A new study, published in the March 15th issue of Genes & Development, provides critical new insight into the shared mechanisms of normal organ development and solid tumor formation.

By studying the cerebellum (the structure in the brain largely responsible for coordinating motor activities) Drs. Alvin Kho, Isaac Kohane, David Rowitch, and colleagues at The Children’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston have developed a novel method for comparing the genetic changes ass

Achieved by Hebrew University, UCLA scientists

A step towards building tiny motors on the scale of a molecule has been demonstrated by researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

In an article appearing in the current issue of Science magazine, the researchers from the two institutions described how they were able – through light or electrical stimulation – to cause a molecule to rotate on an axis in a controlled f

Use of tamoxifen by high risk women is low due to both failure of doctors to offer it and patients’ refusal to accept it, according to the results of a new study led by researchers at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. While tamoxifen chemoprevention has been shown to reduce the occurrence of breast cancer by nearly 50 percent in women with elevated risk, this study shows that the drug’s risks and benefits aren’t always appropriately evaluated when determining who should take it.

Cincinnati children’s study could lead to new therapeutics

Scientists at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center have identified a missing piece of the puzzle of how lung damage occurs in cystic fibrosis (CF).

CF is a life-threatening, genetic disease that causes chronic lung infections and impairs digestion. The discovery, published in the current issue of Nature Immunology, provides impetus for the development of novel therapeutics that decrease inflammation in child

Genes can indicate which adult leukemia patients will respond to therapy and what the duration of their remission will be, according to a new study published in the April 1, 2004, issue of Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology.

Researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Mass., and the University “La Sapienza” in Rome studied 33 patients that had all been recently diagnosed with adult T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia (T-ALL), a type of cancer in

To test whether chemicals are toxic to humans, researchers need to use liver cells that have been freshly harvested from mice or other mammals. A new collection of stable cell lines, described in BMC Biotechnology this week, could reduce the numbers of animals needed in such experiments.

The MMH-GH cell lines are derived from the liver cells of transgenic mice. These cells have been engineered to secrete human growth hormone when they are exposed to toxic compounds. The cells also continuou

Epidemiological research from central Africa in this week’s issue of THE LANCET highlights how a new form of retrovirus – simian foamy virus (SFV) – can be transferred from primates to humans as a result of hunting for bush meat. Although the effect of simian foamy viruses on human health is not yet known, authors of the research state that a reduction in hunting and consumption of bushmeat will be necessary to prevent the spread of this retrovirus in humans.

The hunting and butchering of wi

Surgical intervention to remove narrowing in the carotid artery (carotid endarterectomy) could substantially reduce the risk of major strokes in certain groups of patients if it is done sufficiently soon after a “warning stroke” or transient ischaemic attack (TIA), suggest authors of a UK study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET.

Peter Rothwell from the University of Oxford, UK, and colleagues analysed pooled data from two trials (the European Carotid Surgery Trial and North American Symptom

With the advent of antiretroviral medication, HIV patients are living longer and facing yet another health challenge.

Carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) – a potent predictor of heart attack and stroke – is significantly higher in HIV-infected patients compared to uninfected controls, according to study results from UCSF researchers. In addition after one year of follow-up, carotid artery IMT progressed significantly faster in HIV-infected individuals.

“Our findings

The neck and arm pain caused by degenerative cervical (neck) disc disease may be eliminated by replacing the problem disc with a metal-on-metal artificial disc, according to the results of a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons/CNS Section on Disorders of the Spine & Peripheral Nerves.

“Implanting this device in the neck may be an effective alternative to spinal fusion,” said Dr. Russ P. Nockels, associate professor and vice chair, Depar

Patients recovering from brain injuries such as strokes often experience difficulties carrying out two activities at the same time, according to researchers in the School of Psychology at the University of Reading.

Most of us can walk, cycle or drive and carry on a conversation at the same time because the combination of motor actions is so well-practised it has become automatic. However, when people have to relearn the basic postural control that enables them to sit, stand or walk safely, t

Five years ago, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers first reported finding that the nutrient choline played a critical role in memory and brain function by positively affecting the brain’s physical development.

Differences in development influenced action, the scientists and their colleagues found. In animal experiments conducted at Duke University, both young and old rats performed significantly better on memory tasks if they received enough choline before birth compared

Two independent research groups have established conclusively that prions are proteins, and that they do not depend on genes or other factors for transmission of their traits. According to the scientists, the studies answer a nagging question that had raised doubts among some researchers about the validity of the so-called “protein-only” hypothesis of prion infectivity.

Scientists have grappled for years with one of the central tenets of the protein-only hypothesis, namely, that a single pri

UCSF scientists have demonstrated for the first time that a change in the folded shape of a prion protein changes its infectious properties — including the prion’s ability to jump “species barriers.”

The research, based on studies of prion infectivity in yeast, solves one of the great puzzles about prions: If they are infectious proteins with no genetic material of their own and no ability to mutate genetically, how can a single prion exist in different strains that can cause differen

The mechanism used by the bacteria that cause anthrax, bubonic plague and typhoid fever to avoid detection and destruction by the body’s normal immune response – leading to life-threatening bacterial infections – has been identified by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine.

Published in the March 18, 2004 issue of the journal Nature, the lab-culture research with mouse cells identifies a protein kinase called PKR that causes the death of macrophage

British ecologists have gathered compelling new experimental evidence on how tropical rain forest food webs are constructed, findings that may have important implications for their environmental management.

The research reported in Nature today (18 March) demonstrates how species that never meet may nevertheless influence each other’s ecology through shared parasites, and confirms the action of an important ecological theory in the highly biodiverse rain forest environment.

Eco