Birds do it, bees do it, and yes, even chimpanzees do it. They all dote on their young. And now a new theory of aging suggests that nurturing offspring is just as important as fertility and reproduction for the evolution of a species’ longevity and long-term survival.

The new theory, proposed by Ronald D. Lee, Ph.D., of University of California, Berkeley, suggests that natural selection favors animals capable of devoting energy and resources to insuring survival of the next generation.

An international project to co-ordinate human stem cell research across the globe was agreed at a 12-country* International Stem Cell Forum meeting chaired by the Medical Research Council (MRC) on Friday 11 July.

Stem cell therapy is a potentially revolutionary way to repair diseased and damaged body tissues with healthy new cells. But a huge amount of research is needed to understand how stem cells work and how their potential could be harnessed to treat conditions such as Parkinson’s dise

Almost half the chance of developing acid reflux, which doctors refer to as GORD, may be down to our genes, and not just what we eat and drink, a twin study in Gut suggests.

Acid reflux (gastro-oesophageal reflux disease) is one of the most common digestive disorders in the developed world. It is thought that up to one in five people suffers from the characteristic heart burn and/or acid regurgitation every week. Regular sufferers are at increased risk of cancer of the gullet (oesophagus), n

Aging has long been recognized as the worst risk factor for chronic ailments like atherosclerosis, which clogs arteries and leads to heart attacks and stroke. Yet, the mechanism by which aging promotes the clogging of arteries has remained an enigma.

Scientists at Duke University Medical Center have discovered that a major problem with aging is an unexpected failure of the bone marrow to produce progenitor cells that are needed to repair and rejuvenate arteries exposed to such environmental

Scientists have used a technique called RNA interference to impair cancer cells’ ability to produce a key enzyme called telomerase. The enzyme, present in most major types of cancer cells, gives cells the lethal ability to divide rampantly without dying. The laboratory experiments create an opportunity for researchers who are focusing on telomerase in a bid to develop a drug like none ever developed – one capable of killing 85 percent of cancers

The research, led by Peter T. Rowley, M.

Over half of solid tumour patients analysed tested positive for cancer cell death

Cyclacel Limited, the UK-based biopharmaceutical company, reported today that it demonstrated through state-of-the-art biomarker technology that CYC202 (R-roscovitine), its lead CDK inhibitor drug candidate, appears to induce cancer cell suicide or apoptosis in patients receiving the drug. Details of the biomarker data obtained with CYC202 were reported today at an oral presentation at the American Asso

Depression is the second-leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting nearly 10% of the population. According to George S. Zubenko, M.D., Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and adjunct professor of biology at Carnegie Mellon University, women are twice as likely as men to develop depression, and genetic differences appear to account for some of that disparity.

These latest results build on research published by Dr. Zubenko and his team in O

Scientists at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, have unlocked an important door to understanding one of the most important crops in the world – corn. Researchers at Rutgers’ Waksman Institute of Microbiology have redefined the nature of heterosis or hybrid vigor, the phenomenon underlying corn’s remarkable success. Heterosis is the robustness seen in hybrids when different lines are crossed and result in higher yields than either of the parental lines would produce themselves.

University of Chicago researchers have found that a substance that functions as a neurotransmitter in humans also plays a crucial role in plant reproduction, guiding growth of the tube that transports sperm from a pollen grain on a flower’s surface to the egg cells within a plant’s ovules.

Their finding, published in the July 11, 2003, issue of the journal Cell, is a major step forward in understanding plant fertility. The discovery could also help researchers understand similar b

Findings could improve retinal and other nervous system transplants

For the first time scientists have shown that brain stem cells are immune privileged, which means that they are invisible to a transplant recipient’s immune system and do not trigger the immune system to reject them. These results, published in the July issue of Stem Cells, indicate that using central nervous system stem cells in transplants for diseases of the eye (which is part of the brain), brain, and spinal

Significant genetic differences exist between tumors of the right and left side of the colon, according to data presented today at the 94th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), and these distinctions should be considered for future research and treatment.

“With emerging treatments directed toward specific molecular targets, there should be special emphasis on such an important differentiation,” said Sanne Olesen, M.Sc. of biology, Aarhus University Hospital

A University of Minnesota study has confirmed the pivotal role of an enzyme known as JNK2 in the development of nonmelanoma skin cancers. The findings suggest that JNK2 should be evaluated as a target for the prevention and treatment of such cancers. Lead author Zigang Dong, director of the university’s Hormel Institute in Austin, Minn., will present the work at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, July 13, at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in the Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Pl

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have shown that a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) applied as a cream directly to the skin is safe and effective in lessening muscle soreness experienced 24 to 48 hours following exercise, when soreness reaches its peak. In addition, the direct application bypasses the internal body-route taken by oral medications, thus avoiding unpleasant side effects sometimes experienced with NSAIDs.

In a study pu

We do not feel the nitrogen of air, and scientists do not believe that under normal pressure nitrogen can affect human organisms. However, being under water or in the altitude chamber nitrogen produces a different effect. Once the pressure is increased about four times, simulating the pressure which exists at the 30- meter depth, the first signs of intoxication usually show up. They are the same that accompany alcoholic intoxication: unreasonable gaiety, talkativeness, depressed attention, impaired s

Researchers at the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center have demonstrated a new way to target and choke off the blood supply to cancerous liver tumors in mice. The new method inhibited liver tumor growth and extended survival in mice by blocking a receptor on blood vessel endothelial cells that triggers blood vessel growth. Blocking this “Tie2” receptor worked as well as or better than naturally occurring proteins that inhibit blood vessel growth in tumors, the study showed.

The new study comes

Nearly 80 percent of the world’s food begins as seeds, including such staple crops as corn, wheat and rice. Despite the importance and ubiquity of seeds, researchers have learned precious little about the processes that regulate plant fertilization, the essential first step in seed formation.

Now, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers have identified a key molecular signal that regulates the growth and guidance of the “pollen tube,” a tunnel formed by the pollen grain that