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Dasatinib provides significant benefit in chronic myeloid leukemia patients resistant to Gleevec

A study led by researchers from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute has found that dasatinib provides significant benefit in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients resistant to Gleevec. (imatinib), according to a study presented during the 97th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

11 Apr 2006

Mount Sinai launches CombiRx trial to treat relapsing-remitting Multiple Sclerosis

Mount Sinai School of Medicine is the Clinical Coordinating Center for the first study to assess the effectiveness of combining two FDA approved medications as initial treatment for people with Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis.

11 Apr 2006

Researchers identify the role of a protein in hemoglobin gene silencing

Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center researchers have identified the role of a protein in hemoglobin gene silencing that may one day be a potential target for the treatment of genetic blood disorders like sickle-cell anemia and beta-thalassemia on the molecular level.

11 Apr 2006

New model of p53 regulation has important implications for the development of anticancer drugs

Genetically engineered mice convinced scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies that it was time to overhaul widely held beliefs about how a powerful tumor suppressor called p53 is controlled in cells. Their new model of p53 regulation has important implications for the development of anticancer drugs.

11 Apr 2006

Research explains why recipients of growth hormone therapy may develop colon polyps

The use of growth hormone therapy has been linked in some people to the development of colon polyps, a possible precursor to colorectal cancer - but medical researchers have debated the extent of a cancer risk.

11 Apr 2006

Scientists identify a new gene that causes the spread of cancer

Professor Philip Rudland, Dr Guozheng Wang and Dr Roger Barraclough from Liverpool University's Cancer and Polio Research Fund Laboratories have discovered an additional member of the S100 family of protein genes - S100P - that causes the spread of cancerous cells from an original tumour to other parts of the body.

11 Apr 2006

Scientists reconstruct Darwinian evolution to explain 'irreducible complexity'

Using new techniques for resurrecting ancient genes, scientists have for the first time reconstructed the Darwinian evolution of an apparently "irreducibly complex" molecular system.

11 Apr 2006

Losartan can prevent progression of Marfan syndrome

A commonly prescribed blood pressure medication may provide the first ray of hope in preventing potentially deadly complications of Marfan syndrome, a genetic disease that weakens the structural meshwork of blood vessels.

11 Apr 2006

Colorimetric screening detects DNA, small molecules and proteins

Using the unusual color properties of gold at the nanoscale, scientists at Northwestern University have developed a "litmus test" for DNA and small molecule binding that eventually could be used by pharmaceutical companies to rapidly identify promising candidates for new anti-cancer drugs.

11 Apr 2006

Removal of a woman's ovaries raises risk of dementia

Mayo Clinic researchers have found that ovariectomy, surgical removal of a woman's ovaries, raises her risk of developing dementia or cognitive impairment. Risk is especially increased if a woman has her ovaries removed at a young age.

11 Apr 2006

Genetic variants in estrogen-related genes linked to Parkinson's disease in women

Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered a possible connection between increased risk for Parkinson's disease and variants in three genes that control estrogen production and activity in the body.

11 Apr 2006

Salmonella bacteria use new mechanism known as the riboswitch to adjust magnesium levels

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have added a gene in the bacterium Salmonella to the short list of genes regulated by a new mechanism known as the riboswitch.

11 Apr 2006

Important advance in understanding the complex interactions between proteins

Interactions between proteins are the engines that drive the lives of cells, and a better understanding of these relationships -- and the structures that enable them -- are the next great frontier in the biological sciences.

10 Apr 2006

Environment and genes determine whether a child will an avid reader

"Children don't come into this world as clay to be molded," said Phillip Dale, professor and chair of the Communication Science and Disorders Department in the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Health Professions.

10 Apr 2006

Whole genome analysis of the protein kinases from Dictyostelium

The journal PLoS Genetics has published the findings of a team of scientists at the nonprofit Boston Biomedical Research Institute that provides a whole genome analysis of the protein kinases from a scientifically valuable model organism known as Dictyostelium.

10 Apr 2006

Protein loss linked to colon polyp risk from growth hormone

10 Apr 2006

Discovery of new human retrovirus

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers and their colleagues have discovered a new retrovirus in humans that is closely related to a cancer-causing virus found in mice. Their findings describe the first documented cases of human infection with a retrovirus that is native to rodents.

10 Apr 2006

Fish oil may help protect against age-related macular degeneration

A paper published in Trends in Neuroscience by Nicolas G. Bazan, MD, PhD of the Neuroscience Center of Excellence at LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, reports on the role that the omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil play in protecting cells in the retina from degenerative diseases like retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration.

7 Apr 2006

Specific gene that could be responsible for metabolic diseases

We are all familiar with the dangers of too much fat in our diet--increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, and obesity are just a few of the most severe consequences.

7 Apr 2006

A genomic signature of 254 genes predicting clinical outcome in Primary Cutaneous Melanoma identified

EORTC Melanoma Group researchers have identified a genomic signature predicting clinical outcome in Primary Cutaneous Melanoma, after patients having undergone standard treatment.

6 Apr 2006