Novel use of genetic testing methods helped public health officials control and limit the further spread of four outbreaks of foodborne hepatitis A virus in 2003 related to the consumption of green onions, according to a detailed analysis published in the October 15 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online.

The authors of the study, Joseph J. Amon, PhD, MSPH, and colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), explained that these m

Silencing Alzheimer’s: targeting a key enzyme with gene therapy reversed course of disease in mouse models

In mice, that had been genetically engineered to develop Alzheimer’s disease, scientists were able to reverse the rodents’ memory loss by reducing the amount of an enzyme that is crucial for the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

“What we are showing is a proof of principle that stopping the synthesis of a protein that is necessary for the form

Daniel Gallie’s findings propose a useful approach to feed the world’s growing population

Corn with twice its usual content of protein and oil and about half its usual carbohydrate content is what Daniel Gallie, professor of biochemistry, will present at a congressional seminar in Washington, D.C., this week.

Because his research holds promise for efficiently feeding high-protein corn to people and livestock all over the world, Gallie has been invited to speak to an aud

Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered that a deceptively simple sugar is in fact a critical regulator of cells’ natural life cycle.

The discovery reveals that, when disturbed, this process could contribute to cancer or other diseases by failing to properly control the steps and timing of cell division, the researchers say. The findings are described in the Sept. 23 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, available online now.

The sugar, known as O-GlcNAc (

FOXO1a caused death of tumor cells in laboratory study by triggering expression of caspase-3, which blocks cell division and causes cells to undergo apoptosis, according to St. Jude.

The loss of function of a gene called FOXO1a plays an important role in the development of the most common cancer of soft tissues in children, and restoring the function of that gene in cancer cells suppresses that cancer, according to investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The can

Stem cells have long been described as the holy grail of bioscientists.

These amazing cells have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body and have to potential to revolutionise medical science.

Serving as a sort of repair system for the body, they can theoretically divide without limit to replenish cells lost due to everyday wear and tear, or following injury or disease.

Dr Rod Rietze, head of the Queensland Brain Institut

Issued by EPSRC on behalf of the UK e-Science Programme
Highlight from forthcoming e-Science All Hands meeting 2005

A challenge, presented at last year’s e-Science All Hands meeting, has resulted in an e-Science project achieving one of the holy grails of the pharmaceutical industry – the computational prediction of a previously unidentified crystal structure, or polymorph, of a drug molecule.

Researchers working on the e-materials project picked up the gauntlet

Test looks at 22 biomarkers; results more accurate than PSA

Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a panel of 22 biomarkers that together provide a more accurate screening for prostate cancer than the current prostate specific antigen, or PSA, test. The study appears in the Sept. 22 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Researchers looked at blood samples taken from 331 prostate cancer patients prior to surgery, and

A cluster of genes on chromosome six is the only one that plays a significant role in multiple sclerosis (MS), according to the most complete genetic study to date in the disorder, presented at the 130th annual meeting of the American Neurological Association in San Diego.

“Our results confirm the strong role of the major histocompatibility complex genes in MS, and provides a definitive statement that no other region of the genome harbors a gene with a similar overall influence on

Researchers have identified a molecular suspect in a disorder similar to multiple sclerosis (MS) that attacks the optic nerve and spinal cord, according to a report presented at the 130th annual meeting of the American Neurological Association in San Diego. The protein, called aquaporin-4, is a channel protein that allows water to move in and out of cells.

“Aquaporin-4 is the first specific molecule to be defined as a target for the autoimmune response in any form of MS,” said

Aloe vera gel is best known for its therapeutic effect on burned or irritated skin, but in the future you could be eating the gel as a healthful additive to your fruits and veggies. Researchers in Spain say they have developed a gel from the tropical plant that can be used as an edible coating to prolong the quality and safety of fresh produce. The gel, which does not appear to affect food taste or appearance, shows promise as a safe, natural and environmentally-friendly alternative to conventi

By examining how proteins have evolved, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have discovered a set of simple “rules” that nature appears to use to design proteins, rules the scientists have now employed to create artificial proteins that look and function just like their natural counterparts.

In two papers appearing in the Sept. 22 issue of the journal Nature, Dr. Rama Ranganathan, associate professor of pharmacology, and his colleagues detail a new method for creating art

We all know that if you put your hand over an open flame it’s very painful. What you may not know is that, for some people, just lying under a blanket is painful as well. They have neuropathic pain–annoying, chronic pain that comes from a diseased nerve cell rather than a specific stimulus. Feeling phantom pain in a missing limb is another, more famous, example.

Experts say up to two percent of the U.S. population suffers from neuropathic pain. But this pain generally resp

Researchers have uncovered a significant contributing factor to interferon resistance of malignant melanoma cells. The finding represents a step forward in understanding the molecular events that govern the growth of this type of cancer and the changes in gene expression and cellular signaling that underlie resistance to established therapies.

Malignant melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, and if not treated successfully, it can spread to affect the liver, lungs, or bra

By specially tagging the outer and inner membranes of red blood cells infected with the malaria parasite and tracking the cellular changes that precede the cell bursting event that disperses parasites to other blood cells, a group of researchers has deepened our understanding of how the malaria pathogen destroys the cells in which it resides. The work is reported in Current Biology by Joshua Zimmerberg and colleagues at the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Malaria devastates

University of Pittsburgh researchers first to report function of tunneling nanotubules

Immune system cells are connected to each other by an extensive network of tiny tunnels that, like a building’s hidden pneumatic tube system, are used to shoot signals to distant cells. This surprising discovery, being reported by two University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers in the September issue of the journal Immunity, may explain how an immune response can be so exquisit