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Jellyfish advance science

Salmon fishermen trolling along the waters off Puget Sound in Washington are often witness to an awesome sight when they haul in their catch: salmon captured in nets that glow brilliantly against the nighttime sky.

16 Sep 2004

Potential stem cells treatment for retinitis pigmentosa and other retinal degenerations

A team of researchers from The Scripps Research Institute was able to preserve visual function in mice that were genetically predisposed to developing a profound degenerative disease that destroys their retinas.

16 Sep 2004

New method targeting hypermethylation detects ovarian cancer in the blood

Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers have found a new way to detect ovarian cancer in the blood. Reported in the Sept. 15, 2004, issue of Cancer Research, the new method targets hypermethylation--one mechanism used by cancer cells to turn off genes that protect against tumor development.

16 Sep 2004

RNAi enlisted in hunt for prawn vaccines

CSIRO researchers are using a biological phenomenon called RNA interference (RNAi) in an effort to develop a major biotechnological breakthrough for the aquaculture industry - vaccines for common prawn diseases.

16 Sep 2004

Protein that causes juvenile Batten disease also plays a key role in normal cell function

The aberrant protein that causes juvenile Batten disease, a fatal neurodegenerative disorder of childhood, also plays a key role in normal cell function, Duke University Medical Center researchers have found.

16 Sep 2004

Drug combo may have a greater impact on cancer development

Cancer researchers have long suggested that new targeted drugs may work best when paired with other therapies. In a new study published today in Cancer Research, scientists have taken some of the first steps to demonstrate this synergy in mouse and cell line models.

16 Sep 2004

Researchers are making inroads to understanding what makes brain tumors so hard to treat

When he's not in the operating room performing surgery, Donald M. O'Rourke, M.D., Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine is fighting brain tumors from the research laboratory bench.

16 Sep 2004

Immunoglobulins might be promising treatment for Alzheimer's disease

Intravenous immunoglobulin might offer a promising treatment for Alzheimer's disease, suggests preliminary research in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

15 Sep 2004

Role of gene identified in development of tumours in children

Medical researchers from Children’s Cancer Institute Australia for Medical Research (CCIA) have made significant progress in understanding tumour initiation in the aggressive, debilitating childhood cancer, neuroblastoma

14 Sep 2004

Important discovery that will increase the understanding of multiple sclerosis

Scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara have made an important discovery that will increase the understanding of multiple sclerosis, a debilitating disease of the central nervous system in which the myelin sheath, an insulating membrane surrounding the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, start to unravel for reasons as yet unknown.

14 Sep 2004

Wyeth gets approval for needle-less syringe for the treatment of hemophilia

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals has announced that it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the ReFacto Antihemophilic Factor (Recombinant) R2 Kit, the first needle-less reconstitution device with a prefilled diluent syringe for hemophilia.

14 Sep 2004

Crocodile blood could help make artificial blood

Pioneering research being undertaken on crocodile blood to see if it can help in making artificial blood is revealed tomorrow in an innovative new, free, emailed, quarterly science magazine called Velocity.

14 Sep 2004

First molecular-scale images of DNA binding to an adenovirus enzyme

The images, which appear on the cover of the October 2004 issue of Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, show how binding to DNA may stimulate the enzyme and are already being used to design new antiviral drugs to block this interaction.

14 Sep 2004

Missing link between inflammatory markers in the bloodstream and the increased risk of heart attack

The study of 386 Olmsted County, Minn., residents used transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) to obtain high-quality images of the lining of the aorta, the main artery through which the heart pumps blood to the body.

14 Sep 2004

Genetically modified bacterium as remedy for intestinal diseases

Researchers from the Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) at Ghent University are joining the fight against chronic intestinal disease with a genetically modified bacterium (Lactococcus lactis).

14 Sep 2004

Statistical method for faster prognosis of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases

A large number of diseases − including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and mad cow disease − are the result of proteins that erroneously assume the wrong shape, causing them to stick to each other.

13 Sep 2004

A new non-invasive test for kidney disease

A new non-invasive test for kidney disease, developed by clinicians at Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust and Imperial College London, is providing a simple, safe, cheap and reliable method of detecting kidney disease.

13 Sep 2004

Inhaled nitrite spray may help babies diagnosed with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn

Scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center and the Loma Linda University School of Medicine have found that use of an inhaled nitrite spray may help babies diagnosed with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN).

13 Sep 2004

CA125 blood test may be superior to standard imaging techniques like CT scans

A new study shows that the CA125 blood test, which measures the level of protein produced by ovarian cancer cells in the blood, may be superior to standard imaging techniques like CT scans in predicting survival in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer.

13 Sep 2004

Sea urchins may provide clues to some baffling human reproductive problems

For many years scientists have believed they understood how closely related species that occupy the same regions of the ocean were kept from interbreeding. It turns out they were only seeing part of the picture.

13 Sep 2004