Medical Science News

RSS

Yeast and tea tree oil kill MRSA superbug

Manchester Metropolitan University is working with a cutting edge technology firm to find a treatment for the hospital superbug MRSA which kills 5,000 patients each year.

23 Jul 2004

Preliminary tests of the new method, which can detect cancer in a sample with as few as 50 cells

Finding cancer in a tiny drop of body fluid containing relatively few cells now may be possible with a new method of analyzing multiple genes in small samples of DNA, the cellular building blocks of our genetic code.

23 Jul 2004

New Caledonian sponges produce antimalarial substances

Marine organisms synthesize many different substances, some of which possess anticarcinogenic, antiviral or antiparasitic properties.

22 Jul 2004

Natural organohalogens have potent anticancer and antibacterial activity

Human made chemical compounds called organohalogens get loads of attention as they are best known for their often harmful effect on the environment - substances like the CFCs (the ozone-damaging chemicals), dioxin (found in the herbicide Agent Orange), PCBs (industrial fluids) and several pesticides.

22 Jul 2004

Genome decoded of distant relative of human pathogens

The Sanger Institute has completed the sequence and analysis of Erwinia carotovora subsp. atroseptica strain SCRI1043 (ATCC BAA-672).

21 Jul 2004

Environmental Proteomics to design antibodies for the global market

The business fills a niche in the world market by manufacturing custom-made tools (antibodies) used in the study of proteins. Antibodies for use in typical laboratory subjects such as mammals are easily obtained, but it is very difficult to find these tools for use with other organisms, such as fish, plants, and algae. Recognizing the need for these products through his own research at Mount A over the last six years, Campbell appreciated the innovative applications of his findings.

21 Jul 2004

Russian scientists incorporate HIV antigen into a tomato

Russian scientists are currently creating a pleasant and harmless vaccine, and edible one at that. So far, they managed to incorporate the protein gene – HIV antigen in tomatoes. The research is supported by International Science and Technology Center.

19 Jul 2004

First international server to analyze genetic diversity on a large scale

Researchers from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona have developed the first international server that allows the user to analyze genetic diversity on a large scale.

19 Jul 2004

Online database of AIDS-related protein structures

Researchers who are either developing drug treatments for AIDS or studying the virus that causes the disease have a new resource - an online database of AIDS-related protein structures just unveiled for public use by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

16 Jul 2004

DNA left overs, new mechanism for evolution

A team of researchers from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) has discovered that transposons, small DNA sequences that travel through the genomes, can silence the genes adjacent to them by inducing a molecule called antisense RNA.

16 Jul 2004

Novel tool that can be used to visualize single neurons in living brain tissue

Carnegie Mellon University neuroscientist Alison Barth has developed the first tool to identify and study individual neurons activated in a living animal.

15 Jul 2004

Animal bone implants that resemble natural bone

A team of researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) has moved one step closer to developing an ideal bone scaffold for reconstructive surgery.

15 Jul 2004

DNA testing of one millionth sheep for scrapie susceptibility

Orchid BioSciences has announced that its animal genetic testing facility in the U.K. has completed DNA testing of its one millionth sheep for scrapie susceptibility.

10 Jul 2004

First successful gene therapy that mimics the action of calcium channel blockers

Their findings - published in the latest edition of Circulation Research, online July 8 - may lead to a gene therapy alternative to calcium channel blockers and their sometimes severe side effects, but also further interest in the development of gene therapies unique - as in this case - to one particular organ.

10 Jul 2004

Sunscreen to protect the skin's genetic material, or DNA

A new company, DNAcare Systems, is to be formed at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, based on research by skin cancer expert Dr Mark Birch-Machin and colleagues.

8 Jul 2004

Scientists have isolated human postnatal stem cells for the first time from the fibrous tendon that holds our teeth in their sockets

Scientists at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), one of the National Institutes of Health, and their colleagues have isolated human postnatal stem cells for the first time directly from the periodontal ligament, the fibrous, net-like tendon that holds our teeth in their sockets.

8 Jul 2004