A team of researchers based partly in South Africa has identified a key set of immune system molecules that helps determine how effectively a person resists infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Their work shows that mothers with a specific type of genetic makeup may be less likely to pass HIV to their offspring.

The finding has important implications for the development of vaccines to combat the AIDS epidemic, according to Bruce D. Walker, a Howard Hughes Medical In

Using only computers, a research team at Uppsala University in Sweden has managed to reveal both the structure and the function of a newly discovered enzyme from the most dangerous malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. All that was needed was the amino acid sequence of the enzyme. The findings may represent a breakthrough for future pharmaceutical research.

The research was carried out within the framework of a project (RAPID) at the Uppsala University Center for Structural

Biochemists at Ohio State University and their colleagues have overcome one of the major obstacles to drug design, by trimming some of the fat from a molecular sponge that scientists use to study proteins.

In the December issue of the journal Structure, the biochemists report using their method successfully in experiments with two common cellular proteins. The results suggest that scientists could one day use the method as a step in designing drugs for diseases such as cystic fibr

A new treatment for the age-old scourge of cholera and perhaps a whole new type of antibiotic medicine may emerge from chemicals discovered in an Australian seaweed, new research results suggest.

Researchers at the University of New South Wales have found that compounds known as furanones – isolated from the seaweed Delisea pulchra – can prevent the bacteria that cause cholera from switching on their disease-causing mechanisms. It seems likely that furanones can have the same e

Scientists determine how ’trump card’ protein blocks DNA replication

New research at Rice University is allowing biochemists to understand a key hierarchy of protein interactions that occurs in DNA replication, showing for the first time how a key protein “trumps” its rivals and shuts down cell division while DNA repairs take place.
The work, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, appears in the Dec. 8 issue of the journal Structure. It could aid drug makers in d

First observation of extended chains of molecules that exhibit a strong interaction without forming chemical bonds

A new chemical state, designated a “protopolymer,” has been observed by Penn State researchers in chains of phenylene molecules on a crystalline copper surface at low temperature. Protopolymers form when monomers, small molecules that link together chemically to form long chains, align and interact without forming chemical bonds. The novel structures were discovered

Transplanted bone marrow cells can reduce carbon tetrachloride-induced liver fibrosis in mice and significantly improve their survival rates, according to a new study published in the December 2004 issue of Hepatology, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hepatology is available online via Wiley InterScience at http://www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/hepatology.

Previous reports have shown

New research on rat heart cells suggests that a well-known antioxidant found in red wine, called resveratrol, may benefit heart tissue by limiting the effects of a condition called cardiac fibrosis.

Diseases such as hypertension and heart failure can cause fibrosis, a hardening or stiffening of the heart tissue. This condition arises when heart cells called cardiac fibroblasts are activated. These cells secrete collagen, a protein that provides structural support for the heart.

University of Rochester scientists studying a vital protein called Serum Response Factor (SRF) in mice have learned new and unexpected facts about SRF’s role in early cardiovascular development, and how a defect in this gene may be an underlying cause in human miscarriages.

The research is reported in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. At this point it is unclear whether subtle defects in SRF might also be linked to adult cardiovascular diseas

Research shows existing diabetes drugs may kill multiple myeloma

In laboratory tests on multiple myeloma cells, University of Rochester researchers found that this type of cancer expresses a protein that makes it an easy target for an existing class of diabetes drugs. After more investigation, they hope the discovery will lead to a new, targeted therapy for myeloma patients. “To our knowledge, this is the first time anyone has shown that multiple myeloma cells are sensitive to th

The world’s first molecular map for wild strawberry (Fragaria) constructed using transferable DNA markers has been produced by scientists at East Malling Research (EMR) in association with collaborators at the University of Reading.

This work is a breakthrough in strawberry genetic research and has already been adopted as the reference map by strawberry research groups in Spain, France and the USA. It offers the potential for further international collaboration, leading towards t

As members of an international research consortium, a group of GSF scientists led Randolph B Caldwell and Jean-Marie Buerstedde contributed to the annotation of the complete chicken genome. This first genome sequence of a bird is not only of great importance for research projects with chickens, but it will also lead to a better understanding of the previously decoded human genome.

Originally, the GSF research project aimed at identifying active genes in a particularly interestin

• Possessive mother in law? Nope…
• Drunken uncle? Nope…
• Nagging auntie? Nope…

In fact, the answer is food poisoning bacteria.

Meet Aston University Christmas bug buster Dr Anthony Hilton, expert in food microbiology. He is calling for extra care to be taken this Christmas to prevent food poisoning outbreaks. Although bacteria do pose a threat to health throughout the year statistics show that there are a higher number of food poisoning cases in December, wi

Overweight and obesity in young adulthood and middle age may have devastating effects on future Medicare expenditures, particularly given the continued and alarming increase in prevalence of obesity in the United States during recent decades, according to a study published in the Dec. 8 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study, conducted by Martha L. Daviglus, M.D., professor of preventive medicine, and colleagues at Northwestern University Feinbe

Using hairlike microelectrodes and computer analysis, neurobiologists at Duke University Medical Center have demonstrated that they can see the detailed instant-to-instant electrical “brainscape” of neural activity across a living brain.

In their study on rats, they demonstrated that they could distinguish in unprecedented detail the patterns of brain activity — including fleeting changes in communication among brain structures — in awake animals, as they fall sleep and as they

One more letter should be added to the alphabetic list of warning signs of melanoma, a potentially deadly skin cancer, according to a group of NYU School of Medicine dermatologists and their Australian colleagues. Based on a review of the medical literature, they recommend adding the letter “E” — for “evolving” — to the first four letters of the alphabet that are already used widely to help physicians and adults identify suspicious moles on the skin.

Their report is published i