University of Michigan researchers have developed a faster, more efficient way to produce a wide variety of nanoparticle drug delivery systems, using DNA molecules to bind the particles together.

Nanometer-scaled dendrimers can be assembled in many configurations by using attached lengths of single-stranded DNA molecules, which naturally bind to other DNA strands in a highly specific fashion. “With this approach, you can target a wide variety of molecules—drugs, contrast agen

Timing is everything, it seems, even in science. A team led by Johns Hopkins scientists has unraveled the first step in translating genetic information in order to build a protein, only to find that it’s not one step but two.

In a series of experiments, the scientists found that when yeast’s protein-building machinery recognizes the starting line for a gene’s instructions, it first alters its structure and then releases a factor known as eIF1, a step necessary to

While large-scale genomic sequencing technologies over the past decade have given scientists databases filled with the complete genomes of hundreds of organisms, not enough is being done to interpret all that data by assigning functions to sequenced genes (annotation), according to a report released today by the American Academy of Microbiology. An Experimental Approach to Genome Annotation proposes a new initiative to help address this challenge.

“Roughly 40% of predicted genes

Study finds surprisingly strong impact of genetic variation

Carrying the higher-risk genotype for Alzheimer’s disease appears to render even healthy older people subject to major problems with prospective memory, the ability to remember what to do in the future. For the group studied, this could affect important behaviors such as remembering to take medicine at a certain time or getting to a doctor’s appointment. The research appears in the January issue of Neuropsycholog

Currently available lines of human embryonic stem cells have been contaminated with a non-human molecule that compromises their potential therapeutic use in human subjects, according to research by investigators at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine and the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California.

In a study published online January 23, 2005 in the journal Nature Medicine, the researchers found that human embryonic stem cells, including those curr

Major developments in biotech, genomics and stem cell research now offer exciting and far-reaching new opportunities for health care in conditions ranging from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease to genetic disorders. However the very pharmaceutical companies who could otherwise be expected to bring the relevant treatments to the market place are facing disturbingly turbulent conditions in their relations with policy makers, regulators and members of the public.

Existing succe

People who need artificial limbs to help with their day-to-day living are among those who are likely to benefit from a project funded with the help of €1.974 million (euros) from the Information Society Technologies area of the EUs Framework Programme.

The MOL SWITCH project set out to build a single-molecule DNA sequencing device and a MOLecular magnetic SWITCH that links the biological and silicon worlds. This nano-switch combines a biological motor and a moving magnetic bead tha

To identify the best treatment for recurrent ovarian cancer, researchers at Yale School of Medicine are studying a technology called the Yale apoptosis assay in combination with another technology called the ChemoFX assay, which could double the response rate to existing drugs.

In patients with recurrent ovarian cancer, it is often difficult to select an effective treatment because the tumor develops resistance to many drugs. Currently, physicians select a drug and must wait abo

Even before making the connection between drugs such as Vioxx and heart attacks, many doctors were becoming concerned that the heavily advertised drugs known as COX-2 inhibitors were being over-used, often by patients unlikely to benefit from this costly but innovative pharmaceutical class.

In the January 25, 2005, issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers from the University of Chicago and Stanford University School of Medicine use data from the National Center

Older women who drink a moderate amount of alcohol each day may be helping to keep their minds sharp, according to researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues.

“In our study, older women who drank moderate amounts of alcohol tended to perform better on tests for cognitive function and dementia,” said Mark Espeland, Ph.D., lead researcher. “Most of these women drank one or two drinks per day.”

The researchers used data from the Women’s

As the death toll from the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami climbed above 200,000, a University of Washington psychologist who just returned from Indonesia warned of a new danger among the survivors – a mental health crisis.

“We are seeing children petrified by seeing water in a tub or cowering when large airplanes are flying overhead because they sound like rushing water,” said Randall Kyes, a research associate professor of psychology and head of the division of international

Results from a Mayo Clinic laboratory study in animals suggest that using distraction osteogenesis, a procedure that uses the mechanical force of an appliance to lengthen soft tissue and bone, may be a feasible and effective method to repair cleft palate in the future. Cleft palate is a common birth defect in which a child is born with a gap in the roof of the mouth. This condition occurs in one out of 700 to 1,000 births in the United States.

“Right now, nobody tries to close

A review of recent studies concludes that surgeons should perform vaginal rather than abdominal hysterectomies whenever possible in order to cut down on complications and the length of hospital stays.1

According to the systematic evidence review by Dr. Neil Johnson of the University of Auckland in New Zealand and colleagues, women who had vaginal hysterectomies had fewer infections and high temperatures after surgery compared to those who had abdominal hysterectomies. Women

The common use of anti-inflammatory steroids for traumatic head injuries like those from car crashes may actually increase the risk of death, according to a new review of studies about the treatment.1

A previous review found there was not enough evidence to recommend that routine use of steroids be stopped. This newer analysis published by the British-based Cochrane Library draws heavily from a recent study of corticosteroid treatment for brain injury, including coma and conc

A molecule specially modified by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine can reset the biological clock for cancer vaccines, potentially making them more potent.

In a report that appears online today in Nature Medicine, Dr. David Spencer and colleagues describe their method of delaying the time at which crucial dendritic cells are activated by the immune system. This prolongs the time during which the cancer vaccines can undertake their task, he said.

Dendritic cells a

Researchers say obesity is associated with lower prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels in men, making the screening test likely to produce unreliable results in this population. The full study is published in the March 1, 2005 issue of CANCER (http://www.interscience.wiley.com/cancer-newsroom), a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

Since the use of early detection tests for prostate cancer became relatively common (about 1990), the prostate cancer death rate h