The discovery of a gene believed to be connected to morbid obesity has international origins and began as an exploration into the causes of Type I diabetes.

The discovery, which will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Public Library of Science (http://www.plos.org), involves researchers originally from Sweden and France who collaborated at the University of Washington in Seattle.

The gene, on Chromosome 10, was first connected to diabetes in 1991 by Dr. Åke Lernmark,

Following surgical liver resection, a technique known as partial hepatectomy, which is often employed in the removal of benign or malignant tumors, a large reservoir of stem cell factor (SCF) in the liver drives increased hepatocyte proliferation in order to restore liver mass to normal. Lisa Colletti and colleagues from the University of Michigan report their findings in the November 3 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Following most cases of partial hepatectomy the remnant l

Findings provide new molecular drug targets, validate transgenic mouse models

Breast cancer researchers have demonstrated for the first time that it is possible to block genetic switches in mice that turn cancer on and off — thus preventing and even reversing breast cancer in the animals. The findings, reported Sunday morning at the 24th Congress of the International Association for Breast Cancer Research, suggest potential new molecular targets for drugs to prevent and potentially er

According to Professor Matti Haltia, a new form of the hereditary disorder Alzheimer’s disease, which paralyses the lower extremities of its victims, has been discovered in Finland. This disease has since also been discovered in many other countries. The disorder is caused by a new type of genetic defect, which leads to the accumulation of cotton-wool plaque in the cerebral cortex. These cotton-wool plaques lack the traditional Alzheimer plaques, i.e. an amyloid core. This discovery is altering the

No proven benefit of detection of human papillomavirus alone compared with the conventional Pap smear

Under the aegis of the French Society of Clinical Cytology, physicians at the Institut Curie have evaluated the relevance of the papillomavirus detection test, Hybrid Capture‚ II, in screening for cervical cancer, the second most common cancer in women worldwide. They have shown that this test cannot replace cytological analysis of the cervical smear.
For the first time a learn

An international team of researchers has identified the role of a gene which may explain why some people overeat and become obese.

Their research, published today in Public Library of Science Biology, shows that the gene GAD2 has an appetite stimulating role, and that one form of the gene is strongly associated with obese people.

While the researchers recognise that obesity is a result of the interactions of many genes and environmental factors, this is one of the first gene

Trauma victims who showed immediate signs of both depression and post-traumatic stress disorder are more likely to have psychosomatic ailments a year later, according to a new study.

The combination of both afflictions increases the incidence of somatic complaints, although this is not the case for either condition standing alone, say Douglas F. Zatzick, M.D., and colleagues from the University of Washington School of Medicine. Psychosomatic symptoms are physical complaints that canno

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have determined that a medication commonly prescribed for mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD) appears to cause physical improvements in the hippocampus and other brain regions of patients with the disease. These improvements could explain why the drug, donepezil (trade name Aricept), a cholinesterase inhibitor, is beneficial in treating the symptoms of some Alzheimer’s patients, the researchers said.

The findings were made by usi

Screening newborns for a rare but treatable genetic disease benefits families and society, according to a team of pediatricians and health care economists who analyzed patient records and data from mass screening programs in several states. The study appears in the November issue of Pediatrics.

The researchers, from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, analyzed the cost-effectiveness of screening for medium-chain acyl-CoA-

In a study that points to the importance of considering both mind and body in children’s health, researchers report today that they have found a clear link between childhood obesity and behavior problems.

Results published today in the journal Pediatrics show that children who have significant behavior problems, as described by their parents, are nearly three times as likely to be overweight as other children. In addition, children with behavior problems are as much as five times

The way of life, physical and mental health, and financial and family circumstances of senior citizens are the core topics of the European Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) study, launched last year. Thanks to support from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) an Austrian group was able to join this long-term, international multidisciplinary research project at the start of 2003.

The survey, due to run for a minimum of four years, will involve at least six academic discipl

Advances in development of lab-on-chip devices, which shrink and potentially simplify laboratory tests like DNA analysis, have largely been tempered by the inherent complexity of the systems they are trying to replace. DNA analysis usually requires a laboratory full of instruments and several days to obtain results.

But now a team of researchers at Arizona State University report that they have made several advances in the area of microfluidic component design, fabrication and integration,

Technique could lead to new drugs as well as industrial processes

The diversity of nature may be enormous, but for Michael Hecht it is just a starting point.

Hecht, a Princeton professor of chemistry, has invented a technique for making protein molecules from scratch, a long-sought advance that will allow scientists to design the most basic building blocks of all living things with a variety of shapes and compositions far greater than those available in nature.

The

When conventional therapies for glaucoma have been exhausted, ophthalmologists at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have a new surgical technique in their arsenal to arrest this blinding disease caused when there is too much pressure on the inside of the eye.

UT Southwestern ophthalmologists are among a few in the Dallas area to use the recently approved Ex-PRESS Mini Glaucoma Shunt, a metal cylinder smaller than a grain of rice. It is surgically implanted in the eye and offers an es

Investigators at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), Pfizer Global Research and Development and Stanford University have collaborated in studying a new immunosuppressant drug, CP-690,550, that may avoid some of the common side effects associated with other medications that curb the immune system. The new drug, discovered by Pfizer researchers, may be of major importance for those who are treated with immunosuppressants for organ transplants or autoimmune

Oregon patients are first on West Coast to take part in clinical trial

Two Oregon Health & Science University patients are the first on the West Coast to receive a new stroke prevention treatment that uses a spongy, polymer compound to seal a brain aneurysm.

The patients, Joyce Turner, 68, of Kings Valley and Rob Pardee, 48, of Talent, underwent back-to-back procedures Oct. 23 at OHSU Hospital to repair aneurysms – weakened areas of an artery wall that balloon out and fill w