The discovery that zinc contained in the hemoglobin of deep-sea tubeworms is used to bind and transport nutrients to symbiotic bacteria will be published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science during the week of 14 February 2005. Further research with the hemoglobin could lead to its use in a variety of ways, including as an artificial substitute for oxygen carriers in human blood.

Tubeworms living near hydrothermal vents and cold seeps in the world’s oceans

Results point to novel pathway for development of prostate cancer

A single gene variant may increase a man’s risk of prostate cancer by 50%, according to a new study led by researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and published this week in Cancer Research.

In 2001, Mount Sinai researchers published a study in Science that showed that a gene, known as KLF6, fails to function properly in at least 50 to 60 percent of all prostate cancers. This was the first single

For the first time, two types of genetic material–both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA–have been used to verify a new species designation of great whale, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society and other groups in The Royal Society’s Proceedings: Biological Sciences. According to the recent study conducted by researchers at WCS, the American Museum of Natural History, Fordham University, and University of Maryland, the North Pacific right whale has been confirmed as genetically dist

May stop kidney failure after bypass surgery, other therapies and sepsis; protein is also an effective marker for early diagnosis of kidney failure

Columbia University Medical Center researchers have identified a protein that may provide a powerful new therapeutic tool for fighting kidney failure. The research, which is published in the March issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, shows that injection of a protein, known as Ngal, can protect mice from renal failure, sug

A typically innocuous virus found in 90 percent of people worldwide is the key to a new treatment for a cancer particularly common in North Africa and Southeast Asia. A new study showing that antigens produced by the Epstein Barr virus may provide an ideal target for therapy will be published in the March 1, 2005, issue of Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology.

Ten patients diagnosed with advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma took part in the study – these

A piece of the topical puzzle of how estrogen goes from protecting women from heart disease to apparently increasing their risk later in life may have been found.

Medical College of Georgia researchers have found changes in blood vessel chemistry that may explain the dramatic flip-flop in estrogen’s function that occurs in older women, taking it from a dilator of vessels to a potentially dangerous constrictor, says Dr. Richard White, MCG pharmacologist. Dr. White will pres

Utah State University researchers recently discovered a new bacteria that is a natural cleanser for contaminated soil. The bacteria, now being used around the world, is an inexpensive and highly effective solution to pollution.

“This project shows mother nature’s capability to be a master engineer,” said Ron Sims, biological and irrigation engineering department head. “Past disposal practices and accidental spills have put these carcinogens in our environment, and nature h

There were nearly 2.9 million new cases of cancer and more than 1.7 million cancer deaths in Europe last year, according to new estimates in a report published today (Thursday 17 February) in Annals of Oncology [1]. The authors warn that the ageing of the European population means that these figures will continue to rise, even if incidence and mortality rates for specific age groups remain constant.

They also say that it is vital to make a major assault on the four biggest kille

Injecting spinal-epidural analgesia in early labor does not increase cesarean delivery rates and provides better pain relief and a shorter duration of labor than systemic opioid analgesia, according to an article by Northwestern University researchers published in the Feb. 17 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
Epidural injections are administered into the space between the wall of the spinal canal and the sheath covering the spinal cord and anesthetize the abdominal, genital an

Any older person can attest that aging muscles don’t heal like young ones. But it turns out that’s not the muscle’s fault. A study in the Feb. 17 issue of Nature shows that it’s old blood that keeps the muscles down.

The study, led by Thomas Rando, MD, PhD, associate professor of neurology and neurological sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine, built on previous work showing that old muscles have the capacity to repair themselves but fail to

The history of hormone therapy drugs – once thought of as almost magic pills to keep women healthy, vital and young – shows why it is so important to conduct research studies to identify the risks and benefits of drugs, say researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

“The hormone therapy debate is one more example of a larger issue: are the medications that doctors prescribe safe, and do the benefits outweigh any risks?” said Michelle Naughton, Ph.D., lead a

A clinical trial is underway at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) to study the safety and effectiveness of an endovascular medical device to treat life-threatening thoracic aortic aneurysms. Ronald Fairman, MD, Chief of Vascular Surgery at HUP, is leading the study at Penn and is one of 35 principal investigators in North America to participate in this landmark trial.

Thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAAs) occur when a section of the aorta – the body’s largest a

Scientists have turned to the brightest brains in Britain in a bid to understand the link between intelligence and dementia.

A team of researchers from The University of Manchester will be asking members of the high-IQ society Mensa for DNA samples in what will be the world’s most sophisticated study of brainpower. The research will allow the team to find genes associated with intelligence and examine how they interact with each other. “When you look at the genes in combination

Robots that act like rat pups can tell us something about the behavior of both, according to UC Davis researchers.

Sanjay Joshi, assistant professor of mechanical and aeronautical engineering, and associate professor of psychology Jeffrey Schank have recorded the behavior of rat pups and built rat-like robots with the same basic senses and motor skills to see how behavior can emerge from a simple set of rules.

Seven to 10-day-old rat pups, blind and deaf, do not seem t

UC Davis researchers have discovered two key signals that tell fish how to handle the stress of changing concentrations of salt as they swim through different waters.

Not many fish can travel between saltwater and freshwater. To maintain the right internal salt level, their gills must pump up salt from freshwater but excrete it in the ocean. “Fish that can survive both environments are able to resist many kinds of stress,” said Dietmar Kueltz, an assistant professor of animal

New and effective treatments for lung cancer may rest on their ability to hinder the action of estrogen in lung cancer cells, according to two studies published in the current issue of Cancer Research. The University of Pittsburgh studies build on current knowledge about the relationship between estrogen and lung cancer growth and suggest that blocking estrogen may be vitally important to improving survival from the disease.

Since 1930, a 600 percent increase in death rates from