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Scientists fight leukaemia with 'natural killer' cells

Scientists at the University of the West of England and the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at the Bristol Children's Hospital have just won funding for a two-year project aimed at improving the outcome of bone marrow stem-cell transplants in young leukaemia patients.

8 Mar 2006

Deodorants - a risk factor for breast cancer?

Underarm deodorants or antiperspirants are an essential part of the modern day hygiene routine, but most underarm hygiene products contain chemicals that work to disguise odour and reduce wetness. They also contain preservatives which ensure the product continues to work for a long period.

8 Mar 2006

Potential new treatment for Huntington and Parkinson patients

A potential new treatment for neurodegenerative disorders, which seems to be able to reduce the toxic protein aggregates characteristic of many of these diseases, is published online this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

7 Mar 2006

Newly identified biomarkers may help reverse the ageing process

Lotions and potions that promise to remove wrinkles and other effects of aging crowd cosmetics aisle shelves, but do these treatments really work?

7 Mar 2006

Catheter ablation for chronic atrial fibrillation improves quality of life

People who have endured the effects and risks of an irregular heartbeat for years can get long-lasting relief from a procedure that takes less than two hours, a definitive new study shows.

7 Mar 2006

Gene therapy approach used in creating new arteries for older patients does not appear to cause cancer

"This result is an encouraging step along the road to new tissues for patients to replace those that have failed or have been destroyed due to trauma or disease," she said.

7 Mar 2006

Study looks at how two forms of vitamin E affect the health of animal cells

One of the most powerful antioxidants is truly a double-edged sword, say researchers at Ohio State University who studied how two forms of vitamin E act once they are inside animal cells.

7 Mar 2006

Johns Hopkins scientists identify protein fragment which may lead to a simple test for multiple sclerosis

Johns Hopkins scientists report the discovery of a protein found only in cerebrospinal fluid that they say might be useful in identifying a subgroup of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) or identifying those at risk for the debilitating autoimmune disorder.

7 Mar 2006

Cells used in bone marrow transplantation can develop into new cells lining the gut

The study showed that bone marrow derived cells can differentiate into functional gastrointestinal epithelial cells after bone marrow transplantation.

7 Mar 2006

Simple saliva test may offer a new way to probe the consequences of caffeine coupled with stress

Using doses of caffeine equivalent to drinking one to four cups of coffee and an intense arithmetic test as stressors, Klein and her colleagues found a rise in the amount of alpha amylase, an enzyme secreted by the salivary glands, in the healthy young men who participated in the study.

7 Mar 2006

Interferon-producing killer dendritic cell speeds up immune reactions and fights cancer

A mouse immune cell that plays dual roles as both assassin and messenger, normally the job of two separate cells, has been discovered by an international team of researchers from the United States and France.

7 Mar 2006

Global evolutionary map reveals new insights into our last common ancestor

In 1870 the German scientist Ernst Haeckel mapped the evolutionary relationships of plants and animals in the first 'tree of life'.

7 Mar 2006

Genome signature tagging used to quickly identify and distinguish between pathogens and harmless microbes

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a new, high-throughput technique for identifying the many species of microorganisms living in an unknown "microbial community."

6 Mar 2006

Scientists show how MRSA sidesteps hospital protection measures

The MRSA 'superbug' evades many of the measures introduced to combat its spread by infecting a common single-celled organism found almost everywhere in hospital wards, according to new research published in the journal Environmental Microbiology.

1 Mar 2006

Rhodium quinones promise better drugs

By combining a common organic compound with a rare metal, a team of Brown University chemists has created a new class of molecules that have potentially important applications for the pharmaceutical, chemical and energy industries.

1 Mar 2006

Scientists reprogramme malignant melanoma cells to become normal pigment cells

Scientists at Northwestern University and the Stowers Institute for Medical Research have reprogrammed malignant melanoma cells to become normal melanocytes, or pigment cells, a development that may hold promise in treating of one of the deadliest forms of cancer.

1 Mar 2006

Treatment of severe coronary artery disease with angioplasty/coronary stenting a viable alternative to bypass surgery

Severe stenosis (blockage) to the left main coronary artery - a condition commonly called a "widow-maker"- can result in sudden death. For nearly 30 years, the gold standard for treatment has been coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG).

1 Mar 2006

Night blindness is a new clinical symptom of Chagas disease

"This is a new observation, a new clinical symptom of Chagas disease," said Levin, head of the Laboratory of the Molecular Biology of Chagas Disease at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Levin and colleagues report their findings in the March 2006, issue of the FASEB Journal.

1 Mar 2006

Hand-held device for detecting illegal and legal drugs

A real-time sensor for detecting cocaine - made with inexpensive, off-the-shelf electronics - has been developed by a team of researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

1 Mar 2006