Proceedings of The Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Management of genetically modified herbicide tolerant sugar beet for spring and autumn environmental benefit by Dr M May, Dr G Champion, Dr A Dewar, Dr A Qi and Dr J Pidgeon

This research provides conclusive evidence that environmental benefits can be obtained from GM herbicide tolerant (GMHT) sugar beet crops. Previous work, including the government’s Farm Scale Evaluation trials, suggested that GMHT sug

Finding may offer new target for controlling obesity, diabetes

UCLA/VA scientists have identified a new gene that controls how the body produces and uses fat. Called lipin, the gene may provide a new target for therapies to control obesity, diabetes and other weight-related disorders. The first issue of the new journal Cell Metabolism publishes the findings in its January 2005 edition.

“Lipin regulates how the body stores and burns fat. Our findings suggest that differ

Plasso Technology Ltd has secured $2.8m (£1.5 million) second round funding from a Boston-based institutional investor which focuses on discoveries within UK academic institutions in the life sciences and physical sciences.

Plasso was formed in 2003 to exploit surface modification techniques initially developed at the University of Sheffield. Its expertise and understanding of surfaces in a biological context are built on fifteen years of research.

The company’s core te

A newly discovered virus may be responsible for many respiratory tract illnesses in infants and children, and may be associated with an important multi-organ disease whose cause has remained a mystery for decades, according to articles in the Feb. 15 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online. The virus is one of the numerous coronaviruses, most of which infect animals. In humans, coronaviruses have been known primarily for causing colds or, more recently, severe acute r

Two genes with very strong associations with the disease SLE have been identified by a team of scientists headed by researchers at the Department of Medical Sciences at Uppsala University. The findings are being published today on the Web page of the highly prestigious American Journal of Human Genetics.

“These findings are probably the first genetic pieces of a huge ‘interferon puzzle,’ with whose help it will be possible to discover the mechanisms behind the disease SLE, and may

Made-to-measure skin and bones, which could be used to treat burn victims or patients who have suffered severe disfigurements, may soon be a reality using inkjets which can print human cells.

Scientists at The University of Manchester have developed the breakthrough technology which will allow tailor-made tissues and bones to be grown, simply by inputting their dimensions into a computer.

Professor Brian Derby, Head of the Ink-Jet Printing of Human Cells Project research

New research published in the premier issue of Cell Metabolism finds that a single brain region is sufficient for normal control of blood sugar and activity level by the fat hormone leptin. The same region also exerts significant, though more modest, control over leptin’s effects on body weight. The findings in mice provide insight into potential mechanisms underlying type II diabetes and suggest new avenues for treatment, according to the researchers.

Secreted by fat cells, leptin

For patients with high-risk breast cancer treated with radical mastectomy and adjuvant chemotherapy, the addition of radiation therapy leads to better survival outcomes with few long-term toxic effects, according to a 20-year follow-up of a randomized trial, which appears in the January 19 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The British Columbia randomized radiation therapy trial was designed to determine the effect on survival of the addition of locoregional radiation

A naturally occurring hallucinogen advocated by some clinicians as a potent anti-addiction drug has been rigorously studied for the first time, confirming its ability to block alcohol craving in rodents, and clarifying how it works in the brain. The new research findings about the drug Ibogaine open the way for development of other drugs to reverse addiction without Ibogaine’s side effects, potentially adding to the small arsenal of drugs that effectively combat addiction.

D

A model program featuring primary care physicians, nurses, and mental health providers working collaboratively to bring best-practice depression treatments into primary care clinics significantly improves health outcomes, quality of life, and depression care for adolescents (age 13-21), research team led by a UCLA investigator reports in the Jan 19, 2005, edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

After recent controversies about the safety and effectiveness of a

A simplified approach to the management of patients with an acute coronary syndrome (chest pain at rest or with mild exertion) can help ensure that precise risk-reducing strategies are followed to the letter by doctors and other caregivers of patients with this medical condition, according to a study by Johns Hopkins researchers.

“Many doctors think existing guidelines are lengthy and complex and therefore difficult to implement in the clinic and at home by patients,” says Roger S. Blumen

Physicians should avoid prescribing Bextra altogether, or use it only as a drug of last resort, says a researcher from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues in an editorial published on-line Jan. 17 in Circulation, a publication of the American Heart Association.

Curt D. Furberg, M.D., Ph.D., professor of public health sciences, and colleagues describe an analysis of two studies revealed that patients treated with Bextra after heart bypass surgery tripled the

A new report by the Centre for Drug Misuse Research at the University of Glasgow reveals that the number of people misusing heroin in Scotland has dropped. The research shows a near eight per cent drop in the number of problem drug users since 2000.

The report entitled “Estimating the National and Local Prevalence of Problem Drug Use in Scotland, 2003” found that the estimated number of people misusing opiates and/or benzodiazepines had fallen from 55,800 in 2000 – the first yea

A new London research centre for the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease is launched today.

Cardiovascular disease is one of the biggest contributors to the global burden of disease, and by 2020 will be the number one contributor according to figures from the World Health Organisation. In response, the International Centre for Circulatory Health (ICCH) has been set up by Imperial College London and St Mary’s NHS Trust as an international research centre to develop

Researchers Identify Factors Associated with Abstinent and Non-Abstinent Recovery

More than one-third (35.9 percent) of U.S. adults with alcohol dependence (alcoholism) that began more than one year ago are now in full recovery, according to an article in the current issue of Addiction. The fully recovered individuals show symptoms of neither alcohol dependence nor alcohol abuse and either abstain or drink at levels below those known to increase relapse risk. They include roughly e

The Florida Department of Citrus (FDOC) is seeking clarification on allegations about grapefruit-drug interactions made without appropriate scientific support in a University of Rochester Medical Center’s press release dated January 17th. The FDOC’s first priority is the health of consumers in regards to possible interactions between grapefruit and certain drugs.

“The conclusions concerning death and pregnancy made in the University of Rochester Medical Center’s pre