More than 60 percent of liver transplant patients with advanced liver cancer are still alive after five years, compared to nearly zero survival for those patients who did not undergo transplant, according to a study by Johns Hopkins researchers.

“This is good news for patients with liver cancer. If diagnosed early, transplantation is the treatment of choice for patients with liver cancer and advanced cirrhosis,” says Paul Thuluvath, M.D., associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins and

Unprecedented genetic access to brain provided by Rockefeller University scientists

For scientists studying the brain, this week’s Nature announces a remarkable new map describing previously uncharted territory, plus the means of exploring the new horizons for themselves. Rockefeller University scientists led by Nat Heintz, Ph.D., and Mary Beth Hatten, Ph.D., are well under way on a genetic atlas of the mammalian brain that provides unprecedented access to central nervous system

A new mouse model developed by Harvard Medical School researchers and reported in the October 30 Neuron may allow scientists for the first time to spotlight two key proteins in a living animal and see how they contribute to the neuronal death and atrophy found in neurodegenerative diseases. The two proteins are dubbed p25 and cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5).

“This is an excellent animal model for any therapeutic approach toward p25 and its link to Alzheimer’s and similar neurodegenera

Inside view of pterosaurs’ brain yields insights to posture, behavior

With its 13-foot wing span, a flying dinosaur soars above a lake, scanning for dinner as its shadow glides across the water’s surface below. Eying a fish, the aerobatic reptile, called a pterosaur, dives through the air, its shadow shrinking and darkening until – splash! The fish is in the pterosaur’s beak, which resembles a cross between a pelican’s bill and a crocodile’s snout.

While s

Duke University Medical Center neurobiologists have discovered how neurons in the brain “reset” when they are overly active. This molecular reset switch works to increase or decrease the sensitivity of brain cells to stimulation by their neighbors. Such “homeostatic plasticity” is critical for the brain to adapt to changes in the environment — either to avoid having its neurons swamped by increased activity of a neural pathway, or rendered too insensitive to detect triggering impulses from other neu

Chemistry & Industry Magazine

The discovery of a gene responsible for learning and memory defects in Down’s Syndrome means mental retardation may soon be reversible, according to a report in this issue of Chemistry & Industry magazine. The gene was discovered by a group led by William Mobley, director of a new centre for Down ’s syndrome research at Stanford University, California.

’The bottom line is that we have found one gene that we think is very important

Women who take part in egg sharing programmes run by fertility clinics are not compromising their chance of having a baby by donating some of their eggs, according to UK research published today (Thursday 30 October) in Europe’s leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction[1].

The Lister Fertility Clinic in London, a private clinic that has been running a formal egg sharing scheme since January 1998[2], has evaluated 276 egg sharing cycles involving 192 women who agreed to share

Women who take more than a year to conceive have a higher than normal risk of having a premature birth, a full-term baby with low birthweight[1], or a Caesarean section, according to a large Danish study reported today (Thursday 30 October) in Europe’s leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction[2].

More than one in ten babies are born to infertile[3] couples and the researchers are warning that doctors should be especially alert to potential problems within this group of women

Lung cancer screening could be the impetus to help some cigarette smokers quit, according to a Mayo Clinic study to be published in the Dec. 1, 2003, issue of the journal Cancer.

One year after undergoing lung cancer screening, 14 percent of smokers in the study had stopped smoking. “That quit rate is double what we would expect to see in a community sample of smokers,” says Matthew Clark, Ph.D., Mayo Clinic clinical psychologist and a lead investigator in the study.

Participants

Infants fed human milk fortified-in-hospital developed comparably to those fed infant formula

Premature infants fed breast milk made developmental gains equal to or greater than those fed formula specially designed for low-birth-weight infants, an international study finds.

“Definitely, appropriately fortified breast milk is the feeding of choice for these premature, low-birth-weight babies,” says U of T nutritional sciences professor Deborah O’Connor, lead author of a

Fruits contain a number of vitamins and minerals that are used as supplements to treat everyday illnesses. Now, research suggests that common fruit extracts may have significant clinical benefits in decreasing risk for skin cancer. These studies are presented today at the American Association for Cancer Research Second Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research.

“The incidence of skin cancer is rising faster than any other solid tumor in the United States. It

The first new oral drug in 50 years to prevent blood clots after knee-replacement surgery was superior to the standard treatment in a clinical trial of about 2,300 patients led by the University of Rochester Medical Center.

Researchers also have tested the new drug, ximelagatran, for prevention of stroke, heart attacks and deep vein thrombosis, and if approved by the FDA it would offer millions of patients an alternative to the commonly prescribed anticoagulant, warfarin.

Results

Osteocalcin, a small bone-specific protein that influences bone formation, may facilitate the development of drugs to combat bone-related diseases, such as osteoporosis and bone metastases of cancer, say McMaster University researchers. Their study is to be published in the October 30 issue of Nature, a high-impact scientific journal.

Although it’s generally accepted that osteocalcin, discovered in 1976, binds to the mineral component of bone, called hydroxyapatite, the biological function

Identification of ’Jelly Belly’ gene may lead to new drugs to combat heart disease, cancer and neurological disorders

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) have identified a secreted signaling protein that regulates smooth muscle development in fruit flies. In the absence of a protein called “Jelly Belly (Jeb),” primitive smooth muscle cells fail to migrate or differentiate, according to study results published in the October 2 issue of Nature.
“Our r

A team of researchers at the Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology & Natural Resources, together with the Japanese pharmaceutical company, JCR Pharmaceuticals, have discovered an enzyme which could be fundamental in the metabolism of glycogen in mammals. This find may be the first step in the finding a cure for illnesses associated with metabolic disorders such as certain kinds of diabetes and cancer. The characterisation and identification of the gene that its codes has been recently published in

Technical Insights’ Genetic Technology Alert

Biotech companies and researchers across the world are focusing on the development of new therapies for the treatment of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL) cancer, a lethal and malignant disease that is spreading at an alarming rate.

“About 300,000 people in the United States are affected by NHL and it causes about 23,000 deaths each year in the U.S. alone,” says Technical Insights Analyst Al Hester. “This has created a greate