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Study shows how COX-2 inhibitors lead to heart disease

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researchers have found additional evidence that may help explain how selective inhibitors of COX-2 might predispose individuals to heart disease and stroke.

26 May 2005

Study supports the view that public concerns about genetic discrimination are substantial

A new study - the largest to date of public attitudes about genetic discrimination - finds that 40 percent of people already undergoing genetic testing are worried that participation might affect their future insurance coverage.

25 May 2005

WIN compound - a prototype drug for curing colds - is showing so much promise

An antiviral compound that wiggles its way into the common cold virus may provide one piece of the solution to halting the infection, say Purdue University scientists.

25 May 2005

Early-onset antisocial behaviour in children with psychopathic tendencies is largely inherited

The findings are the result of extensive research funded by the Medical Research Council, the Department of Health and the Home Office, and carried out by Dr. Essi Viding of the MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, within the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London.

24 May 2005

Guidant admits, three years down the line, to a fault with internal heart defibrillator

In a very belated admission Guidant Corp., has now acknowledged that it's internal heart defibrillator has an electrical problem that caused a small fraction of the implanted devices to short-circuit.

24 May 2005

No link found between hair dyes and cancers

The growing worldwide concern about a possible link between hair dyes and some forms of cancer, which was further fuelled by one recent study showing an apparent positive relationship, prompted a European Commission safety panel to call for an urgent review.

24 May 2005

Researchers discover genetic trigger that plays a key role in cancer of the oesophagus

Cancer Research UK scientists at the University of Oxford have identified a gene which plays a key role in the development of cancer of the oesophagus by triggering changes in the oesophagus lining.

24 May 2005

Obesity appears to increase the risk of prostate cancer

The obesity study examined the association between body mass index - weight to height ratio - and prostate cancer in 787 men undergoing biopsy due to an elevated tumor marker in the blood or an abnormal physical exam at a Veterans Affairs hospital in California between 1998 and 2002.

23 May 2005

Scientists show nuclear protein Ezh2 helps establish previously unknown signaling pathway in cells

Since 2001, scientists have wrestled with the discovery that there are fewer genes in humans than biological processes linked to those genes over the course of a human lifespan. One way to understand genetically coded events is by studying epigenetics, the regulation and heritability of genes at a cellular level due to molecular changes to the many proteins (called histones) that package DNA in a cell's nucleus.

23 May 2005

Pregnancy factors, parental psychiatric history, and preterm delivery may be associated with the risk of autism

...according to a recent study supported in part by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study, "Risk Factors for Autism: Perinatal Factors, Parental Psychiatric History, and Socioeconomic Status," appears in the most recent issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

23 May 2005

Findings demonstrate that abnormal expression of the BCL6 gene causes lymphoma

This advancement has the potential to significantly speed the development of new, improved therapies for diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), the most common type of human B cell lymphoma. Human B cell lymphomas cause 85 percent of non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas, the sixth leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.

23 May 2005

Sleeping time and obesity in children

Three-year-old children who spend more than eight hours watching television each week are at an increased risk of obesity as they grow up.

23 May 2005

WHO says world must prepare for bird flu pandemic

Reports of disturbing changes to the H5N1 virus circulating in Asia is causing great concern and has prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to urge countries to prepare for a influenza pandemic.

22 May 2005

Bald men can blame mum!

Despite an enormous range of treatments, obscure lotions and tinctures there appears to be very few successful counter-measures for hair loss in men. Beginning with receding hairlines, every second man suffers from hair loss to some degree, and it has always been suspected that hereditary factors are important in causing hair loss.

22 May 2005

Discovery may lead to new drugs to treat cancer, control fertility

A recent discovery in cellular biology may allow scientists to enhance organ regeneration by stem cells, prevent the progression of cancer, and control fertility.

22 May 2005

Researchers generate patient-specific stem cells

Researchers have isolated the first human embryonic stem cell lines specifically tailored to match the nuclear DNA of patients, both males and females of various ages, suffering from disease or spinal cord injury.

20 May 2005

Study holds implications for gene therapy and stem cell biology

The study, conducted by scientists from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and Hannover Medical School and Hamburg University in Germany, reveals important evidence that tells us more about how blood forming stem cells regenerate. On the other hand, scientists offer caution in regards to the side effects associated with genetic engineering of stem cells.

20 May 2005

Researchers find first gene for inherited testicular cancer in mice

In this week's journal Nature, researchers report finding the first gene responsible for inherited susceptibility of testicular cancer in mice. The Ter mutation occurs in a gene called dead end, which is involved in normal testicular development and which may play a role in inherited forms of a testicular cancer occurring in infants.

20 May 2005

Infants with Krabbe disease saved by cord blood stem cells

Children with a fatal genetic disorder called Krabbe Disease can be saved and their brain development preserved if they receive stem cells from umbilical cord blood before symptoms of the disease develop, according to a study published in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

20 May 2005

Disease progression model of pancreatic cancer developed

Building on previous work, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have developed an animal model of pancreatic cancer that closely mimics disease progression in humans. From this, they hope to develop new treatments for this deadly disease.

20 May 2005