Scientists have made a significant advance toward understanding the regulation of blood stem cells and the complex, lifelong process of blood cell formation. A research study published in the February issue of Developmental Cell expands on previous studies by using adult animals to examine the role of a key gene known to be required for blood cell formation. Information gained from this research will be useful for future studies aimed at directing stem cell differentiation in a variety of pote

Researchers now see birds’ cognitive ability as more comparable to mammals

Duke University neurobiologist Erich Jarvis and a team of 28 other neuroscientists have proposed sweeping changes to the terminology associated with the brain structures of birds–a century-old nomenclature the researchers consider outdated and irrelevant to birds’ true brainpower.

The international research group concludes in a Feb. 2005, paper published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience

A new use of an ultra-sensitive method that employs bionanotechnology might lead to a clinical test capable of diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease in its earliest stages — instead of during an autopsy.

Scientists at Northwestern University have become the first to detect in living humans a biomarker associated with Alzheimer’s disease, a development that promises early intervention when therapeutics may be most effective — long before plaques and tangles develop in t

Professor Gregory M. Cahill’s research illuminates a ’first’ in this species

Using genetically altered zebrafish that glow in the dark, University of Houston researchers have found new tools that shed light upon biological clock cycles. Gregory M. Cahill, associate professor of biology and biochemistry at UH, and Maki Kaneko, a fellow UH researcher who is now at the University of California-San Diego, presented their findings in a paper titled “Light-dependent Development of Circ

A gene that plays many fundamental roles in cells throughout the body has, for the first time, been implicated in human disease, according to researchers at the Duke Center for Human Genetics. A defect in the ubiquitous gene dynamin 2 underlies one form of the prevalent, familial nerve disorder, known as Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT). The disorder affects approximately 1 in every 2,500 people, making it one of the most common of all hereditary disorders, said the researchers.

In a development that could one day score a touchdown for better health, chemists in Australia have created a “superbowl” molecule that shows promise for precision drug delivery, according to a recent study in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Shaped like a miniature football stadium, the molecule is capable of delivering a wide range of drugs — from painkillers to chemotherapy cocktails — to specific areas of the body, potentially resulting in improved treatment outcomes and perhaps

Researchers at New York University and the medical schools at Harvard and Yale universities have identified new genes necessary for embryonic development, according to findings published in the latest issue of Genome Research. This discovery is an important step toward a complete mapping of which parts of the genome are required for embryonic development. The new findings also probe into how genetic networks are built and how they could evolve.

The team, headed by biologists at

An enzyme that initiates inflammation has been directly linked to insulin resistance and resulting type II diabetes by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine. In addition, the team suggests that inhibition of the enzyme in the immune system’s macrophages may be a new diabetes therapy.

Published in the February 2005 issue of the journal Nature Medicine, the study describes research in mice that identifies enzyme IkB kinase â (Ikk-â)

Just fifteen minutes of training could make it possible for anyone to use a defibrillator to stop sudden cardiac arrest. A study published today in the journal Critical Care shows that a brief training session is all that is needed for safe and efficient use of an automated external defibrillator.

Sudden cardiac deaths affect nearly 400,000 people per year in Europe, and every day in the U.S. more than 1,200 people die from cardiac arrest before they reach hospital. In most cas

Parents of children with rare diseases appealed this week to Europe’s lawmakers to approve proposals for encouraging clinical trials involving children. The call came at a conference in Brussels organised by the European Forum for Good Clinical Practice (EFGCP). Throughout Europe, 15 million children suffer from rare diseases, said Yann Le Cam from the European Organisation for Rare Diseases, yet almost no new medicines are being produced with them in mind. “In drug development, children come l

Currently around one in five menopausal women die from heart disease. But according to new research by exercise scientists at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), this shocking statistic could be reversed if women took just 30 minutes exercise, five days a week. The findings are based on the initial results of a 12-month study of 24 60-year-old postmenopausal women.

Professor Tim Cable, Director of LJMU’s School of Sports and Exercise Sciences explained: “In the same way

Many cases of sciatica not relieved by current treatments may now be successfully diagnosed and treated using new nerve imaging technology

For the last 70 years, a damaged disc in the lower back has been widely accepted as the most common cause of sciatica – a condition where the sciatic nerve is pinched, causing pain to radiate down the leg. As a result, treatment for sciatica is based on diagnosis of a damaged disc, despite the fact that nerves cannot be viewed with routine im

Nearly 10,000 preterm births could have been prevented in 2002 if all pregnant women at high risk for a premature baby and eligible for weekly injections of a derivative of the hormone progesterone had received them, according to a new study published in the February issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

The result would have been a reduction in the overall rate of preterm birth (before 37 completed weeks gestation) in the United States of about 2 percent — from the 2002 rate of 12.1

The chemical nicotine–a main ingredient in tobacco–may hold promise in the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, give insight into therapeutic interventions for nicotine addiction and possibly complement the diagnosis of certain forms of lung cancer, according to a study in the January issue of the Society of Nuclear Medicine’s Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

Researchers are examining nicotine’s cognitive, behavioral and addictive actions, and, by looking at targets i

A recent article in the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis determined that drinkers of wine benefit from its cardio-protective effects, more so than those who drink beer or other spirits, and may also live longer. The article is part of a series of papers published in an open forum on wine, alcohol and cardiovascular risk. The analysis, encompassing various international studies, further confirms the agreement among researchers that any alcohol, in light to moderate intake, puts drinkers at lowe

University of Glasgow scientists have discovered how mitochondria – the energy factories in our cells – can sustain a cancer, reporting their findings in a new study published in Cancer Cell.

Mitochondria are complex structures that exist in cells to generate energy for growth and activity. The Cancer Research UK researchers based at the University of Glasgow’s Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow have found out how the excessive build-up of a simple metabolic mole