Researchers have unprecedented chance to search for Alzheimer’s susceptibility genes and develop advanced clinical testing

Phoenix-Researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Kronos Science Laboratories, an affiliate of Phoenix-based Kronos Optimal Health Company, have initiated a study with unprecedented power to identify genes that are involved in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of disabling memory and thinking problems

Finding that Mcl-1 blocks cell suicide in hematopoietic stem cells also suggests that interfering with this protein might improve leukemia treatment

The complex and life-sustaining series of steps by which hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) give rise to all of the body’s red and white blood cells and platelets has now been discovered to depend in large part on a single protein called Mcl-1. This finding, from an investigator at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, is publi

St. Jude study shows success in blocking CK2 activity in tumor cells, suggesting that a similar tactic could enhance treatment of patients with colorectal cancer and other solid tumors

A protein called CK2 plays a deadly role in colorectal carcinoma by blocking the ability of these tumors to activate a natural self-destruct mechanism that would clear this cancer from the body. This finding, by researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, is currently published in t

A newly discovered plant protein complex that apparently switches on plants’ growth machinery, has opened a scientific toolbox to learn about both plant and animal development, according Purdue University scientists.

The protein complex triggers communication between molecules along a pathway that leads to the creation of long protein strings, called actin filaments, that are necessary for cellular growth, said Dan Szymanski, agronomy associate professor and lead author of the st

New hope for sufferers of glaucoma and spinal cord injuries

For the first time, scientists have regenerated a damaged optic nerve — from the eye to the brain. This achievement, which occurred in laboratory mice and is described in the March 1, 2005 issue of the Journal of Cell Science, holds great promise for victims of diseases that destroy the optic nerve, and for sufferers of central nervous system injuries. “For us, this is a dream becoming reality,” says Dr. Dong Feng Chen,

Two separate new studies presented at a major medical meeting provide objective scientific evidence that the two most commonly performed cartilage repair techniques are effective at restoring patient mobility and reducing pain.

Patients in both studies, those that had a cartilage and bone grafts and those that had a procedure that encouraged new tissue growth, recovered more knee function and experienced less pain after the procedure. Prior to these results, surgeons had no evide

Continued studies may result in newer, more effective breast cancer detection methods

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University’s Advanced Imaging Research Center (AIRC) are developing a new imaging method that may provide a clearer diagnosis of breast cancer. The research is published in the latest issue of the journal Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. AIRC Director Charles Springer, Ph.D., is senior author, and AIRC Manager, Xin Li, Ph.D., is first author of the new

University of California researchers have created a mathematical model describing the electrical storm that rages during a brain seizure. They say the model, to be published in the March 22 print issue of the Journal of the Royal Society of London Interface, but available now to subscribers online, may eventually help neurologists better understand and treat epilepsy.

“We’re trying to get to the underlying state of the brain that leads to these seizures,” said Mark Kramer,

One in twenty people who are paralysed by Parkinson’s disease could soon be able to walk thanks to the PARREHA project, funded with the help of 1.68 million euros from the Information Society Technologies (IST) area of the EU’s Framework Programme.

With two in every 1000 people suffering with Parkinson’s disease, a disorder of the central nervous system, there are currently 700,000 people affected in the European Union alone – and this number is forecast to increase as the p

The application of a new technique for injuries of the cruciate ligament in the knee, involving the use of bipolar radio-frequency plus heat, has proved to be 90% effective in cases and shortens the recovery time of the patient. This technique, carried out by specialists at the Navarre University Hospital Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, has received the National Prize for Research into Sports Medicine, awarded annually by the University of Oviedo. The awarded work, “Retraction of anterior c

A group of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute and several other institutions has solved the structure of a rare human antibody that broadly neutralizes human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

Neutralizing antibodies are soluble proteins that are secreted by adaptive immune cells into the bloodstream, following exposure to a virus. In the bloodstream, antibodies bind to viral particles in circulation, prevent them fr

Hoping to prevent blindness in premature babies, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have identified a protein that responds to oxygen levels in cells and tissues and also affects the developing eye.

Premature birth carries the risk of multiple disabilities, including retinopathy of prematurity, or ROP. ROP affects the retina, the part of the eye that detects light before it is transformed in the brain to an image. ROP babies have poor vision, and in many cases, go blin

Newborn screening could detect bubble boy illness early, save lives

Researchers at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have developed a new laboratory method that rapidly identifies babies born with inherited forms of severe immune deficiency. The new genetic test, which still must be validated before widespread use, could someday be added to the panel of tests that already screen newborns for a variety of disor

In a new study of breast milk and store-bought milk from across the United States, scientists at Texas Tech University found perchlorate in every sample but one. The results suggest that this thyroid-disrupting chemical may be more widespread than previously believed.

The report was published Feb. 22 on the Web site of Environmental Science & Technology, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.

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Using high-intensity ultrasound, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have created hollow nanospheres and the first hollow nanocrystals. The nanospheres could be used in microelectronics, drug delivery and as catalysts for making environmentally friendly fuels.

“We use high-intensity ultrasound to generate nanoparticles of molybdenum disulfide or molybdenum oxide, which bind to the surface of tiny silica spheres that are much smaller than red blood cells

New in vitro model system will allow study of therapeutics and virus life cycle

For the first time, scientists have replicated hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the laboratory. The ability to replicate HCV in cell culture will allow researchers to better study the life cycle and biology of this virus and to test potential antiviral compounds, which may lead to new therapies for the liver disease that results from infection with HCV. Scientists at the National Institute of Diabetes an