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Understanding donor-recipient genetics could decrease early kidney transplant complications

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found an association between the genetics of donor-recipient matches in kidney transplants and complications during the first week after transplantation.

25 Nov 2008

Scientists reconstruct bat variant of SARS coronavirus

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Vanderbilt University Medical Center have synthetically reconstructed the bat variant of the SARS coronavirus (CoV) that caused the SARS epidemic of 2003.

25 Nov 2008

Improvement seen regarding racial disparities for liver transplantation, disparities for women remain

Following introduction of a new system in 2002 to determine the allocation of donated livers, black patients no longer are less likely to receive a liver transplant, but disparities for women remain, according to a study in the November 26 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

25 Nov 2008

Researchers repair injured heart muscle with novel stem cells

Researchers at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC have been able to effectively repair damaged heart muscle in an animal model using a novel population of stem cells they discovered that is derived from human skeletal muscle tissue.

25 Nov 2008

Scientists develop 'barcode chip' to revolutionize diagnostic medical testing

In less than 10 minutes, and using just a pinprick's worth of blood, the chip can measure the concentrations of dozens of proteins, including those that herald the presence of diseases like cancer and heart disease.

25 Nov 2008

$2.7 million boosts effort to create the big view of cancer

Many scientists like to discuss how each form of cancer is a distinct disease with its own causes and its own treatments. But researcher Hartmut "Hucky" Land, Ph.D., takes the opposite approach: He is hunting for the most basic rules that all cancers share to make good cells go bad.

25 Nov 2008

Researchers develop new strategy for broad spectrum anti-viral drugs

Bavituximab, an anti-viral drug developed by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers, shows promise as a new strategy to fight viral diseases, including potential bioterrorism agents.

24 Nov 2008

Scientists discover that blocking a neuropeptide receptor decreases nicotine addiction

The study was published in an online Early Edition issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , the week of November 24.

24 Nov 2008

Discovery of new species of bacterium that causes leprosy

A new species of bacterium that causes leprosy has been identified through intensive genetic analysis of a pair of lethal infections, a research team reports in the December issue of the American Journal of Clinical Pathology.

24 Nov 2008

Discovery of novel drug target for chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and the Moores UCSD Cancer Center have discovered what could be a novel drug target for an often difficult-to-treat form of leukemia.

24 Nov 2008

Brookhaven scientists receive patent for improved cancer therapy device

Four physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have been awarded U.S. Patent No. 7,432,516 B2 for the design of a "medical synchrotron" capable of delivering precision doses of proton radiation to cancerous tumors with minimal damage to surrounding healthy tissue.

24 Nov 2008

Evidence of retina self-repair in mammals

Researchers at the University of Washington (UW) have reported for the first time that mammals can be stimulated to regrow inner nerve cells in their damaged retinas.

24 Nov 2008

New model predicts risk of recurrence in early stage colon cancer patients

Researchers in the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy have developed a model for predicting risk of recurrence in early stage colon cancer patients, and have used the model to also predict sensitivity to chemotherapy and targeted therapy regimens.

24 Nov 2008

Scientists identify blood component that turns anthrax bacteria virulent

Scientists from the Scripps Research Institute have discovered the key chemical that signals Bacillus anthracis , the bacterium that causes anthrax, to become lethal.

21 Nov 2008

Researchers discover how red wine may reduce Alzheimer's

Scientists call it the "French paradox" - a society that, despite consuming food high in cholesterol and saturated fats, has long had low death rates from heart disease.

21 Nov 2008

Neurological health risk in children with blunt head injuries: fashion hair beads

An intriguing article published in the December 2008 online issue of Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics may come as quite a surprise to parents, especially those with little girls.

21 Nov 2008

Mechanisms of cardiovascular disease and cancer give clues to new therapies

Cardiovascular conditions leading to heart attacks and strokes are treated quite separately from common cancers of the prostate, breast or lung, but now turn out to involve some of the same critical mechanisms at the molecular level.

21 Nov 2008

Does hormone treatment predispose patients to breast cancer?

Breast cancer, the leading cause of death among women in France, is the most commonly occurring cancer in women.

21 Nov 2008

Bipolar disorder genes, pathways identified

Neuroscientists at the Indiana University School of Medicine have created the first comprehensive map of genes likely to be involved in bipolar disorder, according to research published online Nov. 21 in the American Journal of Medical Genetics.

21 Nov 2008

Non-pharmacologic interventions for the control of osteoporosis and obesity

The Department of Biomedical Engineering at Stony Brook University received a $1.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to investigate the biologic and physical mechanisms of very low-magnitude mechanical signals and how they strengthen bone and muscle.

20 Nov 2008