Scientists have identified good bacteria already living in some humans that target and trap HIV and may protect against infection. They report their findings today at the 2005 American Society for Microbiology Beneficial Microbes Conference.

“I believe every life form has its natural enemy, and HIV should not be the exception,” says Dr. Lin Tao, Associate Professor of the Department of Oral Biology, College of Dentistry, University of Illinois at Chicago. “If we can find its

Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia say looking for genes that have been turned off by cancer cells may become a reliable and noninvasive way to detect and monitor cancer in the kidney. The data were presented today at the 96th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Anaheim, Calif.

Tumor-suppressor genes are part of the body’s natural defense against cancer. When inactivated–or “silenced”–they can no longer do their job, allowi

The body treats implanted medical devices – including everything from titanium hip replacements and blood vessel grafts – as invaders.

Cells surround and attack foreign material, resulting in an inflammatory response. This unfriendly reaction prevents implants from integrating into the body and functioning as well as they could.

While implanted biomaterials can be designed with different surface chemistries and roughness to influence inflammatory responses, the pr

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital discovery of genetic links to multi-drug resistance gives clinicians new insight into the cause of treatment failure and suggests targets for novel anti-leukemic drugs

The discovery of a specific pattern of gene expression linked to multiple-drug resistance of leukemic cells is giving researchers crucial information into why standard therapies fail to cure some children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). This finding, from investi

New research in mice provides more evidence that a brief bout of stress can give the immune system a beneficial boost – under certain conditions

Laboratory results showed that acute stress – stress that lasts for minutes to hours – temporarily mobilized all major types of immune cells, or leukocytes to potential battle stations in the body. In certain situations, this stress-induced boost in the number of immune cells may be advantageous, as leukocytes fight infections and other d

Newborn mice and dogs with hemophilia A were restored to normal health through gene therapy developed by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The technique introduced into the animals’ cells a gene that makes clotting factor VIII, a protein missing because of a genetic defect.

“We are really pleased with the results, because the animals produced about 20 times more factor than has been achieved in prior attempts using gene therapy for hem

Long term use of calcium supplements provides a protective effect that lasts for years against development of potentially precancerous colon polyps, researchers at Dartmouth Medical School say.

Their study, presented at the 96th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, found that patients in the treatment group of a randomized trial of calcium supplements had a 36 percent reduction in polyp formation in the five years after the end of the trial, compared t

Attacking novel S1P target eliminates cancerous tumors in some cases

An antibody developed by San Diego-based Lpath Therapeutics, Inc. could someday treat many of the deadliest solid and liquid tumors. This unique monoclonal antibody, called SphingomabTM, was tested in several animal models of human cancer and was shown to significantly retard cancer growth on a consistent basis; in some cases, it eliminated the tumor altogether.

According to Roger Sabbadini, Founder an

In an editorial published in the April 19 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine gastroenterologist Thomas Imperiale, M.D., says virtual colonoscopy may become one of the most valuable assessment tools available for colorectal cancer screening.

“I expect a lot from a screening test — zero risk, high sensitivity, high specificity, reasonable ease and convenience, and cost effectiveness,” said Dr. Imperiale, who is professor of medicine and Re

A project launched at the University of Essex could lead to the development of drugs capable of reversing the effects of the anthrax bacteria.

Dr Metodi Metodiev has been awarded almost £62,500 by the National Institute of Health, USA, to investigate the deadly effects of the anthrax bacteria on human cells.

The aim is to create a screening platform by which scientists can select ’inhibitors’ capable of stopping the progress of anthrax.

Dr Metodiev said: ’Anth

Researchers from the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University have shown how an ingredient found in chocolate seems to exert its anti-cancer properties — findings that might be used one day to design novel cancer treatments. The study, published in the April issue of the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, explains how pentameric procyanidin (pentamer), a natural compound found in cocoa, deactivates a number of proteins that likely work in concert to push a cancer cell t

Understanding the interaction of Fragile X mental retardation protein and kissing complex RNAs

Fragile X syndrome is the most common inherited form of mental retardation, affecting approximately 1 in 3600 males and 1 in 4000-6000 females. Fragile X syndrome results from loss of expression of the Fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), the product of the FMR1 gene. Now, Drs. Robert and Jennifer Darnell and colleagues, from The Rockefeller University, report the uncovering of

Finding explains the development of different forms of the disease

Frequently referred to as a silent killer, ovarian cancer offers few clues to its presence, often until it has spread beyond the ovary to other tissues. Early detection has been difficult because ovarian cancer is not a single disease, but appears in many forms, with each form behaving differently. Now researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have explained how and why different forms

Understanding the large-scale processes that shape distributions of species diversity is a long-standing challenge in ecology and can also help set conservation priorities. Regions with highly diverse or unique organisms may be targeted for conservation, but how such a region acquired its species could affect how they should be protected.

Without near-perfect records of where organisms have occurred throughout the past, it can be difficult to determine the processes underlying dive

South American floras are famous for their high species diversity. However, because of the undersampled South American plant-fossil record, remarkably little is known about how long this floral richness has existed. The Patagonian region of Argentina is an ideal place to study the history of South American plant diversity: fifty million years ago, Patagonia had humid subtropical forests with luxuriant vegetation, and today some of these forests are beautifully preserved in desert rock exposures a

Although large evolutionary radiations producing many species have captured the attention of biologists, comparison of the sizes of evolutionary lineages show that unusually small groups with few species are more frequent than one would expect from a model of random speciation and extinction.

Among songbirds (Passeriformes), more than 30 of 106 tribe-level taxonomic groups have five or fewer species, compared to the average size of 54 species and a maximum of more than 10 times tha