Copper could help prevent the spread of flu infections. Recent research at the University of Southampton shows that the Influenza A virus is virtually eradicated within six hours on copper surfaces. Influenza A viruses cause seasonal infections resulting in around 12,000 deaths a year in the UK1. The influenza A family of viruses includes the avian flu strain.

Professor Bill Keevil and Dr Jonathan Noyce, microbiology researchers at the University’s School of Biological Sciences,

Cells may vary in numbers per embryo, be uneven-sized or partially fragmented. Dr Lieberman et al. at the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Biology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA have measured the quality of human embryos by counting and assessing the properties of their individual cells. In their paper Rate of cell division and weight of neonates following in-vitro fertilization, they compared the weights of 447 singleton births agai

A team of Russian scientists, led by Dr. Vladimir Gvozdev (Russian Academy of Sciences) reports on a novel link between RNAi and telomere maintenance in the Drosophila germline. Unlike most eukaryotes, which use the enzyme telomerase to lengthen their chromosome ends, Drosophila telomeres are maintained by specialized telomeric retrotransposons (Het-A, TART and TAHRE) that are attached, or transposed, onto chromosome ends.

Dr. Gvozdev and colleagues have discovered that two known compon

Two independent research papers in the February 1 issue of G&D reveal that the Drosophila UNR protein is a novel regulator of X-chromosome dosage compensation in flies. Dosage compensation is the equalization of X-linked gene expression between males (which have one X chromosome in flies) and females (which have two X chromosomes in flies). Fruit flies accomplish this by increasing transcription of the single male X chromosome two-fold. Transcriptional upregulation of the Dros. male X chromosome is

Transplanting patients with blood stem cells that originate from their own bone marrow can induce the remission of life-threatening, treatment-resistant lupus, according to a study that took place at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Researchers found that 50 percent of the 50 patients in the study had disease-free survival at five years with an overall five-year survival rate of 84 percent. The study is published in the February 1 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

A protein associated with the growth of head and neck tumors may be a tumor suppressor that could prevent the spread of cancer when it is expressed above normal levels, according to a study published in the Feb. 1 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI).

The study, led by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine professor of otolaryngology and pharmacology, Jennifer Grandis, M.D., is the first to show that the expression of a protein called STAT1 may play a

Confirming what many have long suspected, scientists have found that male monkeys of two different species get heavier when their mates are pregnant.

The roughly 10 percent gain in male girth occurs in common marmosets and cotton-top tamarins, both squirrel-sized primates known for their monogamous lifestyles and devotion to good parenting.

Since marmoset and tamarin dads are heavily involved in infant care, they may be stocking up on pounds during pregnancy in prepar

Saint Louis University neurologist to present findings, now available on-line

A multi-national research team that includes a Saint Louis University neurologist has discovered a gene mutation that causes a rare form of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, an inherited progressive nerve disorder. The findings are published in an advance online issue of Nature Genetics.

Researchers have identified some 50 people from three families who live in St. Louis, Wisconsin, Belgium and Bulg

Malignant melanoma is a dangerous, aggressive form of cancer and approximately 54,000 new cases are diagnosed every year, according to the American Cancer Society. Interestingly, there are many similarities between malignant melanoma in horses and malignant melanoma in people.

Recognizing the extraordinary opportunity for translational research that the disease represents, Dr. John L. Robertson, a professor in the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virgini

Findings illuminate how ’junk’ DNA accumulates in the human genome

In experiments with transgenic mice, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researchers discovered the remaining steps in the complicated process of how the largest class of jumping genes replicates and inserts themselves within the human genome. Haig H. Kazazian, Jr. MD, Chair of the Department of Genetics, and colleagues at Penn published their findings in the February issue of Genome Research.

Shanghai conference featured over 100 noted scientists from US, Europe and Asia

China has experienced tremendous growth within the past decade. Its economic boom and growing domestic market is now paralleled by its ascendancy in the life sciences, and the country’s scientists are rapidly rising to the cutting edge in areas such as neuroscience, chemical biology, and many other fields. Moreover, the global threat posed by infectious diseases such as the H5N1 bird flu virus, SAR

Scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara have reported a discovery at the cellular level that suggests possibilities for drug therapy for kidney disease.

Over 600,000 people in the U.S. are affected by the inherited kidney disease known as ADPKD, short for autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease. In the U.S. this is more than the number of individuals affected by cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, hemophilia, Down’s syndrome, and sickle cell anemia c

Findings may lead to future predictive test for preeclampsia

Mayo Clinic researchers have found an association between abnormally high levels of a protein named HtrA1 and preeclampsia, a sudden and dangerous rise in blood pressure that can result in premature delivery, disability or death for mother and fetus. The condition, which affects 5 to 8 percent of pregnancies worldwide, constitutes a medical emergency and often requires a Caesarean section delivery. The condition is est

A “starry sky” map linking the myriad interactions between the influenza virus and its human host will help guide researchers in creating new anti-viral drugs, say researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

The on-line map, part of a project called Reactome, is intended to teach scientists about parts of the influenza lifecycle they might not be familiar with, and to help researchers look at specific reactions and figure out ways to block them.

“Understanding how influenza re

A blood safety program in South Africa that included closing donor clinics in areas of high HIV prevalence is associated with a decrease in the prevalence of HIV in donated blood, according to study in the February 1 issue of JAMA.

South Africa is in the midst of an escalating human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)–AIDS pandemic, with an estimated 5.3 million people and 11.4 percent of the overall population infected, according to background information in the article. The South Afr

Traditional polygraph tests to determine whether someone is lying may take a back seat to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), according to a study appearing in the February issue of Radiology. Researchers from Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia used fMRI to show how specific areas of the brain light up when a person tells a lie.

“We have detected areas of the brain activated by deception and truth-telling by using a method that is verifiable against the current gold s