Research done in the last decade has suggested that limiting energy availability, for example, by dietary restriction, may extend the lifespan of different organisms. Now research from scientists at Elixir Pharmaceuticals provides a molecular sensor that supports this theory. A group headed by Javier Apfeld has found that an increased cellular ratio of two small molecules, AMP and ATP correlates well with increased lifespan in nematode worms. ATP is routinely used by the body as a source of energy a

Natural honey-bee products such as propolis, royal jelly, caffeic acid, honey and venom may have applications in cancer treatment and prevention, say Croatian researchers in Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture this month.

Nada Orsolic and colleagues from the University of Zagreb found that bee products significantly decreased tumour growth and / or spreading (metastasis) in mice when they were applied orally or by injection.

The researchers tested both the p

With the current success of the BBC programme ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ you may be led to believe that only fit, young celebrities can get the most out of regular dancing, but research by Dr Sara Houston, currently at the University of Surrey, shows otherwise. Older people, whatever their physical condition, can take part in dance and may reap many benefits from their participation.

The project took place over three years and saw a regular programme of dance introduced to around 40

A vitamin B pill that drastically lowers blood levels of the toxic amino-acid homocysteine could one day be used to prevent dementia, and save health services billions of pounds annually.

Clinical trials, starting in January 2005, will seek to confirm that adding the B vitamins to a powerful antioxidant results in “prompt, striking and sustained clinical improvement” in patients. The move follows a licensing agreement this week between COBALZ Limited, a U.K. company specialisin

The type of fat ingested may create the conditions for or, on the other hand, prevent the development of obesity. This is the conclusion drawn by Patricia Pérez Matute, PhD student at the Department of Physiology and Nutrition at the University of Navarre in her research which has received an international award from the medical journal, Clinical Science.

The work was presented at the 6th Congress of the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids (ISSFAL, 2004) held in Br

Women with suspected coronary artery disease and smaller social networks die at twice the rate of those who have a larger circle of social contacts, according to a new study.

Thomas Rutledge, Ph.D., of VA San Diego Healthcare System and colleagues found that women who had more social contacts and saw them more often also had lower blood glucose and blood pressure levels, lower rates of smoking and other factors that reduced their risk for coronary disease. Women with larger social

The current flu vaccine shortage demonstrates the importance of better protecting the elderly against disease.

Scientists at the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute at Oregon Health & Science University have made a discovery that helps explain why our immune system worsens with age. The work was led by Janko Nikolich-Zugich, M.D., Ph.D., a senior scientist at the VGTI. The scientists hope this new information can be used to better protect the elderly from infectious diseases by f

A new study from Ohio State University provides the first laboratory evidence that certain antioxidants found in dark leafy green vegetables can indeed help prevent cataracts.

Vitamin manufacturers often add the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin to their products, but until now there has been no biochemical evidence to support the claim that these substances help protect the eyes, said Joshua Bomser, a study co-author and an assistant professor of nutrition at Ohio State Universi

A successful method for healing spinal injuries in dogs has been developed by Purdue University researchers, offering hope for preventing human paralysis.

Lab tests have shown that an injection of a liquid polymer known as polyethylene glycol (PEG), if administered within 72 hours of serious spinal injury, can prevent most dogs from suffering permanent spinal damage. Even when the spine is initially damaged to the point of paralysis, the PEG solution prevents the nerve cells from r

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have utilized an animal model to trace how the virus that causes AIDS in humans may enter and spread throughout the body following an oral exposure.

By innoculating monkeys with SIV, the simian version of HIV, scientists traced which tissues in the mouth and digestive tract were infected during the first week. Furthermore, they traced which organs and lymph nodes were first infected and uncovered likely routes of infection.

The missing link in understanding how the body reacts to being short of oxygen has been discovered in a ‘molecular fishing expedition’ by Leeds researchers.

Professor Chris Peers and Paul Kemp from cardiovascular medicine and biologist Dr David Iles and colleagues set out to complete the puzzle of what identifies low oxygen levels in the body and triggers cells to respond. The processes from the cell’s response to the nervous system’s reaction – which makes us breath harder – has

New evidence suggests that a promising investigational treatment for patients with damaged hearts — using adult stem cells to regenerate heart tissue — may not work as planned. In the December 2004 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers from the University of Chicago show that although stem cells derived from bone marrow can find their way to areas of damaged heart muscle, infiltrate into these regions and proliferate, they do not mature into new cardiac muscle cells.

Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have identified a gene that appears to have been a critical trait in allowing the earliest plant breeders 7,000 years ago to transform teosinte, a wild grass that grows in the Mexican Sierra Madre, into maize, the world’s third most planted crop after rice and wheat.

In a paper that appears in the December 2 issue of the journal Nature, the scientists report their discovery of a gene that regulates the development of seco

Molecular beacons, gene silencing, and reporter genes studied to better predict response to chemotherapy

Researchers at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania are applying a host of imaging techniques to develop better ways to look noninvasively at the molecular characteristics of tumors. The experiments, now in human cell cultures and mouse models, are aimed at better forecasting early response to chemotherapy so that treatment choices can be adjusted.

Special section in journal details new studies

Five articles published in a Special Section in the December 2004 issue of BioScience, the monthly journal of the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), provide new global assessments of how well protected areas such as parks can safeguard the numerous animal and plant species at risk of becoming extinct. The new analyses lead to the conclusion that although nominally protected areas now approach 12 per cent of the Earth&#

Drugs that work in the liver to reduce fatty triglyceride levels and improve insulin resistance, are also effective at inhibiting the formation of cholesterol-laden plaques that cause atherosclerosis in artery walls, according to researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine.

In studies with mice published in the Dec. 1, 2004 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the researchers found that drugs that activate two types of proteins call