The National Academies today recommended guidelines for research involving human embryonic stem cells, and urged all institutions conducting such research to establish oversight committees to ensure that the new guidelines will be followed. The guidelines are intended to enhance the integrity of privately funded human embryonic stem cell research by encouraging responsible practices, said the committee that wrote the report, a joint project between the National Academies’ National Research
Results from two clinical trials show that patients with early-stage breast cancer who received trastuzumab (Herceptin®) in combination with chemotherapy had a 52 percent decrease in risk for breast cancer recurrence, compared with patients who received the same chemotherapy without the drug. The difference is statistically highly significant.
Dr. Edward Romond, associate professor of medicine at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and UK Markey Cancer Center, acts as pr
UT Southwestern Medical Center is the lead research site testing a new treatment for a rare form of multiple sclerosis. Called “primary progressive,” this type of MS affects about 15 percent of patients with the neurodegenerative disease. “There really hasn’t been a lot of research or treatment options for patients with this form of MS,” said Dr. Kathleen Hawker, assistant professor of neurology, who is heading up the clinical investigation.
UT Southwestern researchers are test
Enzymes that make the gas nitric oxide (NO) not only protect the heart from damage due to high blood pressure or a heart attack, but also promote heart failure through overgrowth and enlargement of the muscle tissue, say animal researchers at Johns Hopkins.
The Hopkins study, to be published in the May 2 edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, is believed to be the first to suggest future therapies for heart failure using chemical cofactors that control the enzymes’
Physical activity appears to inhibit Alzheimer’s-like brain changes in mice, slowing the development of a key feature of the disease, according to a new study. The research demonstrated that long-term physical activity enhanced the learning ability of mice and decreased the level of plaque-forming beta-amyloid protein fragments–a hallmark characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease (AD)–in their brains.
A number of population-based studies suggest that lifestyle interven
New research shows that a protein produced by a cancer-causing virus influences a key signaling pathway in the immune cells that the virus infects. This stimulates the cells to divide, helping the virus spread through the body.
The study, led by researchers at Ohio State University, examined the human T lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) and a protein that it produces called p12. The research is published in the April issue of the journal AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses.
A number of articles explore the use of positron emission tomography (PET) and small animal imaging—nonsurgical techniques that open the door to understanding and treating human diseases—in the April issue of the Society of Nuclear Medicine’s Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
A major benefit of small animal imaging “is the ability to carry out many studies at various time points with the same animal,” said SNM member Michael J. Welch, Ph.D., co-author of “Preparation, Biodistribution
Narrowing down recipes
The scientific analysis of biological evidence isn’t just determining what something is – it’s also learning how and where it was developed.
Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory want to determine how a biological sample was made. To do this, researchers are seeking clues, or markers, such as changes in the sample’s metal and proteins.
As markers are identified and boundaries of each piece of information are
A 15-year search for fossils in Africa has led to the discovery of eight fish specimens that are 450 million years old – 50 million years older than any previous fish fossil on the continent and amongst the oldest in the world.
Professor Richard Aldridge, of the Department of Geology at the University of Leicester, who co-led the scientific expedition, says the fossil discovery is among the most remarkable and exciting ever to be found on the continent. He said:
‘These
In a paper in this month’s freely-available online global health journal PLoS Medicine Seung Kim and colleagues from Stanford University suggest that one way of producing insulin-secreting pancreatic islet cells for future possible treatment of type I diabetes is to look beyond immature pancreatic cells and embryonic stem cells to other early cell types. Kim and colleagues took cells derived from brain which usually mature into neural cells, and exposed them to a series of signals that are
With careful coaxing, stem cells from the brain can form insulin-producing cells that mimic those missing in people with diabetes, according to a paper published in the April 26 issue of PLoS Medicine.
Although the work is not yet ready for human patients, Seung Kim, MD, PhD, the lead author and assistant professor of developmental biology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, said it could lead to new ways of transplanting insulin-producing cells into people with diabe
Research will help manage populations of macaques, a threatened species of primate
After decades of speculation, the origin of Gibraltar’s famous Barbary macaques has been determined. The only free-ranging monkeys in all of Europe, Gibraltar’s 200 or so semi-wild macaques enjoy the run of the hillsides in this British territory – much to the delight of millions of tourists, as well as to the chagrin of some officials responsible for their management.
There were
Using underwater field observations in conjunction with behavioral experiments, researchers have discovered that a small crustacean, the yellow-beaked cleaner shrimp, performs a specialized dance that affects the behavior of large, predatory client fish. This signaling represents shrimp-to-fish communication that allows both hungry cleaner shrimp and parasite-laden client fish to benefit from a non-predatory, “cleaning” interaction.
The cleaner-client relationship between the
Mitochondria, as they are defined in textbooks, are essential for eukaryotic cells–including our own–because they make large amounts of energy as they use oxygen. However, some eukaryotic cells, including important parasites of humans–such as Entamoeba histolytica, the causal agent of amoebic dysentery–live in environments that are too oxygen poor to support this process. Nevertheless, Entamoeba still contains a somewhat mysterious organelle, called a mitosome, that is evolutionarily derived f
A family’s bravery and generosity in the face of their son’s death three years ago has enabled researchers to make an important new finding about the brain and its stem cells.
On May 7, 2002, 12-year-old Nathan Van Vleck of Pittsford died after a nearly lifelong fight with an exceedingly rare inherited disease known as vanishing white matter (VWM) disease. As Nathan’s illness progressed, the family discussed how it might help other families and patients coping wit
A newly discovered pathway by which cells protect themselves from a toxic byproduct of photosynthesis may hold important implications for bioenergy sources, human and plant disease, and agricultural yields, a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison bacteriologists announced Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Plants turn energy from sunlight into bioenergy through a chemical process called photosynthesis, which also produces oxygen in its breathable f
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