Scientists from three countries study innovative DNA transport element
Treating genetic diseases by introducing functional genes into the human organism: researchers from three European countries are aiming for a breakthrough in this process, known as gene therapy, using a new methodology. The network of scientists, including the German Research Centre for Biotechnology in Braunschweig (GBF), is working to further develop a certain type of DNA element, called an episome, for this
Around 80 per cent of modern thoroughbred racehorses have in their pedigree the 18th century horse Eclipse, which went its entire racing career unbeaten. 200 years later the question of what makes a fast racehorse still perplexes trainers and racing fans but researchers at The Royal Veterinary College may have found the answer to this and other questions on animal locomotion.
The research, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), has combined d
Decreasing testosterone boosts immunity because testosterone helps control T-lymphocytes, the attack cells of the immune system, according to Mayo Clinic-led research in laboratory animals. The findings appear in the Nov. 15 edition of the Journal of Immunology.
Collaborators include scientists from Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, N.Y.; the Tumor Immunity and Tolerance Section of the Laboratory of Molecular Immunoregulation, National Cancer Institute; and Howard Hughes Me
Prevalence is higher than standard tests for hepatitis B would suggest
Some kidney dialysis patients contract hepatitis B virus (HBV) during the course of their treatment, possibly from other members of the dialysis population with occult HBV. People with occult HBV test negative for HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) but positive for HBV-DNA, which is detected through sensitive tests not typically performed on dialysis patients. A recent study found that the prevalence of occult HBV in
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill scientists have reported – for the first time – a burst in new brain cell development during abstinence from chronic alcohol consumption.
The UNC findings, from research at UNC’s Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, were based on an animal model of chronic alcohol dependence, in which adult rats were given alcohol over four days in amounts that produced alcohol dependency. The study is in the Nov. 3 issue of the Journal of Neuroscien
Finding by Emory University scientists has implications for vaccines, antiviral therapies and cancer treatment
Immune T cells that respond to chronic viral infections do not acquire the same “memory” capabilities of T cells that respond to acute viral infections, according to research by scientists at Emory University. The finding may explain why people lose their immunity to some viruses after chronic infections are controlled. It could guide scientists in developing better ther
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have shown that genetic testing can be effectively used to distinguish between heart failure patients who suffer from ischemic or nonischemic forms of the disease. Using groupings or clusters of a patient’s gene expression to compare to a diseased “test” set that identifies the cause of heart failure, the Hopkins team assembled a 90-gene profile to determine which type of heart failure had most likely developed. Results showed the test profile to be highly accu
In what could be termed a truly seminal discovery, researchers have shown that when females are more promiscuous, males have to work harder — at the genetic level, that is. More specifically, they determined that a protein controlling semen viscosity evolves more rapidly in primate species with promiscuous females than in monogamous species. The finding demonstrates that sexual competition among males is evident at the molecular level, as well as at behavioral and physiological levels.
Chemists at the University of California, San Diego have developed a method that uses dust-sized chips of silicon to surround and precisely direct the motion of molecules, cells, bacteria and other miniscule objects within a tiny drop of liquid.
Their development of these tiny silicon “chaperones,” detailed today in an advance online publication in a forthcoming issue of the journal Nature Materials, represents an important new achievement in the emerging field of “microfluidic
The numbers of people suffering from stroke and dementia continue to rise as the population of the UK ages, but at present our ability to repair a damaged brain is limited. Now a new centre at King’s College London brings leading clinical researchers and basic scientists under one roof, with the aim of developing treatments for age-related diseases.
The Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases, opened by HRH The Princess Royal on 9 November 2004, houses world experts in brain develo
Genetically modified (GM) corn won’t threaten native corn species in Mexico, according to a new report issued by the North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA).
In a country whose culture and identity revolve heavily around corn, or maize – the crop was first developed here thousands of years ago – the thought of imported GM varieties contaminating indigenous plants frightens many citizens, said Allison Snow, a co-author of the report and a professor of evolution, ecology
In experiments with pigs, scientists at Johns Hopkins have successfully used a technique called “gene painting” to target gene therapy to a specific region of the heart and change the heart’s rhythm.
“Getting the genes where we want them has been a key limiting factor in the successful development of gene therapies for heart conditions,” said cardiac electrophysiologist Kevin Donahue, M.D., an associate professor at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and its H
The cells of higher organisms have an internal mechanism for chewing up and recycling parts of themselves, particularly in times of stress, like starvation and disease. But nobody is quite sure yet whether this recently discovered process protects cells, or causes damage.
This process of internal house-cleaning in the cell is called autophagy – literally self-eating – and it is now considered the second form of programmed cell death (PCD). Apoptosis, the first kind of programme
For those who have wondered why they like or dislike certain things, or how they decide what to order from a menu, a team of researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder says it’s dopamine.
A CU-Boulder team studying Parkinson’s disease patients found strong evidence that dopamine in the brain plays a key role in how people implicitly learn to make choices that lead to good outcomes, while avoiding bad ones. The finding could help researchers understand more abo
The best treatment doctors currently have for stroke can accelerate the death of brain cells in addition to dissolving blood clots, researchers report in the journal Nature Medicine. But they also found good news: Another drug currently used to treat patients with severe sepsis counters the harmful effects, offering the possibility that a combination of two already-approved drugs might offer a powerful new stroke treatment that would give doctors a bigger window of time to treat patients.
Immune responses to prevent or delay the spread of melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, are more likely to prolong survival in patients if their immune cells carry a special kind of marker on the surface, according to a team of researchers at the University of Virginia Health System. The finding is published in the November 1 issue of the journal Cancer Research, found on the web at http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/
The researchers correlated the presence or absence of the p
Feedback
