Researchers have discovered a gene that appears to be critical for maintaining a healthy sense of balance in mice. The study, led by a team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, appears in the April 1 issue of the journal Human Molecular Genetics and online March 24.

“Loss of balance is a significant problem in the elderly because it can lead to dangerous falls and injuries,” says one of the study’s principal investigators, David M. Ornitz, M.D., Ph.D., professor of

One of the most powerful tools in today’s biological and medical science is the ability to artificially remove and add bits of DNA to an organism’s genome. This has helped scientists to understand problems caused by defective genes, for example, which have now been linked to thousands of human diseases. So far the technology has been limited to small segments of DNA. But four years ago, Francis Stewart and his colleagues at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (Heidelberg) developed a new techn

Researchers hope to someday develop an enzyme to repair UV-damaged DNA in humans

Plants, pond scum, and even organisms that live where the sun doesn’t shine have something that humans do not — an enzyme that repairs DNA damaged by ultraviolet (UV) light.
Cabell Jonas of Richmond, Va., an undergraduate honors student in biology at Virginia Tech, will report on the molecular details of the DNA-repair enzyme at the 225th national meeting of the American Chemical Society March

Eye diseases and circulation problems can now be observed in full colour thanks to the development of a scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO) that operates simultaneously with low-power red, green and blue lasers. Dr Ayyakkannu Manivannan will report the latest test results on the SLO at the Institute of Physics Congress at Heriot-Watt University on Tuesday 25 March. He will demonstrate how the SLO system can reveal early retinal damage in diabetic patients and inflammatory macular disease in the elde

A procedure known as lung-volume reduction surgery (LVRS) appears to improve overall health and quality of life for individuals with end-stage emphysema, and these effects last as long as five years in more than half of this population, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

The findings appear in the March issue of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. The procedure was developed at the School of Medicine in 1993 by the study’s

Finding an economical way to make a polyester commonly found in many types of bacteria into a plastic with uses ranging from packaging to biomedical devices is a long-held scientific goal. Such a polymer would be a “green” plastic, in that it would be biodegradable.

Geoffrey Coates, a professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., has partially achieved this goal by discovering a highly efficient chemical route for the synthesis of the polymer, known as po

A new image processing system devised by engineers at the University of Southampton could change the way that back problems are diagnosed and provide a solution to one of the most common causes of work loss in the UK.

Low back pain is a significant problem and its cost to society is enormous. However, diagnosis of the underlying causes remains problematic despite extensive study. Reasons for this arise from the deep-rooted situation of the spine and also from its structural complexity

Antibody/enzyme combo protects transplanted lungs from oxidative stress damage

Researchers based at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have combined the precision of antibodies with the power of an antioxidant enzyme to create a new way to protect transplanted lungs from oxidative stress – also known as free radical damage – before and during transplantation.

Their findings, presented in the April edition of Nature Biotechnology and available online now, demon

Discovery could lead to new therapies for Smith-Magenis Syndrome

Researchers at Michigan State University have identified the gene responsible for a developmental disorder known as Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS), a discovery that could lead to new therapies for the disorder and the myriad problems that accompany it.
The finding is documented in the March 24 issue of Nature Genetics, a prestigious peer-reviewed British journal.

SMS is a chromosome microdeletion syndrome th

In the future, consumers may be adding a powerful “spice” to their food that could save lives. Researchers in Canada are developing a natural antibody cocktail that can help prevent the most common foodborne germs, including E. coli and Salmonella, which cause thousands to become sick or die each year in this country.

Derived from freeze-dried egg yolk, the substance is nicknamed a spice because it can be sprinkled or sprayed onto meats, fruits and vegetables to complement existing sanitati

Sascha Abramson has been investigating new methods to ensure that polymer medical implants in the human body don’t fail. Abramson looked at degradable polymers, ones the body can ultimately absorb, to gain a deeper understanding of how and why their structures change – crucial parts of a puzzle that must be solved for polymers to perform predictably and successfully in medical implants.

Her research was conducted as a postdoctoral associate at Rutgers’ New Jersey Center for Biomaterials in

A team of investigators at Carnegie Mellon University has formed the first hybrid quadruplex of peptide nucleic acids, or PNAs, with DNA, the genetic code. This result opens new opportunities to study the activity of genetic regions occupied by recently described quadruplex DNA structures, as well as providing a new compound that could be used as a biosensor or to block gene activity associated with diseases such as cancer. The research results, published online, will appear in a forthcoming issue o

Could yield biosensors with greater sensitivity, specificity

Scientists at Hebrew University, Israel, in collaboration with researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, have devised a way to use gold nanoparticles as tiny electrical wires to plug enzymes into electrodes. The gold “nanoplugs” help align the molecules for optimal binding and provide a conductive pathway for the flow of electrons. The research, described in the March 21, 2003, issue of

Dutch phytopathologists have shown that ethylene is vital for the protection of plants against bacteria and fungi. This is another function for the plant hormone already known to play a role in plant aging and fruit ripening.

Bart Geraats from Utrecht University demonstrated that plants which are insensitive for the hormone ethylene are hypersensitive to various microorganisms. The research implies that farmers and horticulturalists must be careful with substances that inhibit the effect of

Dutch chemists have visualised how the porous structure of a zeolite catalyst depends on the production method. Zeolite made with carbon fibres as a template, has particles with straight canals that act as highways for the oil components which must be converted into benzene components.

Zeolite is normally given a steam treatment to improve its catalytic properties. As a result of this the mineral acquires a more sponge-like structure. The canals formed ensure that the zeolite crystal become

Inhaled glucocorticoid drugs are more effective than the newer anti-leukotriene tablets for adults with mild or moderate asthma, concludes a study in this week’s BMJ.

Professor Francine Ducharme reviewed 13 trials comparing leukotriene receptor antagonists with low doses of inhaled glucocorticoids for 28 days or more in children and adults.

She found that adults treated with leukotriene receptor antagonists were 60% more likely to suffer worsening of symptoms, whereas those treated