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Botulism toxins could be re-engineered for treating RA, asthma, psoriasis

The most poisonous substance on Earth - already used medically in small doses to treat certain nerve disorders and facial wrinkles - could be re-engineered for an expanded role in helping millions of people with rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, psoriasis and other diseases, scientists are reporting. Their study appears in ACS' journal Biochemistry.

1 Dec 2011

Fatal prion diseases have a hidden signature

Medical researchers in Canada and the United States recently published their joint findings that fatal prion diseases, which include BSE or "mad cow disease," have a hidden signature.

1 Dec 2011

Inadequate mask and respirator use put health care workers at risk of 2009 H1N1 infection

Inadequate use of masks or respirators put health care workers at risk of 2009 H1N1 infection during the earliest stages of the 2009 pandemic in the U.S., according to a study published in the December issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

1 Dec 2011

Taking sleep medication or drinking alcohol does not benefit people with insomnia

Reaching for that sleeping pill or drinking alcohol may not be the most effective way for people with insomnia to get better sleep at night in the long run, suggests a new study by Ryerson University experts.

1 Dec 2011

New gene therapy approach safe for patients with muscular dystrophy

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have shown that it is safe to cut and paste together different viruses in an effort to create the ultimate vehicle for gene therapy. In a phase I clinical trial, the investigators found no side effects from using a "chimeric" virus to deliver replacement genes for an essential muscle protein in patients with muscular dystrophy.

1 Dec 2011

Researchers reveal stress-induced machinery of protein synthesis involved in bacterial cell death

Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of Vienna have revealed for the first time a stress-induced machinery of protein synthesis that is involved in bringing about cell death in bacteria.

1 Dec 2011

FDA clears Abbott's new ARCHITECT 25-OH Vitamin D assay

Abbott announced today it has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a fully-automated 25-OH Vitamin D assay performed on its widely used ARCHITECT laboratory testing platform.

30 Nov 2011

Genentech announces results from pertuzumab studies on HER2-positive breast cancer

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, today announced the company will present results from studies of its investigational medicine pertuzumab in HER2-positive breast cancer at the 2011 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium December 6-10.

30 Nov 2011

Almac's Diagnostics business unit receives CAP lab accreditation

Almac's Diagnostics business unit has been awarded accreditation for its Craigavon, UK facilities by the Accreditation Committee of the College of American Pathologists (CAP), based on the results of a recent onsite inspection.

30 Nov 2011

Babraham Institute receives BBSRC grant to study effects of ageing on immune system

Efforts to understand the effect of ageing on the immune system received a boost today as the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) announced investment in a new £3.6 million research project.

30 Nov 2011

Kessler Foundation scientists to investigate cognitive reserve in TBI

Denise Krch, PhD, and James Sumowski, PhD, research scientists in the Neuropsychology and Neuroscience Laboratory at Kessler Foundation, received a $379,000 grant for a three-year study of cognitive reserve in people with traumatic brain injury.

30 Nov 2011

DNA gyrase B could rapidly eliminate TB, shorten treatment time

In research at SRI International, scientists evaluating new drug targets against tuberculosis (TB) recently validated the preclinical effectiveness of a target that could rapidly eliminate infections and potentially shorten treatment time. The new drug target is a protein called DNA gyrase B, found in bacteria that cause TB infections.

30 Nov 2011

Study finds structure-function impairments in people addicted to cocaine

The more gray matter you have in the decision-making, thought-processing part of your brain, the better your ability to evaluate rewards and consequences. That may seem like an obvious conclusion, but a new study conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory is the first to show this link between structure and function in healthy people - and the impairment of both structure and function in people addicted to cocaine.

30 Nov 2011

Herbicide atrazine linked to reproductive dysfunction

An international team of researchers has reviewed the evidence linking exposure to atrazine - an herbicide widely used in the U.S. and more than 60 other nations - to reproductive problems in animals. The team found consistent patterns of reproductive dysfunction in amphibians, fish, reptiles and mammals exposed to the chemical.

29 Nov 2011

Largest survey on genetic, epigenetic stability of stem cells

An international study, published today in the prestigious journal Nature Biotechnology, reveals more about human pluripotent stem cells and their genetic stability and has important implications for the development of therapies using these cells.

29 Nov 2011

New glycoconjugate vaccine prototype more effective than traditional vaccines

Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) researchers have created a vaccine that is more potent than traditional vaccines available today. The glycoconjugate vaccine prototype is 100 times more effective than traditional glycoconjugate vaccines. Their work is published in the December 2011 issue of Nature Medicine.

29 Nov 2011

New research institute at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Academic and government leaders announced today the establishment of a major new research institute at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center that will blend the best attributes of academic and industrial research to identify and validate new cancer targets, convert such scientific knowledge into new cancer drugs, and advance these novel agents into innovative clinical trials.

29 Nov 2011