A recently discovered disinfection byproduct (DBP) found in U.S. drinking water treated with chloramines is the most toxic ever found, says a scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who tested samples on mammalian cells.

The discovery raises health-related questions regarding an Environmental Protection Agency plan to encourage all U.S. water-treatment facilities to adopt chlorine alternatives, said Michael J. Plewa [PLEV-uh], a genetic toxicologist in the depart

Fruit flies have cells that function like a miniature pancreas. That’s good news not only for the flies, but also for researchers hoping to use the tiny insects to develop cures for diabetes.

Almost two years ago Seung Kim, MD, PhD, assistant professor of developmental biology and of medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine, and colleagues including then-postdoctoral scholar Eric Rulifson, PhD, found cells in the fruit fly brain that make insulin. These cells tel

Close your eyes and acutely listen to the sounds around you, and you’ll find you’re able not only to accurately place the location of sounds in space, but their motion. Imagine then that, strangely, you suddenly became unable to distinguish the motion of sounds, even while you retained the ability to pinpoint their location. That’s exactly the experience of a patient reported by Christine Ducommun and her colleagues, who used studies of the patient to demonstrate conclusively for th

From the munchies to the giggles to paranoia, smoking marijuana causes widespread changes in the brain. Now researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine are a step closer to understanding how the drug’s active ingredients – tetrahydrocannabinol and related compounds, called cannabinoids – may exert their effects.

David Prince, MD, the Edward F. and Irene Thiele Pimley Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, and his colleagues found that a group of neurons that

Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers have found a new way to detect ovarian cancer in the blood. Reported in the Sept. 15, 2004, issue of Cancer Research, the new method targets hypermethylation–one mechanism used by cancer cells to turn off genes that protect against tumor development.

When these tumor-suppressor genes are inactivated by hypermethylation, they cannot do their job, which then allows cancer cells to develop. This research marks the first time hypermethylation has bee

NDUFS6 mutations are a novel cause of lethal neonatal mitochondrial complex I deficiency

A whole range of human muscular and neuromuscular diseases are caused by mutations in the mitochondrial respiratory chain/oxidative phosphorylation system. The problem is that there are about 120 genes involved in this system, some that are found in the mitochondria, and thus inherited through the mother, and some that are found in the nucleus and are inherited from both the mother and the fathe

Roles of thromboxane A2 and prostacyclin in the development of atherosclerosis in apoE-deficient mice

Atherosclerosis is an inflammation in the lining of the arteries. Biological chemicals in the body called pros-tanoids, which are made from the breakdown of arachidonic acid by the action of an enzyme called COX have been implicated in the development of atherosclerosis. The role of prostanoids in inflammation is well known, based on studies of aspirin-like non-steroidal anti-inflamm

When he’s not in the operating room performing surgery, Donald M. O’Rourke, M.D., Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine is fighting brain tumors from the research laboratory bench. He and colleagues are making inroads to understanding the basic molecular biology that makes brain tumors so hard to treat. An estimated 41,000 new cases of primary brain tumors are expected to be diagnosed in 2004, according to the American Brain Tumor Association.

Disease genes, important regulatory elements populate vast terrain

Four years after publicly revealing the official draft human genetic sequence, researchers have reached the halfway point in dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s of the genetic sentences describing how to build a human. The newly finalized chromosome 5 is the 12th chromosome polished off, with 12 more to go. As the new sequence reveals, this chromosome is a genetic behemoth containing key disease genes an

By combining stem cell science with orthopedic surgery, a team of researchers at the University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute aims to reduce the 10 per cent failure rate in hip replacements and make repeat replacements and other joint repairs obsolete within 10-15 years .

With $1.5 million over five years in funding from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, a group of seven UBC scientists will explore how stem cells – the body’s “mast

A genetically engineered ’mighty mouse’ is helping Medical College of Georgia researchers find the best way for young people to build bone and avoid osteoporosis.

“We are interested in kids; we want to know how to maximize their bone during peak periods of growth while they still can,” says Dr. Mark Hamrick, bone biologist. “One of the best predictors of who is going to get osteoporosis and who is not is how much bone you have at sexual maturity. So we want to know what

Males pirate and fertilize egg clutches

One of Europe’s most common backyard frogs has been keeping a secret that, despite centuries of study and thousands of published papers, has only now been discovered in ponds in the Pyrenees. The European common frog, Rana temporaria, has long been thought to have a straightforward breeding strategy — one lucky male grabs the female and fertilizes her eggs as soon as she releases them into the water. End of story.

But that&#

Malaria affects around 600 million people in the world and leads to an annual death toll of over 2 million. It is the world’s most widespread parasitic disease. It is caused by Plasmodium falciparum, a pathogen transmitted to humans by a mosquito. In Africa, where malaria is endemic, mosquitoes of the Anopheles genus are the only vectors of the disease. The many studies which have been devoted to them have led to the characterization of different species and the identification, among these, of vect

According to a research, sclerosants in microfoam are the treatment of choice for ulcers of varicose origin. The study brings together the results of more than ten years of monitoring 116 patients affected by varicose ulcers being treated in Granada, Pamplona and Madrid. On comparing these with data from other novel therapies, it was shown that sclerotherapy with microfoam provided a more rapid and permanent healing with less complications.

Ulcers on the legs are chronic lesions th

In the past old age or disabilities have often implied a loss of independence, as elderly and disabled people find themselves reliant on family members and carers to look after them. In the future that situation may change, thanks to a location-aware mobile system developed by LOCOMOTION.

The central aim of the 30-month IST project is to allow elderly and disabled people to continue living independently, while at the same time providing peace of mind to their families and reducing t

In response to the alarming rise in obesity across the developed world, a University of Sussex food policy researcher is leading a project to find out how European governments could fight the flab.

Next week (21 September) Dr Erik Millstone will meet senior public health representatives from nine European countries at the University’s Science and Technology Policy Research Unit to launch a cross-national comparative study.

During the next two and a half years the researcher