A breakthrough in human stem cell research, producing embryonic-like cells from umbilical cord blood may substantially speed up the development of treatments for life-threatening illnesses, injuries and disabilities. The discovery made during a project undertaken with experts from the University of Texas Medical Branch and the Synthecon Corporation in the United States provides medical researchers and physicians with an ethical and reliable source of human stem cells for the first time.

Opening the possibility of new therapies for type 2 diabetes, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that a protein called Sirt1 enhances the secretion of insulin in mice and allows them to better control blood glucose levels. Their study will appear in the August 17 issue of Cell Metabolism.

According to senior author Shin-ichiro Imai, M.D., the finding suggests that therapies that increase the activity of Sirt1 could be of benefit in t

Researchers studying zebrafish that die from anemia have discovered a new pathway for the synthesis of heme, the deep red, iron-containing molecule that is a component of hemoglobin and myoglobin. The research suggests that defects in this pathway may be an overlooked cause of anemia in humans.

A research team led by Leonard I. Zon, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School, published its findings in the August 18,

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a biochemical switch that affects how neurons fire in a part of the brain associated with learning, findings that may aid in understanding schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease.

The research sheds new light on the action of reelin, a protein known to be important in the nervous system. During development, reelin sends cues to migrating neurons, telling them where they’re supposed to go. In adult mice, reelin h

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have discovered that a simple worm, called C. elegans, makes an excellent experimental host for studying some of the most virulent viruses that infect humans.

The researchers published their findings in the Aug. 18 issue of the journal Nature in a paper titled, Animal virus replication and RNAi-mediated antiviral silencing in C. elegans.

UCR Professor of Plant Pathology Shou-Wei Ding co-authored the paper with Morr

New molecules help make stable catalysts that work at room temperature

Chemists at the University of California, Riverside have synthesized a new class of carbenes – molecules that have unusual carbon atoms – that is expected to have wide applications in the pharmaceutical industry, ultimately resulting in a reduction in the price of drugs.

Called cyclic alkyl amino carbenes or CAACs, the molecules attach themselves to metals, such as palladium, to form highly effici

Researchers from The University of Manchester’s Medical School have discovered that eating more brightly-coloured fruits and vegetables like oranges, carrots and sweetcorn may help reduce the risk of developing inflammatory disorders like rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis currently affects around 1% adults in the UK. Previous studies have suggested that vitamin C and the pigment beta-cryptoxanthin, both of which are found in brightly-coloured fruit and veg, may act as ant

Peakadilly receives multiple patents for breakthrough Protein biomarker discovery and identification technologies.

The patent offices of the United States of America and Canada have granted patents for Peakadilly’s core technology, Cofradic. Cofradic, initially developed at the University of Ghent, Belgium, allows the identification and quantification of proteins in any biological sample and represents the most important component of the company’s Masstermind biomar

A weight control protein with a key role in the brain’s ability to monitor body fat content may yield new approaches for treating obesity and type 2 diabetes, according to a new report in the August issue of Cell Metabolism. The findings in mice further suggest that particular variants of the protein SH2-B might underlie obesity in humans, the researchers said.

SH2-B, which has multiple functions in cells throughout the body, keeps the brain sensitive to the fat hormone leptin

The gene mutation that identifies the lung cancer patients most likely to respond to the drug gefitinib (Iressa) is not associated with a response to the drug cetuximab (Erbitux), according to a new study published in the August 17 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Both drugs target the same gene but through different mechanisms.

Some patients with non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have mutant versions of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). This p

Researchers have discovered that the loss of a gene called p63 accelerates aging in mice. Similar versions of the gene are present in many organisms, including humans. Therefore, the p63 gene is likely to play a fundamental biological role in aging-related processes.

“To study how the p63 gene works, we devised a system for eliminating it from adult mouse tissues. What struck us right away was that these p63 deficient mice were aging prematurely,” says Alea Mills of Cold Spring Har

SH2-B enhances brain’s leptin sensitivity

What do laboratory mice at the University of Michigan Medical School have in common with millions of overweight Americans? Like many of us, these mice just can’t stop eating. They weigh twice as much as their littermates, consume nearly two times as much food, have elevated fatty acid and triglyceride levels, are resistant to insulin, and often develop type 2 diabetes.

Scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School ar

In the September 1 issue of G&D, Dr. Michael Brunner and colleagues have uncovered the molecular mechanism whereby temperature affects circadian patterns in the fungus Neurospora. The scientists investigated thermosensitive splicing of the central clockwork protein, FREQUENCY (FRQ), into both long (l) and short (s) isoforms depending upon temperature.

They found that at low temperatures, intron 6 of frq mRNA is preferentially spliced, resulting in the exclusion of the l-FRQ translation ini

Using transgenic mice specifically lacking the PTEN gene in endothelial cells, Dr. Akira Suzuki and colleagues demonstrate that PTEN is required for normal cardiovascular development and that its loss enhanced tumor angiogenesis.

To be published in the September 1 issue of G&D, this new data suggests that PTEN regulates vascular growth factor (VGF) signaling to modulate cardiovascular development and post-natal neovascularization. Loss of PTEN in murine endothelial cells results i

Biologists testing a mathematical model of the mechanism birds use to control the growth of complex feathers found that plumed feather structures involve the coordination of at least two genes that activate and that inhibit barb growth.

“Understanding these mechanisms of feather growth gives a whole new perspective on the unique beauty of feathers,” said Richard Prum, senior author on the study. Prum is the William Robertson Coe Professor of Ornithology, and Curator of Ornitho

Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists have found that interferon, used for 30 years to treat blood cancers, multiple sclerosis and hepatitis, selectively kills colon cancer cells when combined with another standard chemotherapy agent. New studies in cell lines suggest that the combination tactic, which targets a common gene pathway in colon cancer cells, could be more potent than either drug alone, and has fewer side effects.

“Instead of killing a tree by chopping it down,