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Australian scientists tackle deadly Q fever

Scientists at James Cook University have taken the lead in developing a new vaccine against a highly infectious cattleyard disease caused by a bacteria which has the potential to be developed as a bioterrorist weapon.

20 Apr 2006

Children with bone cancer in their arms or legs survival rate improved

Ross Wilkins and Stephen Withrow are doctors working together in the fight against bone cancer. Their goals are the same. Their patients are not.

20 Apr 2006

Will we ever be rid of bird flu?

Experts say that the rapid spread of bird flu in India will be impossible to eradicate and is certain to remain a long-term threat in many areas.

18 Apr 2006

Certain soil types serve as natural prion repositories in the wild

Scientists have confirmed that prions, the mysterious proteins thought to cause chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer, latch on tightly to certain minerals in soil and remain infectious.

18 Apr 2006

Scientists step closer to new treatments for river blindness

Veterinary scientists in Liverpool have found that some African cattle have natural immunity to a parasite, similar to that which causes river blindness in humans.

13 Apr 2006

IL-25 both promotes and limits inflammatory diseases

The same signal responsible for promoting the type of immune responses that cause asthma and allergy can also limit the type of inflammation associated with debilitating diseases like inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis and multiple sclerosis, according to researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

13 Apr 2006

Swansong - dead swan a foreigner and one and only so far

The dead swan found in Fife in Scotland on March 29th has now been identified by DNA tests as one of a migratory species, quelling fears that it was the harbinger of the first outbreak in the UK.

12 Apr 2006

Brits find first case of bird flu in a dead swan

Government officials in Britain say a dead swan found in Cellardyke, Scotland, has a strain of the H5 bird flu virus.

5 Apr 2006

Cancer virus protein p13 needed for successful infection and reproduction

New research shows that a protein made by a cancer-causing virus that was thought to be unimportant for its replication is in fact critically needed by the virus to initiate an infection and to reproduce.

4 Apr 2006

Pigs help study of links between polycystic ovary syndrome, obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes

Despite the exaggerated, wrinkly snout and long, coarse, spiky hair reminiscent of the 1980s television space alien ALF, some very special swine are helping researchers at Purdue and Indiana universities understand human infertility, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

4 Apr 2006

Bird flu hits India again

Officials in India say seven new cases of bird flu have been reported in the western state of Maharashtra, the site of two earlier outbreaks this year and one in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh state.

29 Mar 2006

Bird flu infected mink found in Sweden

According to Swedish authorities a mink has been found with a strain of the H5 bird flu virus.

28 Mar 2006

Ocean Vesivirus found in human blood samples

A virus of ocean origin that can cause a range of diseases in several animal species has been found in human blood samples. The virus, or antibodies to it, was found most often in the blood of individuals with liver damage, or hepatitis of unknown cause related to blood exposure.

28 Mar 2006

Omega-3 fatty acid producing pigs

Researchers report they have created pigs that produce omega-3 fatty acids, which are known to improve heart function and help reduce the risks for heart disease, representing the first cloned transgenic livestock in the world that can make the beneficial compound.

27 Mar 2006

Successful cell engineering may prevent bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)

Researchers at Texas A&M University have successfully "knocked down" the expression of possible disease-causing genes in a cloned goat fetus, perhaps paving the way for breeding disease resistance in other animals, even those genes that might cause bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as Mad Cow Disease.

23 Mar 2006

Divergent behavioral roles of angiotensin receptor intracellular signaling cascades

Researchers at the University at Buffalo and the University of Pennsylvania were the first to demonstrate that two intracellular events, both stimulated by the same cell receptor, can provoke different behaviors in mammals.

23 Mar 2006

First evidence that dendritic cells show unprecedented sensitivity to thimerosal

A team of cell biologists, toxicologists and molecular bioscientists at UC Davis has published a study connecting thimerosal with disruptions in antigen-presenting cells known as dendritic cells obtained from mice.

22 Mar 2006

Movement routes key to predicting spread of infectious diseases

Knowledge of 'movement routes' is the key to predicting the pattern of spread of infectious diseases of humans, and similar data could be crucial to understand animal disease risks, says team from the University of Edinburgh.

20 Mar 2006

Bird flu reaches Sweden and Denmark

The National Veterinary Institute in Sweden say that tests done in a laboratory in Weybridge, England, have confirmed that two wild ducks found on its east coast carried the H5N1 strain of bird flu.

16 Mar 2006

Cornell develops technique for making living, functional cells glow

The development gives researchers insights into how hearts develop in living mouse embryos and could improve our understanding of irregular heartbeats, known as arrhythmias, as well as open doors to observing cellular processes to better understand basic physiology and disease.

9 Mar 2006