Wendy and Jared Kennedy find it hard to take their eyes off their new daughter, Avery Lee, born in the early morning hours of Dec. 31 at the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center. Avery is special to them for many reasons, but she’s also special to the world. The 8 pound, 2 ounce baby girl is apparently the first baby born after being conceived with a frozen donor egg from a commercial egg bank.

Wendy, a 41-year-old nurse at the UK Markey Cancer Center, and Jared found they we

Professor Alan Cowman, Dr Brendan Crabb and their research teams at WEHI have identified how the most lethal malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, is able to disguise itself from the human immune system.

This discovery builds on the work published in the 9 April 2005 issue of the journal Cell, in which Professor Cowman and Dr Crabb reported that to avoid detection and destruction, the parasite controls expression of 60 key virulence genes, effectively disguising itself from th

Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Massey Cancer Center have created a new platinum-based, anti-cancer agent able to overcome acquired drug resistance by first modifying the way it is absorbed into cancer cells and then attacking the DNA of those cancer cells.

The findings may help researchers design a new generation of anti-cancer drugs that selectively target cancer cells, reduce resistance and side effects and expand the range of tumors that can be treated by p

Belgian chemists have developed “self-exploding” microcapsules that could one day precisely release drugs and vaccines inside the human body weeks or even months after injection. The study, by researchers at Ghent University and the Universit? Catholique de Louvain, is scheduled to appear in the Jan. 9, 2006, print issue of the American Chemical Society’s journal Biomacromolecules.

Unlike some other microcapsules, which release their drug cargo only when exposed to ultrasonic w

University of Pittsburgh researchers demonstrate that loss of this enzyme’s activity in mouse cells leads to dramatic chromosomal instability

The DNA in our cells is constantly being bombarded by environmental, chemical and cellular insults. Fortunately, our cells contain many enzymes devoted strictly to detecting and repairing any damage caused by these insults. In fact, failure of these enzymes to make needed repairs to genes can lead to the accumulation of mutations and,

A leading UK cancer expert has expressed concern about the link between hospitals carrying out low numbers of breast cancer operations and disproportionately high readmission rates.

Professor Ian Fentiman from London’s Guy’s Hospital made his comments in the January issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice, after researchers from Korea discovered that 95 per cent of breast cancer surgery readmissions were from hospitals performing less than 100 procedures a

For people with the chronic disease ulcerative colitis, life can be limited to few social functions and trips away from home.

A promising new therapy pioneered by University of Kentucky gastroenterology specialists may offer improved lives to patients suffering from moderate to severe forms of the disease.

Ulcerative colitis causes inflammation and ulcers in the colon, leading to abdominal pain and such frequent trips to the bathroom that normal routines can be disrupted

A new analysis of adjuvant radiation therapy in women with breast cancer following mastectomy is associated with better survival as measured at 10 years when appropriate doses and fields of radiation are used. The study was published in the January 4 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute . The finding helps resolve controversy over whether radiation therapy improves both survival and risk of recurrence in women with operable breast cancer.

Past studies of radiat

Carbonated soft drink consumption was previously suggested to be linked to the 350 percent increase of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus since the mid-1970s, but researchers at Yale School of Medicine report that the link is unfounded and that there may, in fact, be a decreased risk of this cancer for diet soda drinkers.

The researchers warn that diet soft drink consumers might differ from other groups because they may engage in other unmeasured healthy behaviors. The study is publish

Patients with metastatic melanoma (MM) have new hope, says a recently published study by Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. The study, which shows the combination of paclitaxel and carboplatin (PC) appears to be effective for MM when traditional treatments have failed, is in this month’s issue of Cancer.

“Melanoma is unfortunately one of the few cancers that has become more common over the last few decades, and when it becomes metastatic, there are very few treatment options,” sa

Autonomous data-recording devices equipped with hydrophones, deployed in remote waters off Alaska, have been used to track seasonal occurrences of blue, fin, humpback, North Pacific right, bowhead, and sperm whales

Why whales emit their characteristic calls remains largely a biological mystery, but listening for the distinctive underwater sounds provides a valuable way to track the movements of endangered large whales. Autonomous data-recording devices equipped with hydrophones

New tracking method may help endangered pachyderms

By analyzing chemicals in tail hair from elephants that wore radio collars, researchers tracked the diet and movements of elephants in Kenya – a method aimed at reducing human-elephant conflicts and determining where to establish sanctuaries to protect the endangered creatures.

“This is a new method to understand elephant behavior and help ensure their survival,” says geochemist Thure Cerling, the study’s principal a

Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine have shown that switching off a molecule that helps regulate dendritic cells, specialized white blood cells that activate the immune system, could help the host fight HIV infection.

Increasing evidence suggests the host’s immune system plays an important, but insufficient, role in limiting HIV infection. Most attempts to stimulate an immune response to HIV have been disappointing.

Exploiting the potential of dendr

Substances produced in the body that act like those found in the cannabis plant help preserve bone density, according to researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Based on this finding, a prototype for a new drug to prevent osteoporosis (loss of bone density) without any psychoactive side effects has already been developed.

An article describing this research appears this week in the prestigious American journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of t

With an equal rate of incidence and mortality-the number of those who get it, and the number of those who die from it-Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is a brain cancer death sentence.

Of the approximately 12,000 people who are diagnosed with GBM annually in the U.S., half will die within a year, and the rest within 3 years. Currently, the only treatments that stretch survival limits are exceptionally invasive surgeries to remove the tumor and radiation treatment with the maximum tol

Internists say most important reasons to recertify are to improve professional image and update knowledge

A survey of internists–physicians practicing internal medicine–whose board certification was up for renewal in December 2002 found that the most common reasons for participating in recertification or Maintenance of Certification (MOC) were to maintain professional image and update knowledge.

The survey findings report that 59 percent of general internists and 60 p