Using genetically engineered mice, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center have identified a gene that functions as a cancer-causing gene (or oncogene) and may play a key role in the development of leukemia and other cancers in children and adults.

Their study, published in the May 15 issue of Cancer Research, focused on the HMG-I gene, whose protein product is overexpressed in several human cancers, but whose exact role in the formation and development of these diseases had

Current achievements in molecular genetics allow scientists to look not only in the depths of genomes but also back to ancient times. By analysing fossil DNA, Russian biologists have reconstructed the picture of colonisation of the Russian Northern lands. The research was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and the RF Ministry of Industry and Sciences.

Today’s molecular biology is capable of analysing DNAs extracted from an ancient material up to 100,000 years old. Ev

Discovery May Lead to Prenatal Test For Debilitating Disorder A team of researchers has discovered a gene for Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, a disorder consisting of mental retardation, heart defects and a number of physical abnormalities. The researchers were funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, one of the National Institutes of Health. The researchers expect the discovery to speed the development of a prenatal genetic test for the syndrome. A

New data suggest the investigational drug rifaximin, a non-absorbed (less than .5%) antibiotic with few side effects and low potential for resistance, is effective in preventing travelers’ diarrhea, an illness that affects up to 60 percent of international travelers. Until now, antimicrobial prophylaxis, while effective, has been discouraged because of side effects and the encouragement of resistance. The study results, presented Sunday, May 16 at the 2004 Digestive Disease Week (DDW) annual mee

When it comes to back pain, psychological distress is a more reliable predictor of the problem than imaging and diagnostic disc injection, Stanford University School of Medicine researchers say. Their finding could affect how doctors treat back pain, which often includes costly surgery that insurance companies are increasingly reluctant to cover.

Most adults in the United States will experience disabling lower back pain at least once in their lives, but their doctors frequently can’t f

Research published this month: Healthy tissue left intact in pre-clinical testing

A genetically engineered virus can selectively kill cancerous cells in the lung and colon while leaving healthy cells intact, according to new research published today in Cancer Research by William Wold and colleagues at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.

The research could lead to a new class of cancer therapies that selectively kill cancer cells.

“These engineered viruses ki

The new technique of SELECTIVE CEREBRAL PERFUSION has been successfully applied for the first time in the Basque Autonomous Community (B.A.C.)

Surgeons keep a patient in a state of hibernation at 15 degrees centigrade, without brain activity and with heart circulation and respiratory activity at a standstill for one hour while an aorta implant is fitted.

The technique enables operations involving aorta pathologies to take place in greater conditions of safety, thus

An essential switch in the life cycle of the malaria parasite has been uncovered by researchers in England, Germany and Holland.

They have established that to infect mosquitoes that transmit malaria, the parasites depend on a type of molecule normally found in plants, which they have named Calcium-Dependent Protein Kinase 4 (CDPK4).

The finding, based on studies of the malaria parasite of rodents, Plasmodium berghei, is described as basic science, but the authors suggest it m

Nature article reports photoreceptors involved in sensing the earth’s magnetic field

Migratory birds, as well as many other animals, are able to sense the magnetic field of the earth, but how do they do it? “A fascinating possibility is that they may actually see the earth’s magnetic lines as patterns of color or light intensity superimposed on their visual surroundings,” said John B. Phillips of Blacksburg, associate professor of biology at Virginia Tech. The results of mor

In an experiment that demonstrates how maps of the genetic codes of simpler organisms can shed light on human disease, a computerized comparison of the complete genetic codes of a type of algae, a weed and humans has led medical researchers to a gene linked to a human illness.

The comparison allowed researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis to locate human genes that code for proteins likely to become part of hair-like structures on cells known as cilia or flagel

Malfunction of the motor that powers sperm plays havoc with more than fertility: it may also be the root cause of the rare genetic disease Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS).

Reporting in the journal Cell tomorrow, researchers from the UK, US and Canada reveal they have discovered a novel gene for BBS that’s necessary for the generation of a cell’s cilia and flagella – hair like tentacles used to propel a cell or sweep substances over their exterior.

Cilia and flagella are commonly known a

Research in monkeys suggests that long-term use of estrogen therapy may reduce levels of androgens – hormones involved in maintaining bone density, muscle mass, sexual function, memory, and psychological wellbeing in postmenopausal women.

“Our findings suggest that it might be important for women taking estrogen after menopause to also take androgen supplements – which can include testosterone,” said Charles E. Wood, D.V.M., lead researcher, from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Cente

New study shows aklylating DNA damage stimulates regulated necrotic cell death

Researchers at the Leonard and Madlyn Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute at the University of Pennsylvania have found a second way by which chemotherapeutic agents can kill cancer cells. The finding – which will appear online and ahead of print in the June 1st edition of the journal Genes & Development – represents an important advance in understanding how and why some cancer cells die and others do

NYU neuroscientists provide direct evidence that the hippocampus is involved in the representation and retrieval of long-term memories

The formation of new memories and the retrieval of older memories are both evidenced in the hippocampus region of the brain, according to recent research by NYU neuroscientists.

The role of the hippocampus in the formation of new memories has been well-documented, but the contribution of this structure to the representation and retrieval of l

Study could help identify mechanism of magnetoreception in animals and humans

Migrating birds stay on track because of chemical reactions in their bodies that are influenced by the Earth’s magnetic field, a UC Irvine-led team of researchers has found.

The birds are sensitive even to rapidly fluctuating artificial magnetic fields. These fields had no effect on magnetic materials such as magnetite, indicating that the birds do not rely on simple chunks of magnetic material in t

A systematic program of research into the reproductive physiology of killer whales by a team of scientists from SeaWorld, the National Zoological Park, and the Zoological Society of San Diego has culminated in the first live births of any cetacean–the group of marine mammals that includes whales and dolphins–by means of artificial insemination.

In a report set for publication in the journal Biology of Reproduction, the team, headed by Dr. Todd R. Robeck, based at SeaWorld San Antonio, not