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Scientists to investigate biochemical switch: P2X1 receptor

Scientists investigating a 'biochemical switch' linked to strokes and heart disease claim to have made an advance in understanding how it is 'turned on'.

6 Mar 2012

MicroRNAs key to memory and learning process

Studying tiny bits of genetic material that control protein formation in the brain, Johns Hopkins scientists say they have new clues to how memories are made and how drugs might someday be used to stop disruptions in the process that lead to mental illness and brain wasting diseases.

5 Mar 2012

Certain microRNAs key to controlling actions of BDNF, linked to brain cell survival

5 Mar 2012

Researchers refute widely accepted hypothesis about causative step in ALS

In science, refuting a hypothesis can be as significant as proving one, all the more so in research aimed at elucidating how diseases proceed with a view toward preventing, treating, or curing them. Such a discovery can save scientists from spending precious years of effort exploring a dead end. In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Munich-based researchers refute a widely accepted hypothesis about a causative step in neurodegenerative conditions.

1 Mar 2012

New system improves chances of pregnancy during IVF

A novel system for processing embryos during IVF treatment has been shown to significantly improve the chances of pregnancy - by more than a quarter.

1 Mar 2012

Rapid influenza diagnostic tests highly accurate in children than in adults

A new study conducted by researchers from McGill University, the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI MUHC), and Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Centre, Montreal, has put the accuracy of rapid influenza diagnostic tests (RIDTs) under the microscope.

28 Feb 2012

Rare egg producing stem cells in women’s ovaries discovered

It was known till now that women were born with all the eggs they'll ever have. But now Harvard scientists have found that ovaries of young women harbor very rare stem cells capable of producing new eggs. The researchers feel that harnessing those stem cells might one day lead to better treatments for women left infertile because of disease or age.

27 Feb 2012

H2S transforms dental pulp stem cells into liver cells

Japanese scientists have found that the odorous compound responsible for halitosis - otherwise known as bad breath - is ideal for harvesting stem cells taken from human dental pulp.

27 Feb 2012

Scientists observe maturation of immune cells in live zebrafish embryos

T-cells are the immune system's security force. They seek out pathogens and rogue cells in the body and put them out of action. Their precursors are formed in the bone marrow and migrate from there into the thymus. Here, they mature and differentiate to perform a variety of tasks. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg have now succeeded for the first time in observing the maturation of immune cells in live zebrafish embryos.

17 Feb 2012

Ovarian cancer subtype may be susceptible to 'anti-angiogenic' drugs

Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have identified a subtype of ovarian cancer able to build its own blood vessels, suggesting that such tumors might be especially susceptible to "anti-angiogenic" drugs that block blood vessel formation.

15 Feb 2012

Study shows how malaria parasite changes into banana form before sexual reproduction

New research from the University of Melbourne shows how the malaria parasite (Plasmodium falciparum) changes into a banana shape before sexual reproduction, a finding that could provide targets for vaccine or drug development and may explain how the parasite evades the human immune system.

14 Feb 2012

Komen's Brinker apologizes for 'how we mishandled this situation'

In her first public statement since her organization reversed a decision to stop donating to Planned Parenthood, Nancy Brinker, the founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, said that "I made some mistakes" in the case, which swelled into a massive controversy. Brinker, in a letter to Washington Post columnist Sally Quinn, also noted that many commentators had blamed "culture wars" for the intensity of the criticism over the foundation's cutoff of funding.

10 Feb 2012

UofL to receive Grand Challenges tuberculosis biomarkers grant

The University of Louisville announced today that it will receive a tuberculosis (TB) biomarkers grant through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Grand Challenges in Global Health program, an initiative which seeks to overcome persistent bottlenecks in creating new tools that can radically improve health in the developing world. James E. Graham, Ph.D., associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the UofL School of Medicine, will pursue an innovative research project to identify and validate TB biomarkers, titled "Disposable Sampling Plate and Breath Test to Identify Patients with Active Tuberculosis."

10 Feb 2012

Karolinska Institutet to study fundamental causes of diabetes

The Swedish medical university, Karolinska Institutet, has received a grant of 1.6 million Euro from the Stichting af Jochnick Foundation for research into the fundamental causes of diabetes. The grant will make it possible to use unique methods to study how the release of insulin is regulated in living organisms - and this will create new opportunities for developing more effective drugs against diabetes.

7 Feb 2012

Scientists capture finest nerve cell details in living mouse brain

To explore the most intricate structures of the brain in order to decipher how it functions - Stefan Hell's team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in G-ttingen has made a significant step closer to this goal. Using the STED microscopy developed by Hell, the scientists have, for the first time, managed to record detailed live images inside the brain of a living mouse.

7 Feb 2012

Urine-based biomarkers may lead to development of test for high-risk prostate cancer

Initial results of a multicenter study coordinated by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center indicates that two investigational urine-based biomarkers are associated with prostate cancers that are likely to be aggressive and potentially life-threatening among men who take a "watchful waiting," or active-surveillance approach to manage their disease.

3 Feb 2012