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Scientists discover important step in cortisol production

When a person's under stress or injured, the adrenal gland releases cortisol to help restore the body's functions to normal.

25 Apr 2007

New biotech company develops UD-patented technologies for repairing genes

OrphageniX Inc., a new biotechnology company founded by University of Delaware researchers, has been established in Wilmington to develop and commercialize UD-patented technologies for repairing genes that cause rare, hereditary diseases such as sickle cell anemia and spinal muscular atrophy.

25 Apr 2007

Moonlighting enzyme linked to Friedreich's ataxia

Friedreich's ataxia is one of those diseases few have heard of unless you know someone with the condition.

25 Apr 2007

Underlying causes of hot flashes

Many women in the menopausal transition experience hot flashes: unpredictable, sometimes disruptive, periods of intense heat in the upper torso, neck and face.

25 Apr 2007

Gene analysis explains ethnic differences in sensitivity to chemotherapy in lung cancer

Analysis of three genetic mechanisms that cause non-small cell lung cancer might explain why East Asians respond better than other ethnic groups to a certain type of chemotherapy, a team led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers has found.

25 Apr 2007

Variations of two common genes associated with progression to more advanced forms of age-related macular degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD; when the center of the inner lining of the eye suffers thinning, atrophy, and in some cases bleeding), which can lead to visual impairment and legal blindness, is associated with variations in the genes CFH and LOC387715.

25 Apr 2007

Can a taste for poison drive speciation?

The endless struggle for survival in nature inevitably boils down to finding food and eluding predators.

25 Apr 2007

Novel two-step mechanism ensures that all cilia beat in unison

Cilia, tiny hair-like structures that propel mucus out of airways, have to agree on the direction of the fluid flow to get things moving. Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies discovered a novel two-step mechanism that ensures that all cilia beat in unison.

24 Apr 2007

BioMS Medical announces lead investigator in phase III multiple sclerosis trial

BioMS Medical Corp has announced Dr. Clyde E. Markowitz as the lead investigator in the United States for the Company's pivotal phase III clinical trial of its lead drug, MBP8298, for the treatment of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis.

24 Apr 2007

Chitin compound causes allergic inflammation

The beetle's back and the crab's shell owe their toughness to a common compound called chitin that now appears to trigger airway inflammation and possibly asthma, UCSF scientists have found.

24 Apr 2007

Spousal choices can influence alcohol dependence

Alcohol dependence (AD) is more common among partners of alcoholics than among partners of non-alcoholics.

24 Apr 2007

Johns Hopkins creates database of phosphorylation events

Researchers at Johns Hopkins took advantage of a new technique that reads the makeup of proteins to identify nearly all chemical changes nature makes by adding phosphate to proteins manufactured in human cells.

24 Apr 2007

New understanding of schizophrenia

New research helps bridge an important gap in understanding schizophrenia, providing the best evidence to date that defects in the brain's white matter are a key contributor to the disease, which affects about 1 percent of people worldwide.

24 Apr 2007

Discovery of new genes associated with fever-related seizures that occur in infancy and childhood

Researchers have localized two new genes that are associated with fever-related seizures that occur in infancy and childhood, according to a study published in the April 24, 2007, issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

24 Apr 2007

Junk DNA plays a role in controlling when genes turn on and off

Large swaths of garbled human DNA once dismissed as junk appear to contain some valuable sections, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the University of California-Santa Cruz.

24 Apr 2007

Developmental problems for siblings of autistic children

Younger siblings of children with autism are at risk to suffer from delayed verbal, cognitive and motor development in their early childhood years.

24 Apr 2007

Non-coplanar PCBs and related chemicals warrant serious attention for health reasons

Scientists have determined that a specific class of PCB causes significant developmental abnormalities in rat pups whose mothers were exposed to the toxicant in their food during pregnancy and during the early weeks when the pups were nursing.

24 Apr 2007

Study links Helicobacter pylori to asthma prevention

The stomach bacterium Helicobacter pylori, which causes stomach cancer and peptic ulcers, may not be all bad.

24 Apr 2007

Origin of the brain lies in a worm

The rise of the central nervous system (CNS) in animal evolution has puzzled scientists for centuries.

21 Apr 2007

M. D. Anderson wins $8.3-million to research environmental causes of major diseases

An $8.3-million federal grant to The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Science Park - Research Division addresses the complex interplay between such varied factors as genetics, diet, and environmental exposure to toxins that cause cancer, asthma, diabetes, cardiovascular and other diseases.

21 Apr 2007