The Centre for Stem Cell Biology (CSCB) at the University of Sheffield is welcoming some of the world’s leading experts to its International Human Embryonic Stem Cell Symposium on Friday 9 July 2004. The CSCB is a world-leading centre for stem cell research, and has produced two of the UK’s six embryonic stem cell lines. The symposium will allow around 200 scientists to benefit from the experience of the world’s leading researchers in this area.

Embryonic stem cell technology is a new are

Scientists thrilled by first confirmed sighting in almost a decade

The Cozumel Thrasher (Toxostoma guttatum), a bird not seen or recorded by scientists for close to a decade and thought by some to have gone extinct, was sighted last month by a team of field biologists, American Bird Conservancy and Conservation International announced today. Its rediscovery immediately makes it the single most threatened bird in Mexico.

The Cozumel Thrasher, an endemic bird found only on t

Organisms ranging from bacteria to humans navigate environments that can contain dangerously too little or too much oxygen. Yet, scientists know little about how animals sense oxygen levels around them.

Researchers from the Berkeley and San Francisco campuses of the University of California have now discovered how the nematode C. elegans senses oxygen levels in order to steer clear of surrounding areas that are too low or too high in oxygen.

In the process, the researchers also di

Metastasis of cancer may cause as many, if not more, deaths than cancer itself. Amongst other reasons, this is because it is very difficult to know where the new tumour is going to develop. Moreover, the mechanisms of metastasis are still not well understood, although a lot of research into it is taking place and advances are being made. Dominion Pharmakine is a company located at the Bizkaia Technological Park where they are studying metastasis.

At times, a cell in our body may suffer a mu

Biologists from the University of Arizona in Tucson are teaming up with health officials from the Mexican state of Sonora to learn more about the mosquitoes that carry dengue and West Nile viruses and about the disease-causing organisms.

The reported number of dengue fever cases in Sonora has been increasing in the last several years, and the disease appears to be moving north. The dengue fever season in Sonora is seasonal and peaks mid-October, after the summer rainy season.

The

The University Hospital at Navarre University has developed a system for the percutaneous implantation of palladium 103 seeds, a new technique in permanent bradytherapy for the treatment of lung cancer. Recently, the fourth experiment was carried out and the results remitted to the scientific magazine, “Bradytherapy”, for its publication. To date there has been no description in world scientific literature of any case using this therapeutic procedure.

The Clínica Universitaria has hosted the

A groundbreaking European project launched next week and led by the University of Plymouth will help to combat major diseases such as cancer and brain diseases. The four-year project, which involves 31 institutions across Europe, will be launched in Milan on Friday 9 July, when the first workshop takes place.

The projects’ key aim is to tackle and reduce fragmentation in the new field of biopattern and profile analysis. (A biopattern is the basic information ie pattern that prov

A new material which is set to revolutionise the way we protect our bodies from impact and injury is being launched by specialist technology company d3o Lab. d3o Lab were granted a government SMART award in 2001 and following a significant breakthrough they secured a second award in 2003 for the development which is now nearing commercialisation.

Since 2000 Richard Palmer and Dr. Phil Green have been working out of the University of Hertfordshire’s research and development centre, and a des

A new technique for examining DNA is giving scientists a more detailed picture of which genes have the propensity for activation, offering a new tool for understanding how genes function and possibly for diagnosing disease.

The technology, called a chromatin array, was developed by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and is described in the July issue of the journal Genome Research.

DNA, which contains the genetic instructions needed to make a human or any ot

Researchers have used a recently developed anti-inflammatory drug as a starting point to construct a possible new, targeted anti-cancer agent. The new agent works by triggering cancer cells to self-destruct.

The agent is now undergoing laboratory testing by the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Rapid Access to Intervention Development (RAID) program.

The potential new drug was developed by researchers at The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy and the OSU Comprehensive Can

A University of Arkansas researcher and his colleagues have discovered a new mechanism that regulates the interaction of proteins in cell membranes. This discovery may lead to more efficient drug screening and possibly different methods for fighting infections.

Roger Koeppe, University Professor of chemistry and biochemistry, Thomas Suchnya, Frederick Sachs and Phillip Gottlieb of SUNY Buffalo and Sonya Tape and Olaf Andersen of Weil Medical College of Cornell University report their findi

A new report in top science magazine “Nature” shows that rising carbon dioxide or CO2, is causing a massive increase in dissolved chemicals in Britain’s waters. The chemicals (called DOC or dissolved organic carbon) could harm our health and accelerate current rises in atmospheric CO2 levels.

The discovery was made by a team led by wetland researcher Dr Chris Freeman, Royal Society Industry Fellow at the University of Wales, Bangor, who explained: “We’ve known for some time that CO2 levels

No beneficial effects were found on cognitive function, bone mineral density or plasma lipids when postmenopausal women age 60 years or older took soy protein supplements with isoflavones for one year, according to a study in the July 7 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

“The sudden decline in estrogen levels after menopause coincides with acceleration of several aging processes,” according to background information in the article. “On average, bone mineral den

A new technology developed by a research group headed by Nimmi Ramanujam, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will be a “third eye” during breast biopsies and can increase the chance for an accurate clinical diagnosis of breast cancer.

Doctors currently use X-ray or ultrasound – two-dimensional pictures – to guide the biopsy needle into a three-dimensional region. To ensure that they are doing the biopsy at the right spot, they take up to a

The factor that puts children at greatest risk of being overweight is having obese parents, according to a new study by Stanford University School of Medicine researchers. By identifying the risk factors that lead to childhood obesity, the researchers hope to pave the way toward preventive measures.

“The findings of this study suggest that at-risk children may be identifiable in the first few years of life,” said W. Stewart Agras, MD, professor emeritus of psychiatry and behavioral sciences

University of Iowa researchers have shown for the first time that gene therapy delivered to the brains of living mice can prevent the physical symptoms and neurological damage caused by an inherited neurodegenerative disease that is similar to Huntington’s disease (HD).

If the therapeutic approach can be extended to humans, it may provide a treatment for a group of incurable, progressive neurological diseases called polyglutamine-repeat diseases, which include HD and several spinocerebe