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TMC receives NIH grant to evaluate pepducin in heart disease patients

Tufts Medical Center researchers are developing a first-of-its-kind drug to prevent deadly blood clots in heart disease patients, without the risk of serious bleeding associated with current medications. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health has just awarded the team led by Athan Kuliopulos, MD, PhD, a $10 million grant to start testing a drug based on this novel technology.

4 Jul 2012

Scientists develop new animal model to study nonalcoholic steatohepatitis

Scientists at Texas Biomed have developed the laboratory opossum as a new animal model to study the most common liver disease in the nation - afflicting up to 15 million Americans - and for which there is no cure.

4 Jul 2012

Researchers use mouse model of autism to treat CTD

Using a mouse model of autism, researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have successfully treated an autism spectrum disorder characterized by severe cognitive impairment.

3 Jul 2012

Research highlights three factors that could determine outbreak of pandemic flu

A major collaboration between US research centers has highlighted three factors that could ultimately determine whether an outbreak of influenza becomes a serious epidemic that threatens national health. The research suggests that the numbers in current response plans could be out by a factor of two or more depending on the characteristics of the particular pandemic influenza.

3 Jul 2012

Study identifies possible new approach to defeat bacterial infections

Research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists has identified a possible new approach to defeating bacterial infections by targeting an innate immune system component in a bid to invigorate the immune response.

3 Jul 2012

FHIT announces strategic partnership with LecturePad

Foundation for Health Improvement and Technology (FHIT), has announced a strategic partnership with LecturePad.org, an education web portal for continuous professional development.

2 Jul 2012

Abnormal bone marrow stem cells drive development of myelodysplastic syndromes

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that abnormal bone marrow stem cells drive the development of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), serious blood diseases that are common among the elderly and that can progress to acute leukemia. The findings could lead to targeted therapies against MDS and prevent MDS-related cancers. The study is published today in the online edition of the journal Blood.

2 Jul 2012

Safer alternative to experimental gene therapy against HIV infection

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered a surprisingly simple and safe method to disrupt specific genes within cells. The scientists highlighted the medical potential of the new technique by demonstrating its use as a safer alternative to an experimental gene therapy against HIV infection.

2 Jul 2012

Blocking AXL protein may prevent resistance to lung cancer drug

People with lung cancer who are treated with the drug Tarceva face a daunting uncertainty: although their tumors may initially shrink, it's not a question of whether their cancer will return—it's a question of when. And for far too many, it happens far too soon.

2 Jul 2012

3D printed templates of filament networks can improve function of engineered living tissues

Researchers are hopeful that new advances in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine could one day make a replacement liver from a patient's own cells, or animal muscle tissue that could be cut into steaks without ever being inside a cow.

2 Jul 2012

Researchers map significant portion of functional sequences of mouse genome

Popularly dubbed "the book of life," the human genome is extraordinarily difficult to read. But without full knowledge of its grammar and syntax, the genome's 2.9 billion base-pairs of adenine and thymine, cytosine and guanine provide limited insights into humanity's underlying genetics.

2 Jul 2012

Researchers demonstrate power of single-molecule sequencing

The next "next-gen" technology in genome sequencing has gotten a major boost.

2 Jul 2012

New toxicology testing method requires lesser number of fish

A new way of testing the safety of natural and synthetic chemicals has been developed by scientists with funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). Their research, published today in the journal Ecotoxicology, could reduce the number of fish needed to test the toxicity of a range of chemicals including pharmaceuticals and environmental pollutants.

30 Jun 2012

Severe sleep loss jolts the immune system into action

Severe sleep loss jolts the immune system into action, reflecting the same type of immediate response shown during exposure to stress, a new study reports.

30 Jun 2012

Bees help understand connection between taste perception and metabolic syndromes

Scientists at Arizona State University have discovered that honey bees may teach us about basic connections between taste perception and metabolic disorders in humans. By experimenting with honey bee genetics, researchers have identified connections between sugar sensitivity, diabetic physiology and carbohydrate metabolism. Bees and humans may partially share these connections.

30 Jun 2012

Smokers with COPD may find relief with cystic fibrosis drug

A drug developed to treat certain strains of cystic fibrosis may be useful in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, one of the most common lung diseases, which is seen frequently in smokers and has no cure. The findings were published online Friday, June 29, 2012 in the online journal PLoS ONE by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

30 Jun 2012

Blindsight in monkeys is available in everyday environments

The visual information from eyes is sent into the brain unconsciously even if you are not aware. One of examples of unconscious seeing is a phenomenon of "blindsight" [Subjects have no awareness, but their brains can see] in subjects with visual impairment, caused by the damage of a part of the brain called the visual cortex.

29 Jun 2012

Inhibiting immune response during initial multi-drug therapy could speed TB treatment time

Inhibiting a key immune response in mice during initial multi-drug treatment for tuberculosis could - paradoxically - shorten treatment time for the highly contagious lung infection according to new research from Johns Hopkins Children's Center and the Center for TB Research.

29 Jun 2012

Study reveals technique that allows scientists to watch lipid metabolism in live zebrafish

In mammals, most lipids are absorbed into the body via the small intestine. The complexity of the cells and fluids that inhabit this organ make it very difficult to study in a laboratory setting. New research from Carnegie's Steven Farber, James Walters and Jennifer Anderson reveals a technique that allows scientists to watch lipid metabolism in live zebrafish. This method enabled them to describe new aspects of lipid absorption that could have broad applications for human health.

29 Jun 2012

Novo Nordisk, BRI collaborate to speed-up translational research of autoimmune diseases

Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI), a non-profit biomedical research institute in Seattle, Wash., and Novo Nordisk, a global health care company headquartered in Denmark, today announced a three-year collaborative agreement to potentially speed-up translational research of the diagnosis and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and lupus.

29 Jun 2012