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A new approach for treating neurological and degenerative disorders

In studies on cancer, heart disease, neurological disorders and other degenerative conditions, some scientists are moving away from the "nature versus nurture" debate, and are finding you're not a creature of either genetics or environment, but both - with enormous implications for a new approach to health.

29 Apr 2010

Tumor cell factories may be difficult to defeat: Researchers

Many of the colon cancer cells that form tumors can be killed by genetically short-circuiting the cells' ability to absorb a key nutrient, a new study has found. While the findings are encouraging, the test tube study using human colon cancer cells also illustrates the difficulty of defeating these cells, known as cancer stem cells.

29 Apr 2010

Celera reports net loss of $12.5M for first-quarter 2010

Celera Corporation today reported net revenues of $31.4 million for the first quarter of 2010 that ended March 27, 2010, compared to $45.7 million in the prior year quarter. For the first quarter of 2010, Celera reported a net loss $12.5 million, or $0.15 per share, compared to a net loss of $1.4 million, or $0.02 per share, for the prior year quarter.

28 Apr 2010

Subtle changes in PTEN protein levels increase chances of developing cancer

A US study has found that even subtle changes in the levels of PTEN, a protein that blocks cancer development, may significantly increase a person's chances of developing cancer.

28 Apr 2010

Scientists discover human DNA that act as a traitor to body's defences

Cancer Research UK-funded scientists have discovered that stretches of human DNA act as a traitor to the body's defences by helping viruses infect people and trigger cancer-causing diseases, according to a study published in Nature Cell Biology today.

28 Apr 2010

Awareness of cancer health disparities, burden of current economic crisis to be explored at 3-day forum

Awareness of cancer health disparities, the burden of the current economic crisis on these inequities, and interventions and policy initiatives to improve health disparities will be explored during a three-day forum hosted by the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies.

28 Apr 2010

IMB awards manufacturer licenses to PPD’s Athlone facility

PPD, Inc. today announced its contract research facility in Athlone, Ireland, has been awarded manufacturer licenses by the Irish Medicines Board. The licenses support investigational medicinal products and marketed products and provide laboratory certifications for quality control of medicinal products.

28 Apr 2010

Maryland startup Rhemisphere signs agreement with UMB for right to commercialize Blink system

Maryland startup Rhemisphere, LLC has licensed a unique, "all-in-one" patient monitoring system invented by clinical researchers at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

28 Apr 2010

Researchers develop new diagnostic approach to fight against Chagas disease

Chagas disease is one of the most deadly parasitic diseases in the world. It affects more than 10 million people, primarily in the Americas. In South America alone it kills 50 000 people each year. A reliable and rapid diagnosis is the key in the battle against infection but until now, this has been next to impossible.

28 Apr 2010

Dietary MSC can help reset cell's biological clock to prevent development of breast cancer: Study

Usually when all else fails with a technical device, a "reset" button can be pressed, preventing a glitch from going any further. What if that could be done with threats to a person's health? Investigators from The Cancer Institute of New Jersey and the Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences Institute which is jointly administered by UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, have discovered that a form of a dietary trace element known as selenium can help reset a cell's "biological clock" when it is disrupted by a chemical cancer-causing agent (carcinogen).

28 Apr 2010

BioMedix TRAKnet software suite receives APMA Seal of Acceptance

Today, the BioMedix TRAKnet software suite was granted the prestigious American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) Seal of Acceptance. BioMedix is the only company to receive the APMA Seal of Acceptance for Electronic Health Record and Practice Management software.

28 Apr 2010

New imaging protocol to visualize activity of brain's reward circuitry in individuals addicted to drugs

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed an imaging protocol that allows them to visualize the activity of the brain's reward circuitry in both normal individuals and those addicted to drugs. The technique could lead to better insight into why people take recreational drugs as well as help determine which treatment strategies might be most effective.

27 Apr 2010

Cell phone program to promote more physical activity

About two thirds of the American population is overweight or obese, putting them at higher risk for health problems such as heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes. The obesity epidemic in America is the result of poor eating habits, genetics, and a lack of exercise. It's therefore difficult for public health officials to get people to make a conscious effort to control their weight.

27 Apr 2010

Slitrk5 gene linked to development of OCD-like behaviors

Researchers at the Ansary Stem Cell Institute and the Department of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College discovered that mice missing a single gene developed repetitive obsessive-compulsive-like behaviors. The genetically altered mice, which behaved much like people with a certain type of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), could help scientists design new therapies for this debilitating condition.

27 Apr 2010

Melanin-covered nanoparticles may protect bone marrow from harmful radiation therapy effects: Research

Tiny, melanin-covered nanoparticles may protect bone marrow from the harmful effects of radiation therapy, according to scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University who successfully tested the strategy in mouse models.

27 Apr 2010

New discovery links Slitrk5 gene to development of OCD-like behaviors

27 Apr 2010

ExonHit to acquire RedPath for upfront payment of $12.5M in cash and $10M in stock

RedPath Integrated Pathology, Inc., a cancer molecular diagnostics company headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, announced today that it has entered into a binding agreement to be acquired by ExonHit Therapeutics, S.A., a leading French diagnostics and therapeutics biotech company for an upfront payment of $12.5M in cash and $10M in stock, and starting in 2012, subsequent additional payment up to $9.5M dependent on the achievement of sales targets.

27 Apr 2010

Scientists develop rapid point-of-care diagnostic test to measure CD4 T-cells

Scientists at Australia's Burnet Institute have developed a rapid point-of-care diagnostic test for the measurement of CD4 T-cells, a marker of the immune system for people living with HIV and AIDS.

27 Apr 2010

Tel Aviv University researcher maps drug target to wipe pain away

In most cases of chronic pain -- lingering pain that never seems to go away after accidents or prolonged illnesses ― no pill exists to dull the hurt. Billions of dollars are lost every year in sick days taken to alleviate chronic pain, and as much money is spent by the healthcare system to diagnose what's wrong.

27 Apr 2010