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Master gene linked to childhood brain tumor

The master gene Math1 is involved in the genesis of the most common childhood brain tumor, medulloblastoma, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu) in a report in the current issue of the journal Science.

4 Dec 2009

BioMed Realty Trust receives additional space at Landmark under new lease agreement

BioMed Realty Trust, Inc. announced today that it has entered into a new lease with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: REGN) for approximately 131,000 square feet of additional, newly-constructed laboratory and office space at The Landmark at Eastview campus in Tarrytown, New York.

4 Dec 2009

Combination of green tea and DAPH-12 chemicals may help prevent brain disorders

Scientists at Boston Biomedical Research Institute (BBRI) and the University of Pennsylvania have found that combining two chemicals, one of which is the green tea component EGCG, can prevent and destroy a variety of protein structures known as amyloids. Amyloids are the primary culprits in fatal brain disorders such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Parkinson's diseases.

4 Dec 2009

Fruit flies are valid models for studying drug addiction in humans, says scientists

Fruit flies may seem like unlikely heroes in the battle against drug abuse, but new research suggests that these insects - already used to study dozens of human disease - could claim that role. Scientists are reporting that fruit flies can be used as a simpler and more convenient animal model for studying the effects of cocaine and other drugs of abuse on the brain.

3 Dec 2009

TGen scientists win $1,000 prize for best scientific paper presented at BIBM09

A team of scientists at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) won a $1,000 prize for best scientific paper presented at BIBM09, a premier bioinformatics and biomedicine conference.

3 Dec 2009

Children exposed to secondhand smoke face increased risk of lung cancer later in life

Children exposed to secondhand cigarette smoke have an increased risk of developing lung cancer in adulthood, even if they never smoked.

3 Dec 2009

Short, unpleasant, dreamlike mental activity occurs during sleepwalking, reveals study

A study in the Dec.1 issue of the journal Sleep shows that short, unpleasant, dreamlike mental activity occurs during sleepwalking and sleep terrors episodes, suggesting that people with these sleep disorders may be acting out dreamlike thoughts.

3 Dec 2009

Study: Stem cells from donor bone marrow may help repair heart damage

Adult stem cells may help repair heart tissue damaged by heart attack according to the findings of a new study to be published in the December 8 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Results from the Phase I study show stem cells from donor bone marrow appear to help heart attack patients recover better by growing new blood vessels to bring more oxygen to the heart

3 Dec 2009

Lunasin may have important health benefits, two new studies report

Two new University of Illinois studies report that lunasin, a soy peptide often discarded in the waste streams of soy-processing plants, may have important health benefits that include fighting leukemia and blocking the inflammation that accompanies such chronic health conditions as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

3 Dec 2009

Waterpipe tobacco smoking as deadly as cigarette smoking

Smoking tobacco through a waterpipe exposes the user to the same toxicants - carbon monoxide and nicotine - as puffing on a cigarette, which could lead to nicotine addiction and heart disease, according to a study led by a Virginia Commonwealth University researcher published in the December issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

3 Dec 2009

Researchers build better artificial visual systems using high-performance gaming hardware

Taking inspiration from genetic screening techniques, researchers from Harvard and MIT have demonstrated a way to build better artificial visual systems with the help of low-cost, high-performance gaming hardware.

3 Dec 2009

VARI scientists determine the structure of receptors that plants use to sense ABA

Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) researchers have determined precisely how the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) works at the molecular level to help plants respond to environmental stresses such as drought and cold.

3 Dec 2009

Yale researchers survey door-to-balloon times in 831 hospitals

Healthcare professionals using new time-saving strategies to coordinate care for patients having a heart attack saw dramatic improvement in "door-to-balloon" (D2B) times-the time from when a patient enters the hospital to the time blood flow is restored to the heart by opening a blockage with angioplasty. The faster patients are treated, the more likely they are to survive. The results are published by Yale researchers and their colleagues in the December 15 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

3 Dec 2009

Researchers discover ability of stem cells in brain cancer glioma to resist radiation therapy

Duke University Medical Center researchers have figured out how stem cells in the malignant brain cancer glioma may be better able to resist radiation therapy. And using a drug to block a particular signaling pathway in these cancer stem cells, they were able to kill many more glioma cells with radiation in a laboratory experiment.

2 Dec 2009

Adult stem cells may help repair heart tissue, reveals new study

2 Dec 2009

Consumption of addictive substances related to impulsive behaviour

A group of psychologists from the University of Almeria, lead by Dr. Pilar Flores and Flor Zaldívar have just concluded a study regarding the use of addictive substances by young university students and the manifestation of impulsive behaviour in the same group of people, on a cognitive and psychomotor level.

2 Dec 2009

AFA to host a webinar on Catholics and IVF

On Monday, The American Fertility Association will host a webinar entitled Catholics and IVF: A Pastoral Approach, presented by Father Jon Pedigo. IVF, or In Vitro Fertilization, is a form of assisted reproductive technology (ART) often used by couples and individuals who are having difficulty conceiving a child naturally. During the IVF process, one or more embryos are implanted into a woman's uterus and the remaining, unused embryos are destroyed, frozen, or donated.

2 Dec 2009

A leader in the fight against brain diseases and in drug discovery joins UF

A leader in the fight against brain diseases and in drug discovery to help Alzheimer's patients has joined the University of Florida College of Medicine, interim dean Michael Good, M.D., announced.

2 Dec 2009

Protein ERK oscillates between two major compartments in breast tissue cells

Time-lapsed video of individual breast tissue cells reveals a never-before-seen event in the life of a cell: a protein that cycles between two major compartments in the cell. The results give researchers a more complete view of the internal signals that cause breast tissue cells to grow, events that go awry in cancer and are targets of drug development.

2 Dec 2009

NuGEN Technologies launches its next generation Ovation RNA-Seq System

NuGEN Technologies, Inc., a pace-setter in genomic sample preparation, enters the next generation sequencing (NGS) market today with its Ovation RNA-Seq System, a revolutionary method of sample preparation that broadens research horizons with a more comprehensive representation of the transcriptome created from samples of a few hundred picograms.

2 Dec 2009