A careful study by a group of investigators of the University of Giessen suggests that there is no indication for mercury intoxication or amalgam allergy as a cause of somatic complaints.

To deepen the understanding of the numerous unspecific complaints which are related to the dental material amalgam both in patients and physicians, an interdisciplinary case-control study regarding toxicological, allergic, psychological and psychiatric aspects was conducted. Forty patients with amalgam-asso

A group of investigators of the University of Cagliari found an interesting association between chemokinines and dementia in Down’s syndrome, which may have far reaching implications.

People with Down`s syndrome (DS) show early Alzheimer-like dementia. It has been suggested that the pro-inflammatory cytokine class plays a role in Alzheimer`s disease (AD). The study aims at verifying whether pro-inflammatory cytokines in DS are correlated with age, affective symptoms and intellectual decline

A new screening test to be piloted in Bristol could help to revolutionise the way children with leukaemia are treated by enabling doctors to fine tune treatment to the needs of each individual patient.

Experts from five centres – Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds, London and Sheffield – will pilot the test for the most common form of the childhood leukaemia – acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). The team at the University of Bristol and Bristol Royal Hospital for Children is using special technology c

The collaboration between cardiologist and orthopedist may at first seem novel, if not odd. But just such an interdisciplinary connection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has yielded potentially useful fruit: a bioengineered, rhythmically beating experimental model of heart muscle.

The new model system is a bioartificial trabeculum, or BAT. Trabecula are thin sections of cardiac tissue within the inner surface of the heart’s main pumping chambers. Although still some

When you gaze at a bowl of fruit, why don’t some of the bananas look red, some of the apples look purple and some of the grapes look yellow?

This question isn’t as nonsensical as it may sound. When your brain processes the information coming from your eyes, it stores the information about an object’s shape in one place and information about its color in another. So it’s something of a miracle that the shapes and colors of each fruit are combined seamlessly into distinct objects when you lo

Scientists in the past decade have discovered that remnants of ancient germ line infections called human endogenous retroviruses make up a substantial part of the human genome. Once thought to be merely “junk” DNA and inactive, many of these elements, in fact, perform functions in human cells.

Now, a new study by John McDonald of the University of Georgia and King Jordan at the National Center for Biotechnology Information at the National Institutes of Health, suggests for the first time th

Researchers in Oxford University¡¦s Department of Chemistry have devised a new method of selectively oxidising terpenes to produce compounds of particular interest to the perfumery, flavour and pharmaceutical industries.

Terpenes and their derivatives are commonly used in industry to modify flavours and fragrances, and new compounds for trial are continuously needed. The terpenes themselves are not of commercial interest, but rather the derivatives that commonly require stereoselective funct

The long-term use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) does not increase the risk of endometrial cancer and may even protect the endometrium (the lining of the uterus) from the disease, concludes a study in this week’s BMJ.

In one of the largest long-term studies of its kind researchers from across the UK collected data from 534 postmenopausal women. Before the study began, 364 of the women had taken oestrogen and progestogen hormone replacement therapy in which the two hormones were given s

Children could be protected from a potentially lethal parasitic disease if dogs were fitted with insecticide-impregnated collars, suggest authors of a study in THE LANCET this week.

Zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis is caused by transmission of a parasite, Leishmania infantum, from animals (mostly domestic dogs) by blood-sucking sandflies. In people, clinical symptoms of the disease, which is often fatal if left untreated, include fever, swollen liver and spleen, and anaemia.

Clive Da

Researchers in this week’s issue of The Lancet have developed a new method that can accurately predict how tumours will behave by the genes they express.
Dr Kathy Pritchard-Jones and her colleagues, from the Institute of Cancer Research, UK, studied children who had the commonest form of Wilms’ tumour with favourable histology. Overall, these children have a good chance of survival, but little is know about the genetic alterations that determine their outcome.

The group used a new metho

New macular degeneration link found

Scientists at the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center have come a step closer to understanding the genetics of macular degeneration, a disease of the retina that affects 13 million Americans, and causes the loss of central vision.

Research scientist Radha Ayyagari, Ph.D., has found that a gene associated with one retinal disease, retinitis pigmentosa, also causes a form of macular degeneration. In the August issue of Genomics, Ayyaga

Health officials fear that lifesaving drugs can lose their effectiveness when overused. They are especially concerned about anti-microbial additives, found in everything from kitchen cleaners to face soaps, because the bacteria they try to kill are becoming resistant. Clemson University scientists have found a new bacteria fighter that does not promote bacterial resistance.

Food microbiologist Susan Barefoot and doctoral student researcher Priya Ratnam uncovered a new acne treatment that a

Researchers at Oxford University’s Department of Materials have devised a new method of coating materials that are to be implanted into bone, resulting in encouraged bone in-growth and bonding while reducing the possibility of loosening implants.

Bone implants are desirable and/or essential in various medical procedures, and are often metallic and secured by an adhesive. Inert materials such as metals do not bond to the surrounding tissue and adhesives eventually degrade, allowing the implan

Scientists from Baylor College of Medicine (Texas, USA) and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (Cambridge, UK) have deciphered how neurons can synthesize a diverse range of proteins from a relatively limited number of genes – a discovery with important implications for understanding how complex neural circuitry is formed and maintained throughout our lives.

A long-standing question in neurobiology is how each of the tens of thousands of neurons that populate the mammalian brain are instruc

Scientists have identified a key regulatory mechanism in the TGF-ß pathway. This discovery by Dr. Kai Lin and colleagues at UMASS Medical School and the University of Mississippi Medical Center helps further our understanding of how this important signaling pathway functions in a variety of cellular processes, including cancer formation and embryonic development.

The work is published in the August 1 issue of Genes & Development.

The TGF-ß pathway is an intracellular signaling pat

Rockefeller researchers discover unexpected trigger

Often in science a novel set of experiments comes along that forces researchers to abandon old models in exchange for new ones that better fit their observations. This is the case in a new Nature report by Rockefeller University researchers, which finds that past models of cellular division in the simple yeast organism were focused on the wrong protein.

Until now, scientists thought that yeast cells began dividing into two