Crablike ’whale lice’ show how endangered cetaceans evolved

University of Utah biologists studied the genetics of “whale lice” – small crustaceans that are parasites on endangered “right whales” – and showed the giant whales split into three species 5 million to 6 million years ago, and that all three species probably were equally abundant before whaling reduced their numbers.

The five-year study, published in the October 2005 issue of the journal Molecular Ecology,

Using strands of genetic material, Purdue University scientists have constructed tiny delivery vehicles that can carry anticancer therapeutic agents directly to infected cells, offering a potential wealth of new treatments for chronic diseases.

The vehicles look nothing like delivery trucks, though that is their function once inside the body. Instead, these so-called nanoparticles, which are assembled from three short pieces of ribonucleic acid, resemble miniature triangles. The micr

Research could lead to treatment that would help stop a smallpox outbreak

Researchers at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology (LIAI) have made a major advancement toward protecting society against a smallpox outbreak by identifying an antibody in humans that quickly fights the smallpox virus.

“This is a very important finding because it has the potential to be an effective treatment for smallpox in humans and therefore could help quickly stop a smallpox outbre

Low-dose aspirin might prevent the cardiovascular damage known to arise from use of the painkiller rofecoxib (Vioxx®), suggest new findings from mouse studies by Duke University Medical Center researchers. Their findings that a chemical imbalance might underlie such damage could also lead to the development of anti-inflammatory drugs without the adverse side effects, the researchers said.

The researchers reported their findings in the September 14, 2005, issue of Cell Metabolism

A knock on the noggin is only one type of injury possible

Typically, parents worry about their children bumping their heads or wearing out mattresses when they catch them jumping on the bed. But parents should also be wary of injuries from broken wires inside worn-out mattresses.

Dante Pappano, MD, an attending physician in the Children’s Emergency Department at Golisano Children’s Hospital at Strong, published a paper in August’s Pediatric Emergency Care j

In findings with implications for pandemic influenza, a new study reports for the first time that a less-virulent strain of avian influenza virus can spread from poultry to humans. The research appears in the October 1 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online.

Crossing the species barrier is an important step in the development of a flu virus with pandemic potential. Previous studies have focused on the ability of highly pathogenic strains, such as H5N1

Inactivity leads to significant increases in visceral fat, and a moderate exercise regimen can keep this potentially dangerous form of fat at bay, according to the results of the first randomized clinical trial evaluating the effects of exercise amount and intensity in sedentary overweight men and women.

Additionally, the Duke University Medical Center researchers found that increasing amounts of exercise can reduce visceral fat. In terms of overall weight gain, the patients who

A bike-like centrifuge that creates artificial gravity may help astronauts combat muscle atrophy in space. Through a study at the University of California, Irvine, the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) is exploring the concept of a Space Cycle for inflight resistance-training exercise.

“Even with onboard exercise, astronauts face the risk of losing muscle mass and function because their muscles are not bearing enough weight, or load,” said Dr. Vincent J. Caioz

Newly diagnosed can get support before drug therapy begins, OHSU neurologists say

Some people call it “the dark time,” the period between when a person is diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and when treatment with medication begins.

Julie Carter, R.N., knows it all too well. The associate professor of neurology in the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine hosts workshops to help newly diagnosed Parkinson’s patients and their families cope w

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found that 85 percent of embryos transferred during in vitro fertilization fail to become live births, highlighting the need for improving diagnostic techniques to identify viable embryos.

Published in the August issue of Fertility and Sterility, the study reviewed seven years of U.S. statistics from all the fertility clinics that report data on reproductive techniques. Director of the Yale Fertility Center, Pasquale Patrizio, M.D., pr

For the first time, researchers have observed exactly how some cells are able to repair DNA damage caused by the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

The Ohio State University study revealed how the enzyme photolyase uses energy from visible light to repair UV damage.

This enzyme is missing in all mammals, including humans, although all plants and all other animals have it. Greater understanding of how photolyase works could one day lead to drugs that help repair UV d

In studies with mice, Penn State researchers have shown that a combination of retinoic acid — a product the body makes naturally from vitamin A — and PIC, a synthetic immunity booster, significantly elevates the immune system response to a tetanus shot.

Dr. A. Catharine Ross, who holds the Dorothy Foehr Huck Chair in Nutrition at Penn State, directed the study. She says, “There aren’t very many examples of using nutrition to improve immune response. These results show that a

Four seemingly unrelated viral diseases may some day be defeated by a single treatment, according to a recent collaborative study involving researchers at the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

Their study focuses on viruses responsible for HIV, measles, Ebola and Marburg and includes investigators from Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study is being funded by a grant from the Hudson-Alpha I

Simple test could be developed to determine cancerous or pre-cancerous conditions

The attaching of methyl–or chemical–groups onto DNA sequences within the tumor suppressing gene Rb2/p130 can cause the gene to cease functioning in non-small lung cancer cells (NSLC) and retinoblastoma cells, researchers at Temple University’s Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine and Italy’s University of Siena have discovered.

Their findings are reported i

A new and unusual class of genes plays an important role in the development of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to new research here. At the same time, these genes may provide a new form of therapy for the disease.

CLL strikes some 9,700 Americans annually, making it the most common adult leukemia in the world.

The study found that the loss of two genes for producing small molecules known as microRNAs enables damaged cells to survive, rather than normally se

Destruction prevents transport of receptors necessary for cognition and emotion

Neuroscientists at the University at Buffalo have shown in two recently published papers that destabilization of structures called microtubules, intracellular highways that transport receptors to their working sites in the brain, likely underlie many mental disorders and could be promising targets for intervention.

In their most recent article, published in the Aug. 19 issue of the Journal