Scientists have uncovered a link between a family of genes and abnormalities of the immune system that are associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a devastating disease that affects over 1 million Americans. The research, published in the December issue of Immunity, significantly advances the understanding of the pathology of lupus-like autoimmunity in mice and may facilitate the design of future therapies for lupus in humans.
A normal immune system protects the body
A new study provides evidence that a herpes vaccine developed by a Harvard Medical School researcher is a strong candidate for testing in humans. The study, published online Dec. 14 in the Journal of Virology, compared three different experimental vaccines for herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2), the virus that causes most cases of genital herpes.
HSV-2 infects one in five Americans, and its prevalence has reached 50 percent in some developing countries, where it also seems to be helping to fue
Subra Suresh has spent the last two decades studying the mechanical properties of engineered materials from the atomic to the structural scale. So, until recently, the head of MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering never thought he’d be a player in the hunt for cures to malaria and pancreatic cancer.
It turns out, however, that Suresh’s expertise in nanotechnology is quite applicable to biology and medicine. With colleagues in engineering, science and
Mount Sinai School of Medicine study validates use of embryonic stem cell as model for study of blood and blood vessel cell development
Common sense leads to the conclusion that if you have blood cells you must have blood vessels and that if you have blood vessels they must have blood to carry. Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have presented the first clear evidence that nature ensures both develop together by using a common progenitor cell.
Scientists have
The form of vitamin E found in many plant seeds – but not in most manufactured nutritional supplements – might halt the growth of prostate and lung cancer cells, according to a Purdue University study.
A team led by Qing Jiang (pronounced “ching zhang”) has found that gamma-tocopherol, which occurs naturally in walnuts, pecans, sesame seeds, and in corn and sesame oils, inhibits the proliferation of lab-cultured human prostate and lung cancer cells. The vitamin’s presence in
Drunken fruit flies have led to the discovery that insulin may determine susceptibility to alcohol. If confirmed in humans — and the two species share about two-thirds of their genes — the finding suggests a promising way to treat alcoholism using drugs that control insulin activity.
The finding by scientists at UCSF was published online Sunday (December 12) by Nature Neuroscience in advance of publication in the journal.
The UCSF researchers showed that when the norma
Scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara’s Neuroscience Research Institute are reporting significant advances in their studies of retinal detachment: They have discovered that cellular changes that occur in the retinas of animals with retinal detachments also occur in humans. This implies that experimental therapies that reduce cellular damage in animals have a high likelihood of being successful in humans. They have determined that oxygen therapy for retinal de
Hold off putting up your usual variety of mistletoe – the dwarf mistletoe could soon eclipse its better-known Christmas cousins as the green fertility symbol of choice for holiday party goers. In fact, the discovery of the intimate details of the sex life of the dwarf mistletoe is even getting traditionally staid botanists hot and bothered.
New research shows that the dwarf mistletoe, a member of the same Viscaceae family as the better-known Christmas varieties, is truly worth
The European Commission today announces the creation of an annual funders’ forum to join European forces in the funding of life sciences. Life sciences comprise research which deals with all forms of organisms, like plants, animals and human beings. With about €30 billion invested annually in Europe, industry and public funding bodies like the national research councils or international research organisations put major funds into research and technological development in the areas of biotechnolo
The language network of the brain seemed simpler in the past. One brain area was recognized to be critical for the production of language, another for its comprehension. A dense bundle of nerve fibers connected the two.
But there have always been naysayers who pointed to evidence that failed to fit this tidy picture. Now a study employing a powerful variant of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) confirms these suspicions. The study will be published December 13, 2004 in the online e
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have used canine DNA to identify a genetic mutation mechanism they believe is responsible for rapid evolutionary changes in the physical appearance of many species.
The findings, based on data gathered from hundreds of museum specimens of dogs and from blood samples of volunteered live dogs, offer a new explanation for the sudden, rapid rise of new species found in the fossil record. They also help explain the variability in
The authors of two studies this week report findings that offer new insight into how breaks in chromosomes can lead to the so-called genomic instability that is a hallmark of cancer. When DNA is damaged, as it routinely is during the life of cells, the damage must be properly repaired in order to keep chromosomes intact. Failure of the DNA repair process disrupts the structural stability of chromosomes, which must be intact in order to be properly segregated to daughter cells when cells divide.
Of all the world’s animals, only humans, some kinds of birds and perhaps some porpoises and whales learn the sounds they use to communicate with each other through a process of listening, imitation and practice. For the rest, including nonhuman primates, these sounds develop normally in the absence of external models.
Now Rockefeller University scientists have found that zebra finches, songbirds native to Australia, use infant-like strategies to learn their song. Some finches
A naturally occurring COX-2 inhibitor
Cancer researchers at the Case Western Reserve University (Case) School of Medicine, University Hospitals of Cleveland (UHC) and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have found a “Celebrex-like” gene that suppresses the growth of colon cancer. The researchers discovered that the gene, called 15-PGDH, is found in normal cells and is virtually undetectable in colon cancer cells. When the researchers restored the gene in tumor cells and injected th
Nanotechnology researchers at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign have demonstrated a tiny, implantable detector that could one day allow diabetics to monitor their glucose levels continuously-without ever having to draw a blood sample.
The work, which is the first application of a whole new class of biological sensors, was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and announced December 12 in the online edition of the journal Nature Materials.
Princi
Identifying the link between chronic hepatitis B infection and liver cancer may one day help cancer patients sidestep the poison of chemotherapy, a Purdue University study suggests.
The research group of Ourania M. Andrisani (oo-RAHN-ee-ah an-dri-SAH-nee) has shown that a protein the hepatitis virus instructs chronically infected liver cells to produce – known as the X protein – under certain conditions instructs precancerous infected liver cells to die. The discovery of how the X
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