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Scoliosis gene found

Physicians have recognized scoliosis, the abnormal curvature of the spine, since the time of Hippocrates, but its causes have remained a mystery -- until now. For the first time, researchers have discovered a gene that underlies the condition, which affects about 3 percent of all children.

26 Jun 2007

Protein C levels help predict severity of illness and risk of death in ICU patients

A simple laboratory test to measure protein C - a natural anti-blood-clotting substance that also reflects the level of inflammation in the body - may offer a useful new indicator of the severity of illness and risk of death among critically ill patients.

26 Jun 2007

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids protect against retinopathy

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids protect against the development and progression of retinopathy, a deterioration of the retina, in mice.

26 Jun 2007

MIT researchers reverse behavioral symptoms in mice

Researchers at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT have, for the first time, reversed symptoms of mental retardation and autism in mice.

26 Jun 2007

Does air pollution have a bigger effect on the immune system of females than males?

Does air pollution have a bigger effect on the immune system of females than males? It did among mice exposed to ozone -- a major component in air pollution that is known to negatively affect lung function -- and then infected with pneumonia, as significantly more females died from the infection than males.

26 Jun 2007

SSRIs associated with lower bone density in older men and women

The class of antidepressant medications known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors may be associated with an increased rate of bone loss in older men and women, according to two articles in the June 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

26 Jun 2007

New gene therapy technique for Parkinson's

According to a new study a novel gene therapy technique is safe and may be effective at staving off the worsening symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

25 Jun 2007

Targeting key proteins of carcinogenesis

Misfolded and disused proteins are eliminated by a cellular shredder called the proteasome.

23 Jun 2007

Genes play unexpected role in their own activation

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered how a single molecular "on switch" triggers gene activity that might cause effects ranging from learning and memory capabilities to glucose production in the liver.

23 Jun 2007

New compound kills fungal pathogens

A new mechanism to attack hard-to-treat fungal infections has been revealed by scientists from the biotech company Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc., California, and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) outstation in Grenoble, France.

23 Jun 2007

Mushrooms show promise for creation of new drugs

Mushrooms might serve as biofactories for the production of various beneficial human drugs, according to plant pathologists who have inserted new genes into mushrooms.

23 Jun 2007

Levels of protein CA 19-9 in blood predicts pancreatic cancer outcome after surgery

A team of researchers, led by surgeons at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson in Philadelphia, has found further evidence supporting the ability of a protein to predict how well a patient with advanced pancreatic cancer will do after surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.

23 Jun 2007

Gene therapy for Parkinson's disease is safe and some patients benefit

A novel gene therapy technique is safe and may be effective at staving off worsening symptoms of Parkinson's disease, according to the first scientific review of a dozen patients who have received the treatment over the last three years.

23 Jun 2007

New cancer drug target

Research led by scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College has uncovered two new potential points of vulnerability on a key cancer-promoting protein, called XIAP.

23 Jun 2007

New therapeutic vaccines help kick drug habits

A pair of new vaccines designed to combat cocaine and methamphetamine dependencies not only relieve addiction but also minimize withdrawal symptoms, according to study results presented by Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) researchers at the Annual Meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence in Quebec City, Canada.

23 Jun 2007

New drug target for the treatment of Parkinson's disease

Researchers at the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (MGH-MIND) have identified a potential new drug target for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and possibly for other degenerative neurological disorders.

23 Jun 2007

New risk marker for overweight children

A study of 40 overweight children in Edmonton has revealed they all share something in common aside from being heavy: each one of them has high levels of apoB48, a structural protein found in intestinal cholesterol.

23 Jun 2007

New hope for Alzheimer's disease

Scientists have provided new details about how proteins used to destroy bacteria and viruses may help treat Alzheimer?s disease.

23 Jun 2007

Study to investigate how dietary iron is used by cells

A four-year study on iron metabolism within cells, an essential process that impacts both iron deficiency and iron toxicity, conditions responsible for a multitude of human diseases, is underway at the University at Buffalo funded by a $1.16 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).

23 Jun 2007

New understanding of modern pandemic infection

Human resistance to a retrovirus that infected chimpanzees and other nonhuman primates 4 million years ago ironically may be at least partially responsible for the susceptibility of humans to HIV infection today.

23 Jun 2007