Laboratory News and Research

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A new monkey model for HIV

By altering just one gene in HIV-1, scientists have succeeded in infecting pig-tailed macaque monkeys with a human version of the virus that has until now been impossible to study directly in animals.

2 Mar 2009

Chantix may also help people control drinking

A popular smoking cessation drug dramatically reduced the amount a heavy drinker will consume, a new Yale School of Medicine study has found.

2 Mar 2009

Discovery of gene involved in pancreatic cancer

Researchers from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a gene that is overexpressed in 90 percent of pancreatic cancers, the most deadly type of cancer.

2 Mar 2009

Bacteria-killing enzyme cures mice with fatal pneumonia

Before the advent of antibiotics, pneumonia claimed so many lives - and was so feared - that it was called the "captain of the ship of death."

1 Mar 2009

Experimental drug fampridine improves mobility for some MS patients

In MS, the body's immune system attacks myelin, a fatty tissue that wraps and insultates nerve fibers, disrupting the transmission of signals in the central nervous system.

1 Mar 2009

New gene associated with Lou Gehrig's disease

A collaborative research effort spanning nearly a decade between researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and King's College London (KCL) has identified a novel gene for inherited amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease).

26 Feb 2009

Spun-sugar filaments show potential for regenerating nerves

Researchers at Purdue University have developed a technique using spun-sugar filaments to create a scaffold of tiny synthetic tubes that might serve as conduits to regenerate nerves severed in accidents or blood vessels damaged by disease.

26 Feb 2009

Antibody recognition of a highly conserved epitope across influenza viruses

The discovery of the molecule, an antibody known as CR6261, is good news for researchers who hope to design a flu vaccine that would give humans lifelong protection against a majority of influenza viruses.

26 Feb 2009

Scientists develop general-purpose method for detecting trace chemicals

Described in an advance, online publication of the journal Nature Biotechnology on February 22, 2009, the team's general method could be adapted for detecting a wide variety of compounds, including many that are relevant to diagnostic medicine and environmental work.

26 Feb 2009

Lab tests show meropenem and clavulanate combination effective against drug-resistant TB bacteria

WHAT: In a finding that could soon help people infected with untreatable, highly drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB), scientists have shown that two FDA-approved drugs work in tandem to kill laboratory-grown strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the bacterium that causes TB.

26 Feb 2009

Research brings bioengineered organs a step closer

By now, most people have read stories about how to "grow your own organs" using stem cells is just a breakthrough away.

26 Feb 2009

Research points to new antiviral drugs and universal influenza vaccines

WHAT: Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, supported in part by the National Institutes of Health, have identified a common Achilles' heel in a wide range of seasonal and pandemic influenza A viruses.

26 Feb 2009

Experimental animal vaccine may protect humans from Ebola

Protection against Ebola, one of the world's deadliest viruses, can be achieved by a vaccine produced in insect cells, raising prospects for developing an effective vaccine for humans, say scientists at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (SFBR) in San Antonio.

26 Feb 2009