural defense responses. The findings, which could ultimately lead to the development of more effective antibiotics, appear in the September 29, 2005 issue of the journal Nature.
“Nitric oxide is produced by the body to fight infections. We discove
Seasonal wedges of undersea water block upwelling of plant sustaining nitrates
Duke University oceanographers have developed an explanation for why a vast North Atlantic circulation zone can have a large variability in nutrient supplies needed to sustain ocean plants and, by extension, support the food web of marine life.
The circulating zone in the North Atlantic Ocean, known as a “subtropical gyre,” swirls in a clockwise direction between the Gulf Stream — the warm
Researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have made the surprising discovery that flaviviruses, which cause such serious diseases as West Nile fever, yellow fever and forms of encephalitis, evade immune system defenses in different ways depending on whether they are transmitted by mosquitoes or ticks. This finding could lead to new approaches to developing vaccines and treatments against these illnesses.
Flavanol-rich cocoa drink improved blood vessel function in smokers.
Phytochemicals known as flavanols, which are found in chocolate, fruits and vegetables, can boost the levels of nitric oxide in the blood of smokers and reverse some of their smoking-related impairment in blood vessel function, according to a new study in the Oct. 4, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
“While the long-term benefits of such improvements remain to be establ
MIT mathematicians have discovered how certain insects can climb what to them are steep, slippery slopes in the water’s surface without moving their limbs — and do it at high speed.
Welcome to the world of the tiny creatures that live on the surface of ponds, lakes and other standing bodies of water. There, “all the rules change,” said David Hu, a graduate student in the Department of Mathematics and first author of a paper on the work to appear in the Sept. 29 issue of Natur
By altering a molecule called Stat1, which is involved in cellular immune signaling, scientists have succeeded in making the molecule more responsive and thus more efficient. This old protein with a new twist may eventually be used to improve the body’s defense against infection.
Stat1 is involved in immune responses that are initiated by proteins called interferons. These proteins are produced by the cells of the immune system in response to challenges by foreign agents suc
Insights may advance vaccines for related viruses including dengue fever
A monoclonal antibody that can effectively treat mice infected with West Nile virus has an intriguing secret: Contrary to scientists’ expectations, it does not block the virus’s ability to attach to host cells. Instead, the antibody somehow stops the infectious process at a later point.
“This was a complete surprise to us, but it gives us some very useful insights,” says senior author D
Virginia Commonwealth University chemists have created a new molecular receptor for a fluorescent dye used to track a drug candidate’s activity inside cell membranes.
These findings may help researchers more efficiently design, evaluate and test new drugs like antibiotics and therapeutics for genetic diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and Bartter’s syndrome, because they will know precisely where the drug is acting inside a cell.
According to the study in the Journal of the
Extraordinary creatures who inhabit extreme underwater conditions are being investigated by University scientists in a three-year project. These deep-sea communities could reveal an evolutionary history different to anything else on earth and even give us clues to how life could exist on other planets.
The creatures live around hydrothermal vents – incredibly hot environments in the deep sea – and are unique because they depend on bacteria living inside them for their own survi
A discovery by Institute of Food Research (IFR) scientists is set to improve the food industry’s ability to predict foodborne botulism.
Botulism is a severe and often deadly disease caused by toxin-producing spores of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. The spores remain harmless until they find a suitable, anaerobic environment in which to germinate. After germination, there is a short “lag time” until rapid cell division begins.
Lead author of the newly published st
With a new DNA test, tuberculosis infection can be revealed so quickly that a patient doesn’t have time to infect others. This can be an important key to effective control of the disease.
The Norwegian biotechnology firm Genpoint is running trials, along with others financed by the Norwegian Research Council’s biotechnology program, of new and effective DNA tests at Ullevål University Hospital, the country’s national laboratory for tuberculosis.
Norwegian health officia
Institut Curie and Inserm research scientists and physicians have just shown that precise knowledge of alterations in chromosome 1 can be used to improve the treatment of gliomas, the most frequent brain tumors in adults. Diagnosis and treatment of these tumors are difficult because of their heterogeneity and variable malignancy. Using DNA chips, the authors of this report were able to distinguish the tumors with the best prognosis, whose chromosome 1 has undergone a specific deletion. Screening
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