Medical Science News

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Several minute intermediate stage in virus-cell fusion may represent a window of opportunity for drug development

To ignite a life-threatening infection in the body, a virus such as HIV invades body cells by first merging, or fusing, with the cell's outer membrane. Once inside the cell, the invading microbe's genetic material takes over, turning the 'host' cell into a factory to produce more copies of the virus, which then spill out to invade other cells in the body.

8 Jun 2005

New understanding of microRNAs

Ribonucleic acid, or RNA, has long been thought to be important only to translate a gene's DNA into the proteins that are cells' workhorses. But new evidence shows that tiny bits of RNA not used to make proteins actually play central roles in normal biology and in the development of cancers.

8 Jun 2005

New bioinformatics technique for systematically analyzing key regions in DNA that help control gene activity

Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the Linnaeus Centre for Bioinformatics (LCB) at Uppsala University in Sweden have developed a new bioinformatics technique for systematically analyzing key regions in DNA that help control gene activity.

8 Jun 2005

Detox diets unsound science and do not work

Scientists say there is no proof that Detox diets work and they do no more to rid the body of toxins than the body's own natural system.

8 Jun 2005

Neuroscientists redefine the dyslexic brain

The dyslexic brain may have a general problem forming perceptual categories, including the templates for printed letters and speech sounds, say University of Southern California (USC) neuroscientists.

5 Jun 2005

Scientists create digital bacteria to advance biomedical research

Scientists at the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory have constructed a computer simulation that allows them to study the relationship between biochemical fluctuations within a single cell and the cell's behavior as it interacts with other cells and its environment.

5 Jun 2005

Scientists have uncovered the structure of a network of proteins that help regulate the life cycle of cells

Scientists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) have uncovered the structure of a network of proteins that help regulate the life cycle of cells. Understanding the network's physical layout is an important step toward learning its precise function, and in finding ways to correct flaws in the system that could lead to cancer.

2 Jun 2005

Scientists shed new light on how protein Ro creates RNA quality control system for cells

A report by Yale scientists in the journal Cell sheds new light on how the protein Ro, a major autoantigen in patients with autoimmune disease, recognizes misfolded RNAs, creating a RNA quality control system for cells.

1 Jun 2005

Scientists develop a way to block the signals responsible for neuropathic pain

Remember how it felt the last time you burned your finger on a hot stove? Imagine what it's like to have that burning pain in your hands or feet all the time and know there's virtually nothing you can do about it.

1 Jun 2005

New clue to understanding how fatty acids work in the brain

Scientists in Cambridge have discovered that a brain protein called syntaxin enables fatty molecules, used widely in health supplements, to work in the brain to make it function properly. Lead Scientist, Dr Bazbek Davletov and his colleague Dr Colin Rickman from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK report their findings in the journal Chemistry and Biology.

1 Jun 2005

Interaction between cell and virus provides scientists valuable insights into the development of safe viral vectors for use in oncology

When infected by a virus, a cell uses specific defense mechanisms developed in the course of a long evolution. Thus, it can activate enzymes that disrupt or prevent replication of the viruses within the cell.

1 Jun 2005

Artificial cobweb proteins for medicine

A unique material based on cobweb proteins is being created by Russian researchers of the State Research Center of Russian Federation GosNIIgentics, Scientific Research Center “Coal-Chemical Fiber”, State Research Center of Applied Microbiology in cooperation with their colleagues from Michigan University with support form the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) (project 1033.2).

30 May 2005

Flavonols in food, key to healthy eating?

University of Melbourne scientists may have found the secret of the fresh fruit and vegetables centred ‘Mediterranean diet’.

29 May 2005

Leprosy microbes lead scientists to immune discovery

With the unusual opportunity that human leprosy infections provide for study of human immune responses, scientists have discovered how the body's early warning system prompts a rapid immune response by two separate armies of defensive cells.

29 May 2005

Tiny fluorescent crystals barely visible to the human eye that could revolutionise cancer diagnosis

Scientists funded by the Association for International Cancer Research have developed tiny fluorescent crystals barely visible to the human eye that could revolutionise cancer diagnosis and treatment in a big way.

26 May 2005

Scientists watch agents of brain-wasting diseases invade and move within brain cells

Scientists for the first time have watched agents of brain-wasting diseases, called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE), as they invade a nerve cell and then travel along wire-like circuits to points of contact with other cells.

25 May 2005

Scientists show nuclear protein Ezh2 helps establish previously unknown signaling pathway in cells

Since 2001, scientists have wrestled with the discovery that there are fewer genes in humans than biological processes linked to those genes over the course of a human lifespan. One way to understand genetically coded events is by studying epigenetics, the regulation and heritability of genes at a cellular level due to molecular changes to the many proteins (called histones) that package DNA in a cell's nucleus.

23 May 2005

Secrets of how the brain is wired for sex revealed

There are two brain structures that a mouse just can't do without when it comes to hooking up with the mate of its dreams--and trying to stay off the lunch menu of the neighborhood cat. These are the amygdala, which is involved in the initial response to cues that signal love or war, and the hypothalamus, which coordinates the innate reproductive or defensive behaviors triggered by these cues.

23 May 2005

Embryonic body wash controls left-right development

Humans and other animals may appear to be symmetrical on the outside, but symmetry is only skin deep. Many body organs, such as the stomach, the heart and the liver, are tipped to the right or left side. So how does the developing embryo distinguish left from right?

20 May 2005

Britain's Royal Society contributes little to medical science

The Royal Society today has contributed little to medical science and should undergo an urgent review of its purpose and programmes, states an editorial in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

19 May 2005

Medical Science News

Several minute intermediate stage in virus-cell fusion may represent a window of opportunity for drug development

New understanding of microRNAs

New bioinformatics technique for systematically analyzing key regions in DNA that help control gene activity

Detox diets unsound science and do not work

Neuroscientists redefine the dyslexic brain

Scientists create digital bacteria to advance biomedical research

Scientists have uncovered the structure of a network of proteins that help regulate the life cycle of cells

Scientists shed new light on how protein Ro creates RNA quality control system for cells

Scientists develop a way to block the signals responsible for neuropathic pain

New clue to understanding how fatty acids work in the brain

Interaction between cell and virus provides scientists valuable insights into the development of safe viral vectors for use in oncology

Artificial cobweb proteins for medicine

Flavonols in food, key to healthy eating?

Leprosy microbes lead scientists to immune discovery

Tiny fluorescent crystals barely visible to the human eye that could revolutionise cancer diagnosis

Scientists watch agents of brain-wasting diseases invade and move within brain cells

Scientists show nuclear protein Ezh2 helps establish previously unknown signaling pathway in cells

Secrets of how the brain is wired for sex revealed

Embryonic body wash controls left-right development

Britain's Royal Society contributes little to medical science

Sensing a Healthier Future

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

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