The HIV protein Nef sparked intensive research after observations that patients with a rare strain of HIV lacking Nef took a very long time to develop AIDS symptoms. Nef has been linked to molecules involved in cell signaling pathways and may use them for its own ends. But how Nef does this has not been clear. Now Jacek Skowronski and his colleagues at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York have identified a mechanism involving Nef, by which HIV-infected T cells are kept from traveling to sites wi

A new silicon chip that harnesses emerging technology at the nano scale will allow the detection of viruses faster, and more accurately, than ever before. One of the applications of this new technique will help save thousands of lives in patients undergoing heart transplants; by enabling doctors to detect rapidly whether a donor heart is infected or not. The scientists announced their discovery today in the Institute of Physics journal Nanotechnology.

The device, called the “ViriChip” was de

By exposing rats to novel objects and measuring their brain signals, Duke University researchers have detected telltale signal reverberations in wide areas of the brain during sleep that reveal the process of consolidating memories. According to the researchers, their findings offer important evidence that extensive regions of the brain are involved in processing memories during a particular form of sleep, called slow-wave sleep.

The researchers said their findings lay to rest previous doub

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) scientists recently unveiled an online calculator on NIST’s Web site designed to make chemical analysis by mass spectrometry faster and more reliable. The tool also may make some chemical evidence introduced in criminal cases more trustworthy.

The NIST tool, called MassSpectator, automates the mathematical calculations needed to convert plots of mass spectrometry data into final results–a listing of the chemical components and conc

Elderly people suffering from insomnia may be better advised to seek help from cognitive behavioural therapy than sleeping pills, according to research published by Oxford and Bristol on Monday, 19 January 2004.

The team systematically examined scientific evidence to assess the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural treatments for insomnia for the over 60 year olds. Such treatment aims to improve sleep by changing poor sleeping habits and challenging negative thoughts, attitudes or beliefs a

Rutgers researchers have discovered what could be the newest target for drugs in the treatment of memory and learning disabilities as well as diseases such as Alzheimer’s and fetal alcohol syndrome: a protein known as cypin.

Cypin is found throughout the body, but in the brain it regulates nerve cell or neuron branching. Branching or dendrite growth is an important process in normal brain function and is thought to increase when a person learns. A reduction in branching is associated w

A novel wound dressing made of genetically engineered human collagen that will enable faster and improved healing of injuries has been developed by researchers at the Hebrew University Faculty of Dental Medicine.

Collagen is the most abundant protein in the animal kingdom, including humans. It is the major constituent of connective tissues – tendons, skin, bones, cartilage, blood vessel walls and membranes. Collagen fibers are the “warp and woof” of these connective tissues and are responsi

Scientists at Aston University in Birmingham have been awarded a substantial research grant worth over half a million pounds that could lead to new treatments for human motor disorders, including Parkinson’s disease.

Dr Ian Stanford, who is a lecturer in the School of Health & Life Sciences, will lead the project which will run for the next five years.

The research will explore a relatively unknown area of the brain called the basal ganglia (BG). The BG are of a set of six int

An innovative method that allows increased success and speed of protein crystallization – a crucial step in the laborious, often unsuccessful process to determine the 3-dimensional structure unique to each of the body’s tens of thousands of folded proteins – has been developed by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine and verified in tests with the Joint Center for Structural Genomics (JCSG) at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and the Genomics Institute

Researchers find odorant in human sweat that attracts female mosquitoes

Today, we know a little bit more about one of mankind’s deadliest enemies, the mosquito. Scientists have taken an important step toward understanding the mosquito’s sense of smell, an avenue of research that may lead to better ways to repel the deadly insect.

In a joint effort reported in the Jan. 15 issue of the journal Nature, researchers at Vanderbilt and Yale universities have verified that

The natural world is full of curves and three dimensions, but the ability to deliberately and rationally construct such complex structures using nanoscale building blocks has eluded nanotechnologists who are eager to add curved structures to their toolbox.

Now a team of Northwestern University chemists report they have discovered ways to construct nanoscale building blocks that assemble into flat or curved structures with a high level of predictability, depending on the architecture and com

About 5 million years ago, the first spiny-legged Tetragnatha spider landed on what is now known as the Hawaiian Islands, with subsequent generations evolving into different species to fill in specific niches in various habitats. Now, these spiders provide evidence for nature’s propensity for generating diversity in a systematic way.

In a new paper published in the Jan. 16 issue of Science, University of California, Berkeley, biologist Rosemary Gillespie uses genetic detective work to descr

Discovery, Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Flies in the Face of Past Assumptions

A UC Riverside team in the Entomology Department has found that genetically engineered mosquitoes are less fertile and less healthy than mosquitoes that have not been altered.

The discovery, made in the laboratory of biological control extension specialist Mark Hoddle, has been included in the latest issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of S

Six out of ten of all cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (cot death) in Europe are likely to be attributable to lying babies on their front or side, according to new research from the European Concerted Action on SIDS (ECAS) published in today’s ‘Lancet’.

The findings also reveal that all-night bed sharing should be discouraged for all mothers who smoke, since in 77% of cases studied where a baby had died while sharing a bed, the mother had been a smoker. On a more positive note, where th

A 7-month-old child whose first corneal transplant was unsuccessful underwent surgery Monday at the University of Rochester Eye Institute to implant an artificial cornea in an effort to give him sight. He is the youngest patient ever to receive the device.

Lukas Rakowsky of Dupont, Wash., was born in May with a tumor on his left eye. The tumor was successfully removed five weeks after his birth at Madigan Army Medical Center in Ft. Lewis, Wash. Lukas also underwent corneal transplant surger

A clinical trial involving 371 patients in eight countries shows that linezolid, a new antibiotic, is at least as effective as two older therapies for treating diabetic foot infections. The drug may be an important new agent for doctors treating infections that are increasingly caused by bacteria resistant to standard antibiotics, and that in severe cases may require amputation. The study, led by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) physician and conducted at 30 U.S. and 15 European sites, appears i