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Laparoscopic radical prostatectomy with robot technology can improve survival rate for prostate cancer patients

Performing less invasive laparoscopic surgery using robotic technology may improve survival rates for prostate cancer patients, according to a study by urologic oncologists at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital's multidisciplinary Genitourinary (GU) cancer center.

22 May 2007

Biologist hopes mosquito can break viral chain

Most people do their best to avoid mosquitoes. But this summer Rollie Clem will play the wary host to his own homegrown swarm of Aedes aegypti, the yellow fever mosquito. He's made a room ready for them, and even a menu.

22 May 2007

Safer medical implants

A pair of Florida State University researchers have received a major grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study ways of preventing the body from developing scar tissue around biomedical devices such as coronary artery stents - a problem that affects thousands of patients each year.

18 May 2007

Left-right wiring determined by neural communication in the embryonic worm

Most animals appear symmetrical at first glance, but we're full of internal lop-sidedness.

18 May 2007

Biomoda files for patent protection for porphyrin molecule

Biomoda, Inc. is expanding its patent portfolio with an additional patent pending for the use of its patented porphyrin molecule as part of a sophisticated cancer drug delivery system.

18 May 2007

Simple equations track Listeria trails

Circles, slaloms, figure eights, and loop-the-loops , biologists studying the motion of Listeria monocytogenes sensed that these paths were related, but they didn't have a good way to define what fit in and what didn't.

16 May 2007

Dealing with emerging diseases

The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2002 was a loud wake-up call for researchers studying infectious diseases.

16 May 2007

Researchers watch repair proteins arrive around DNA breaks

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital had a molecule's eye view of the human cell's DNA repair kit as it assembled on a double-strand break to link together the broken ends.

10 May 2007

Fluorescent nanoparticles open up new possibilities for cellular imaging

Scientists from the University of Twente, the Netherlands, have successfully exploited the optical properties of fluorescent nanoparticles to broaden the scope of single-cell microscopy.

9 May 2007

New mapping technique will answer fundamental questions about chromosome structure

Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a simple and economical technique for imaging and mapping fruit fly chromosomes.

8 May 2007

Scientists work out mechanism underlying asymmetric cell division in nematode worms

When a cell divides, normally the result is two identical daughter cells. In some cases however, cell division leads to two cells with different properties. This is called asymmetric cell division and plays an important role in embryonic development and the self-renewal of stem cells.

4 May 2007

New hope for patients with premature aging condition progeria

There is renewed hope for treatment of a rare genetic condition that causes rapidly accelerated aging and leads to an average life expectancy of 13 years.

4 May 2007

Scientists film pairs of molecules during recognition process

The body is an almost perfect machine. For it to function properly, each individual component, that is each molecule, must reliably fulfill its specific function. Each molecule must thus "recognize" other molecules and work with them.

4 May 2007

Methods for marking molecules to identify gene alterations and metabolic shifts

Physical alterations of DNA in chromosomes can cause serious diseases such as Down syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, or cancer.

2 May 2007

The convergence of embryonic and cancer signaling pathways: role in tumor cell plasticity

In earlier work, Northwestern University scientist Mary J.C. Hendrix and colleagues discovered that aggressive melanoma cells (but not normal skin cells nor less aggressive melanoma cells) contain specific proteins similar to those found in embryonic stem cells.

30 Apr 2007

Relationship found between DNA nanomechanics and damage

It has long been known that UV light can damage DNA, reducing its ability to replicate and interact with proteins, and often resulting in the development of skin cancers.

25 Apr 2007

Novel two-step mechanism ensures that all cilia beat in unison

Cilia, tiny hair-like structures that propel mucus out of airways, have to agree on the direction of the fluid flow to get things moving. Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies discovered a novel two-step mechanism that ensures that all cilia beat in unison.

24 Apr 2007

Key to understanding all biological processes is recognition

A human body has more than 10 to the power of 27 molecules with about one hundred thousand different shapes and functions.

24 Apr 2007

BioForce Nanosciences sells Nano Enabler to Louisiana Tech

BioForce Nanosciences has announced the March sale of the Nano eNabler molecular printer to Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana.

24 Apr 2007

New combined imaging promises insights into multiple sclerosis

Researchers have developed a way to use three types of microscopic imaging techniques simultaneously to analyze living tissue and learn more about the molecular mechanisms of multiple sclerosis, information that could help lead to earlier detection and new treatments.

18 Apr 2007