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FibeBiotics aims to prove benefits of polysaccharides in clinical trials

Staying healthy requires constantly stimulating the immune system. Ingesting non-digestible fibres such as polysaccharides is thought to help. Yet companies including such ingredients in their food products cannot claim that they boost the immune system. At least, not until they have been scientifically tested and proven in clinical trials. Only then, would the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) allow such health claims.

18 Aug 2012

Scientists reveal how TREX proteins act as passport for transfer of cell blueprints

Decoded process could hold the key to future treatments for a wide range of chronic health problems including Motor Neuron Disease, myotonic dystrophy and a wide range of cancers, University of Sheffield scientists have revealed.

16 Aug 2012

Latrepiridine reduces level of at least two neurodegeneration-related proteins in mice

14 Aug 2012

Latrepirdine demonstrates new potential against neurodegenerative conditions

The second of two studies on latrepirdine, recently published in Molecular Psychiatry, demonstrates new potential for the compound in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, sleep disorders, and other neurodegenerative conditions. An international team led by Mount Sinai School of Medicine scientists found that latrepiridine, known commercially as Dimebon, reduced the level of at least two neurodegeneration-related proteins in mice.

13 Aug 2012

Sirtuins help fight off obesity-linked diseases

A protein that slows aging in mice and other animals also protects against the ravages of a high-fat diet, including diabetes, according to a new MIT study.

9 Aug 2012

BioDiem granted European patent for antimicrobial drug

Australian vaccine development company BioDiem Ltd (ASX: BDM) announced today the successful granting of a key European patent for its synthetic antimicrobial compound BDM-I. BDM-I is a novel compound active against a range of pathogenic micro-organisms including bacteria, fungi and protozoa. The patent provides protection around BDM-I as a treatment for vulvovaginitis, a general term for inflammation of the vulva or vagina.

7 Aug 2012

Mammalian cells divide when their growth rate hits a specific threshold

It's a longstanding question in biology: How do cells know when to progress through the cell cycle? In simple organisms such as yeast, cells divide once they reach a specific size. However, determining if this holds true for mammalian cells has been difficult, in part because there has been no good way to measure mammalian cell growth over time.

6 Aug 2012

ZOLOFT holds promise against cryptococcal meningitis

New research conducted by biologists at Texas A&M University suggests that ZOLOFT, one of the most widely prescribed antidepressants in the world, also packs a potential preventative bonus - potent mechanisms capable of inhibiting deadly fungal infections.

26 Jul 2012

How an opportunistic fungal pathogen knows when to attack

The opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans inconspicuously lives in our bodies until it senses that we are weak, when it quickly adapts to go on the offensive. The fungus, known for causing yeast and other minor infections, also causes a sometimes-fatal infection known as candidemia in immunocompromised patients. An in vivo study, published in mBio, demonstrates how C. albicans can distinguish between a healthy and an unhealthy host and alter its physiology to attack.

25 Jul 2012

Neogen fourth quarter revenues increase 11.4% to $48,545,000

Neogen Corporation announced today that its revenues for the fourth quarter of its FY 2012, which ended May 31, increased 11.4% from the previous year's comparable quarter to $48,545,000. Net income for the fiscal year's final quarter was $0.25 per share, the same as the prior year's fourth quarter of $0.25 per share.

24 Jul 2012

Yeast gene can increase ethanol production yield by up to 34%

iDiverse announced that it has discovered a yeast gene that when inserted into yeast and properly modulated can increase ethanol production yield by up to 34%.

23 Jul 2012

EMA accepts Pfizer’s bazedoxifene/conjugated estrogens MAA for review

Pfizer Inc. today announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) accepted for review the Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for bazedoxifene/conjugated estrogens (BZA/CE), a potential new medicine for postmenopausal women with a uterus for the treatment of estrogen deficiency symptoms and treatment of osteoporosis in women at risk of fracture.

19 Jul 2012

NIH-funded Harvard study: 6 million women in America suffer from vulvodynia

According to an NIH-funded Harvard study, an estimated six million women in America suffer from vulvodynia. Despite the astonishingly high number of those affected, the pain is often left misdiagnosed or untreated.

18 Jul 2012

Researchers identify cannabinoid-making pathway

U of S researchers have discovered the chemical pathway that Cannabis sativa uses to create bioactive compounds called cannabinoids, paving the way for the development of marijuana varieties to produce pharmaceuticals or cannabinoid-free industrial hemp.

17 Jul 2012

New algorithm for faster human genome sequencing

In 2001, the Human Genome Project and Celera Genomics announced that after 10 years of work at a cost of some $400 million, they had completed a draft sequence of the human genome. Today, sequencing a human genome is something that a single researcher can do in a couple of weeks for less than $10,000.

11 Jul 2012

Study examines how cells exploit gene sequences to cope with toxic stress

Toxic chemicals wreak havoc on cells, damaging DNA and other critical molecules. A new study from researchers at MIT and the University at Albany reveals how a molecular emergency-response system shifts the cell into damage-control mode and helps it survive such attacks by rapidly producing proteins that counteract the harm.

4 Jul 2012

Changing tissue landscape promotes higher cancer rates in the elderly

Cancers are age-related, much more frequent in the old than in the young. A University of Colorado Cancer Center review published today in the journal Oncogene argues against the conventional wisdom that the accumulation of cancer-causing mutations leads to more cancer in older people, instead positing that it is the changing features of tissue in old age that promote higher cancer rates in the elderly.

3 Jul 2012

MAARA invests £340,000 into vital asthma and allergy research

A charity operating Britain's longest-running pollen database is investing over £340,000 into vital asthma and allergy research at the University of Leicester.

27 Jun 2012

Gothenburg research may lead to more effective arsenic-containing drugs

Research carried out at the University of Gothenburg may lead to more effective arsenic-containing drugs. The results may also lead to more resistant plants, and crops with a limited absorption and storage of arsenic.

26 Jun 2012

Zebrafish provides insight into human melanoma

A transparent member of the minnow family is providing researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City with insight into human melanoma - a form of skin cancer - that may lead to new or repurposed drug treatments, for skin and other cancers.

19 Jun 2012