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Pfizer reports that Prevenar 13 Phase 3 study meets all primary, secondary objectives

Pfizer reports that Prevenar 13 Phase 3 study meets all primary, secondary objectives

Pfizer Inc. presented today the results from a Phase 3 study investigating immunogenicity, tolerability and safety of Prevenar 13 (Pneumococcal polysaccharide conjugate vaccine [13-valent, adsorbed]) in adults 18 to 49 years of age. [More]
Research on alpha-synuclein protein could lead to new therapies for Parkinson's disease

Research on alpha-synuclein protein could lead to new therapies for Parkinson's disease

A protein known to be a key player in the development of Parkinson's disease is able to enter and harm cells in the same way that viruses do, according to a Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine study. [More]
GI nematode infections combat obesity and improve related metabolic disorders

GI nematode infections combat obesity and improve related metabolic disorders

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, have shown in a mouse model that infection with nematodes (also known as roundworms) can not only combat obesity but ameliorate related metabolic disorders. [More]
Microbial population in New York City subway system is nearly identical to that of ambient air on city streets

Microbial population in New York City subway system is nearly identical to that of ambient air on city streets

The microbial population in the air of the New York City subway system is nearly identical to that of ambient air on the city streets. This research, published ahead of print in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, establishes an important baseline, should it become necessary to monitor the subway's air for dispersal of potentially dangerous microbes. [More]
Novel approach using Listeria bacteria shows promise against metastatic pancreatic cancer

Novel approach using Listeria bacteria shows promise against metastatic pancreatic cancer

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have developed a therapy for pancreatic cancer that uses Listeria bacteria to selectively infect tumor cells and deliver radioisotopes into them. [More]
University of Guelph researchers develop carbohydrate-based vaccine against gut bug

University of Guelph researchers develop carbohydrate-based vaccine against gut bug

A first-ever vaccine created by University of Guelph researchers for gut bacteria common in autistic children may also help control some autism symptoms. [More]

Vesicular stomatitis virus spares non-cancerous cells and kills melanoma cells

Researchers from Yale University School of Medicine have demonstrated that vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is highly competent at finding, infecting, and killing human melanoma cells, both in vitro and in animal models, while having little propensity to infect non-cancerous cells. [More]

Common species of bacteria contribute to bacterial vaginosis

New research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis points to a common species of bacteria as an important contributor to bacterial vaginosis, a condition linked to preterm birth and increased risk of sexually transmitted diseases. [More]
ViroPharma announces results of VP20621 Phase 2 study for preventing recurrent CDI

ViroPharma announces results of VP20621 Phase 2 study for preventing recurrent CDI

ViroPharma Incorporated, an international biopharmaceutical company committed to developing and commercializing innovative products that address unmet medical needs and rare diseases, today announced the results of a Phase 2 study of VP20621 (non-toxigenic Clostridium difficile; NTCD) a novel treatment approach for preventing recurrent C. difficile infections. [More]
DNAzymes, gold nanoparticles and disease detection: an interview with Dr Chan and Kyryl Zagorovsky, University of Toronto

DNAzymes, gold nanoparticles and disease detection: an interview with Dr Chan and Kyryl Zagorovsky, University of Toronto

Gold nanoparticles are tiny spherical particles made out of gold atoms with sizes on nanometre scale. This is around 1,000 times smaller than the thickness of human hair. [More]
Eating mushrooms can help increase, maintain vitamin D levels, find BUSM researchers

Eating mushrooms can help increase, maintain vitamin D levels, find BUSM researchers

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine have discovered that eating mushrooms containing Vitamin D2 can be as effective at increasing and maintaining vitamin D levels (25-hydroxyvitamin D) as taking supplemental vitamin D2 or vitamin D3. [More]
International team of researchers joins forces to decode genome of prehistoric fish

International team of researchers joins forces to decode genome of prehistoric fish

An enigmatic prehistoric fish has brought scientists at A*STAR's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) together with researchers from all over the world to crack its genomic code. [More]
Texas scientist says nonmedical community should be educated about long-term effects of antibiotic overuse and misuse

Texas scientist says nonmedical community should be educated about long-term effects of antibiotic overuse and misuse

When thousands of experimental biology researchers gather in Boston this weekend, many of them undoubtedly will be presenting work related to the hunt for the next generation of antibiotics and how to battle back existing and emerging superbugs. [More]
UB researchers develop aniontransporters to trigger cancer cell apoptosis

UB researchers develop aniontransporters to trigger cancer cell apoptosis

The journal Accounts of Chemical Research, which has a profound impact on Chemistry and other related sciences, publishes on its current issue the article "Anion Transporters and Biological Systems", signed by Professor Ricardo Pérez Tomás, from the Department of Pathology and Experimental Therapy of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Barcelona, Roberto Quesada, from the Department of Chemistry of the Sciences Faculty at the University of Burgos, and Philip A. Gale, from the University of Southampton, in the United Kingdom. [More]
Edible malarial vaccine may work against other viral and bacterial infections

Edible malarial vaccine may work against other viral and bacterial infections

Can scientists rid malaria from the Third World by simply feeding algae genetically engineered with a vaccine? That's the question biologists at UC San Diego sought to answer after they demonstrated last May that algae can be engineered to produce a vaccine that blocks malaria transmission. [More]

Circumcision lowers bacterial load, possibly allowing for HIV infection risk reduction, researchers say

"Circumcision reduces a man's risk of acquiring and transmitting HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, and now researchers have found a possible explanation: the procedure reduces the quantity and diversity of bacteria at the head of the penis," the New York Times' "Well" blog reports (Bakalar, 4/18). [More]

High dietary salt combined with ulcer infection greatly increases risk of gastric cancer

Numerous epidemiologic studies have shown that a diet high in salt is associated with an increased risk of gastric cancer. [More]

BGU, FCCC receive NIH grant to study role of microRNAs in maintaining measles virus persistence

American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev announces that Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia have received a two-year National Institutes of Health research grant to observe "the role of host encoded microRNAs in the maintenance of the measles virus persistent state." [More]

Antibiotic resistance: A growing problem in hospital and outpatient settings

A new study concludes that problems with antibiotic resistance faced by outpatients may be as bad as those in hospitalized patients, and that more studies of outpatients are needed - both to protect their health and to avoid inappropriate or unnecessary drug use. [More]
CRISPR helps some bacteria evade mammalian immune system

CRISPR helps some bacteria evade mammalian immune system

CRISPR, a system of genes that bacteria use to defend themselves against viruses, has been found to be involved in helping some bacteria evade the mammalian immune system. [More]