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Liver transplants may not be suitable for all cystic fibrosis patients

A new study on patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) who have had abnormal bleeding from ruptured blood vessels in the esophagus (variceal hemorrhage) as a result of liver disease found that transplant may not be indicated if there are no other indications of advanced liver disease.

5 Dec 2005

Researchers link microRNA - miR 196 - to limb development

A tiny strand of molecules plays a role in how our arms and legs develop and grow - a finding that sheds light on perplexing bits of material once dismissed as genetic "junk," say scientists at the University of Florida and Harvard University.

5 Dec 2005

Researchers move in on novel therapeutics to inhibit melanoma

Northwestern University researchers have developed a novel, three-dimensional model that allows scientists to observe how interacting with the microenvironment of metastatic melanoma cells induces normal skin cells to become similar to aggressive cancer cells that migrate and spread throughout the body.

5 Dec 2005

Twins, triplets have greater chance of birth defects

Twins, triplets and other multiples have a nearly 50 percent greater chance of being born with birth defects, and boys tend to be more at risk than girls, according to two population-based studies conducted at the University of Florida.

5 Dec 2005

Unexpected link between muscular dystrophy and muscle wasting associated with cancer

A new study provides important insight into the mechanisms of a muscle wasting disorder that interferes with treatment for cancer and has a negative impact on patient survival.

5 Dec 2005

HRAS mutation analysis in Costello Syndrome

Gene mutations in the HRAS sequence are present in most patients affected with Costello syndrome, according to a new study in the American Journal of Medical Genetics. The mutations occurred de novo in patients, meaning, they were not observed in their parents' genes.

5 Dec 2005

Discovery of genetic mechanism that causes new arteries to grow in response to blocked arteries

Researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center have uncovered part of the genetic mechanism that causes new arteries to grow in response to blocked arteries.

2 Dec 2005

Disruption of normal gene interaction linked to schizophrenia

Disruption of the normal interaction between the genes PRODH and COMT contributes directly to major symptoms of schizophrenia by upsetting the balance of the brain chemicals glutamate and dopamine, according to a group of investigators that includes a scientist now at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

2 Dec 2005

Childbirth not linked to urinary incontinence

Postmenopausal women who have given birth vaginally do not appear to suffer from urinary incontinence at higher rates than their sisters who have never given birth, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center study published in the December Obstetrics and Gynecology journal.

2 Dec 2005

Protein target for Parkinson's disease

Researchers at Johns Hopkins' Institute for Cell Engineering (ICE) have discovered a protein that could be the best new target in the fight against Parkinson's disease since the brain-damaging condition was first tied to loss of the brain chemical dopamine.

2 Dec 2005

Bats possible carriers of Ebola virus

According to recent research scientists say that three species of bats that are eaten by people in central Africa may be carriers of the Ebola virus that has killed hundreds of humans and great apes.

2 Dec 2005

Bacterial DNA and IVF contamination risk on New Scientist

Some children conceived by a common method of IVF could be carrying chunks of bacterial DNA in their chromosomes, according to a study in mice. The researchers who conducted the work say that such accidental genetic modification would be very rare, but they argue that fertility doctors should take more precautions to exclude it.

30 Nov 2005

Comprehensive analysis of DNA barcodes

With species around the world disappearing faster than biologists can identify them, many scientists pinned their hopes on DNA barcoding, a recently proposed strategy that treats a short fragment of DNA as a sort of universal product code to identify species.

30 Nov 2005

Prion protein codon 129 genotype prevalence is altered in primary progressive aphasia

Most people with a rare type of dementia called primary progressive aphasia (PPA) have a specific combination of prion gene variants, a new study shows.

28 Nov 2005

Completion of the genetic sequencing of the 1918 influenza A virus

An article by Robert Belshe, M.D., of Saint Louis University School of Medicine in the New England Journal of Medicine reviews recent "spectacular achievements of contemporary molecular biology" that hold great importance as the world prepares for a possible flu pandemic.

28 Nov 2005

Master switch for blood cell development detected

Blood cells develop from blood stem cells in the bone marrow. Their development is regulated by roughly 20 gene regulators or transcription factors.

28 Nov 2005

Indonesia to produce bird flu vaccine with help from U.S. company

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono says the authorities there will cooperate with the U.S.-based Baxter International to produce human vaccines for the H5N1 bird flu virus.

28 Nov 2005

New method to discover links between cellular machines

Most of what happens in cells is the work of machines that contain dozens of molecules, chiefly proteins. With the completion of human and other genomes, researchers now have a nearly complete "parts list" of such machines; what's lacking now is the manual telling where all the pieces go.

28 Nov 2005

Loss of genes on chromosome 1 or 11 raises the risk of death from the children's cancer neuroblastoma

A new study reports that a loss of genes on chromosome 1 or chromosome 11 raises the risk of death from the children's cancer neuroblastoma, even when other indicators seem to point to a lower-risk form of the disease.

28 Nov 2005

Skinphysical (skin damage test) launched in UK

A world-first test that assesses the damage people have done to their skin through sun exposure is being launched to the public at clinics throughout the UK.

26 Nov 2005