An unexpected twist to a discovery reported just two months ago may significantly improve our understanding about the molecular origins of diabetes.

Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies then reported their discovery of a key cellular switch that instructs the liver to produce more glucose when blood sugar levels run low. Their paper was published in Nature.

Now, in the November issue of Cell Metabolism, they report that the very same switch limits

People in early stages of Alzheimer’s disease have greater difficulty shifting attention back and forth between competing sources of information, a finding that offers new support for theories that contend breakdowns in attention play an important role in the onset of the disease.

“Our results provide evidence that breakdowns in attention produce a clear change in the early stages of Alzheimer’s-related dementia,” said study co-author David A. Balota, a professor of psych

Columbia-led study of more than 38,000 women enables faster, first trimester prenatal testing for leading cause of mental retardation and birth defects

A new study from Columbia University Medical Center researchers at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia of more than 38,000 pregnant women at 15 U.S. centers demonstrates the high accuracy of non-invasive screening for Down syndrome (also known as trisomy 21) in the first trimester of pregnancy, at 11 weeks. The findings are a

Researchers at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI) have found that Chlamydia pneumoniae, a bacterium linked to heart disease and capable of causing chronic inflammation, was present in the diseased eye tissue of five out of nine people with neovascular, or “wet,” age-related macular degeneration (AMD). However, it was not found in the eyes of more than 20 individuals without AMD, providing more evidence that this disease may be caused by inflammation. The study is described in the

Three young scientists in the University of York’s Department of Chemistry have developed a gel that could spare cancer patients some of the unpleasant and dangerous side-effects of radiotherapy.

PhD students Andrew Wilson and Paul Watson, together with post-doctoral research fellow Mark Godber, have developed the gel which will help doctors to target cancer tumours more efficiently.

Now, the group has secured £30,000 under the Bioscience Yorkshire Enterprise Fellowship s

Findings reported in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine (November 3 issue) highlight promising findings from two Seattle-based researchers on the origins of bacterial vaginosis (BV).

In a collaborative effort to identify specific bacterial markers for bacterial vaginosis in vaginal-fluid samples, David Fredricks, MD, of the Program in Infectious Diseases, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Jeanne Marrazzo, MD, MPH, of the University of Washington and Harborv

Implications for study of memory, learning, and cognition

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that nerve-cell dendrites have the capacity to splice messenger RNA (pre-mRNA), a process once believed to only take place in the nucleus of cells. By uncovering this capability in dendrites, the investigators hope to relate this capacity to memory and learning, as well as cognitive dysfunction. Senior author James Eberwine, PhD, Professo

Researchers at Yale have brought to light a mechanism that regulates the way an internal organelle, the Golgi apparatus, duplicates as cells prepare to divide, according to a report in Science Express.

Graham Warren, professor of cell biology, and his colleagues at Yale study Trypanosoma brucei, the parasite that causes Sleeping Sickness. Like many parasites, it is exceptionally streamlined and has only one of each internal organelle, making it ideal for studying processes of more

The Quaking gene, first described as a mutation in mice that causes rapid tremor, is thought to suppress tumor formation and protect humans from cancer.

Now, a team of researchers from Northwestern University and the University of Wisconsin has shown that the Quaking gene likely suppresses tumor growth by inhibiting production of a protein associated with GLI1, a cancer-causing oncogene highly associated with severe birth defects and several childhood cancers.

The gr

Queen’s researchers may have opened the door to more effective treatment of a deadly strain of the E. coli bacteria with the discovery of a previously unknown protein.

A team led by biochemistry researcher Zongchao Jia and graduate student Michael Suits has identified a protein that allows the bacterial strain known as E. coli 0157:H7 to obtain the iron it needs for survival in the body.

Iron is a catalyst for bacterial growth, so when a human body detects bacterial i

LGC, Europe’s leading independent analytical laboratory providing advanced chemical, biochemical and forensic analysis, has announced an exclusive agreement with King’s College London to offer the first pharmacogenetic screening service which will predict whether a patient with schizophrenia will respond positively to the antipsychotic drug clozapine. Developed following 13 years of research by Professor Robert Kerwin and Dr Maria Arranz from the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s, the test wi

With sidebar on ways to prevent heartburn, a risk factor for Barrett’s esophagus

Aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen, may significantly reduce the risk of esophageal cancer among people with Barrett’s esophagus, a precancerous condition associated with chronic heartburn that affects an estimated 1 million to 2 million Americans.

These findings, by Thomas L. Vaughan, M.D., M.P.H., and colleagues at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research

Biological Psychiatry publishes novel approach to winter blues

For patients with seasonal affective disorder (SAD), starting treatment with an antidepressant medication during the fall can reduce the risk of developing depression throughout the fall and winter months, reports a study in the Oct. 15 issue of Biological Psychiatry, official journal of the Society of Biological Psychiatry, published by Elsevier, a world-leading scientific and medical publisher.

“These are

From the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology

Approximately 9% of children with an allergy to tree nuts will outgrow their allergy, including children who have previously experienced a severe allergic reaction, according to a study in the November 2005 Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology (JACI). The JACI is the peer-reviewed, scientific journal of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI).

Up to this point, researchers thought that allergies

New way of using MRI may show us what the naked eye cannot see

Researchers may have discovered a new way that may ultimately assist in the early diagnosis of schizophrenia – by utilizing MRI to study the patient’s brain. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) looked for subtle brain abnormalities that cannot be seen by the human eye. A study examined the entire brain, looking at distributed patterns of abnormalities rather than differences in speci

Researchers examine the association between several reported risk indicators

Severe periodontal disease causes tooth loss and affects a certain group of people that appear to exhibit increased susceptibility to periodontal destruction, according to a study that appeared in the November Journal of Periodontology.

Researchers found that tooth loss due to periodontal disease is associated with the risk indicators of age, male gender, smoking, lack of professional maintenance,