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Gold nanowires zap cancer

The next big thing in cancer treatment may be hotter, covered in more gold, and even be a better swimmer than recent Olympic champion Michael Phelps.

18 Dec 2008

Stem cell research will boom under Obama

Embryonic stem cells could provide a new way of testing drugs for dangerous side effects, according to a leading British researcher.

From The University of Manchester 18 Dec 2008

Evaluation of treatments for benign prostatic enlargement

Research published by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) programme has found that transurethral resection, the most common operation for benign prostatic enlargement (BPE), remains a clinically and cost-effective treatment. BPE commonly causes older men to have difficulty passing urine and may require surgery to alleviate the problem.

18 Dec 2008

80% public support for genetic research and testing

The 2008 Virginia Commonwealth University Life Sciences survey shows that eight in 10 adults nationwide favor making genetic testing easily available to all who want it, and 54 percent say that the benefits of conducting genetic research outweigh the risks.

17 Dec 2008

Human Pheromone Sciences files patent for mood enhancing compound derived from sea coral

Human Pheromone Sciences, Inc. has announced that it has filed a Comprehensive Patent Application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the use of an innovative and previously undeveloped compound with its origin in sea coral, which has significant emotional impacts on both men and women, enhancing feelings of positive social relationships, personal well-being and social attraction.

17 Dec 2008

ZOLL Medical cleared to market defibrillator with WiFi option

ZOLL Medical Corporation, a manufacturer of resuscitation devices and related software solutions, has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market and sell the ZOLL R Series Code-Ready clinical defibrillator with a WiFi option that allows wireless communication between the defibrillator and standard hospital networks to help ensure code-readiness and download patient data.

16 Dec 2008

Nutraceutix issued Australian patent

The Australian Patent Office has issued Nutraceutix, Inc. a patent for BIO-tract.

16 Dec 2008

GPs 'could do more' to help obese avoid surgery

Surgery to treat obesity could be avoided if GPs and healthcare trusts put more time and money into early stage weight management programmes, a senior clinical researcher will say today (Wednesday, 17 December, 2008).

From The University of Manchester 16 Dec 2008

Proof that girls have better taste than boys!

Every third child of school age prefers soft drinks which are not sweet. Children and young people love fish and do not think of themselves as being fussy eaters. Boys have a sweeter tooth than girls. And teenagers taste differently.

16 Dec 2008

Evolutionary roots of ancient bacteria may open new line of attack on cystic fibrosis

The redox-active pigments responsible for the blue-green stain of the mucus that clogs the lungs of children and adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) are primarily signaling molecules that allow large clusters of the opportunistic infection agent, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, to organize themselves into structured communities.

16 Dec 2008

Archived blood from infant heel stick tests could lead to discoveries about diseases that have roots in perinatal period

Van Andel Institute (VAI) researchers are the first to apply a new technology to measure on a large scale the presence of genes in blood spots - the blood drawn from newborn infants to screen for health-threatening conditions.

16 Dec 2008

Natural product from red seaweed brings new antiviral spray

Marinomed Biotechnologie GmbH has been awarded the top prize in the Mercur 2008 innovation awards. This award to Marinomed honours the discovery of antiviral properties in a natural product and the rapid development of the discovery into a nasal spray for treating the common cold.

16 Dec 2008

Narrow-band imaging comparable to white light colonoscopy in differentiating colorectal polyps

Researchers from Yale University School of Medicine compared narrow-band imaging (NBI) without high magnification to standard white light colonoscopy in differentiating colorectal polyps during real-time colonoscopy and found that NBI was not more accurate than white light colonoscopy.

15 Dec 2008

Gene subnetworks provide new prognostic markers for breast cancer

The metastasis or spread of breast cancer to other tissues in the body can be predicted more accurately by examining subnetworks of gene expression patterns in a patient's tumor, than by conventional gene expression microarrays, according to a presentation at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) 48th Annual Meeting, Dec. 13-17, 2008 in San Francisco.

15 Dec 2008

Colonoscopy significantly reduces death from left-sided colon cancer but not from right-sided

A new study finds that colonoscopy is strongly associated with fewer deaths from colorectal cancer.

15 Dec 2008

Breast cancer genome shows instability of cancer

A newly published genome sequence of a breast cancer cell line reveals a heavily rearranged genetic blueprint involving breaks and fusions of genes and a broken DNA repair machinery, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears online in the journal Genome Research.

15 Dec 2008

Mouse model shows blood stem cells in action

Over a period of five years, scientists at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz have managed to create a genetically modified mouse in which the activity of the blood stem cells can be tracked.

15 Dec 2008

Lumbar fusion shows long-term benefits

Lumbar fusion is becoming an increasingly common treatment for low-back pain, but its long-term effects are relatively unknown. A doctoral thesis from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet now shows that the long-term effects are superior to those of physiotherapy.

15 Dec 2008

Sarcasm - a diagnostic tool for dementia

Scientists say sarcasm, sometimes referred to as the lowest form of wit, might be a useful tool in diagnosing a certain type of dementia.

15 Dec 2008

Roche's new dual-target HIV-1 test approved in Europe

Roche announced today that its innovative dual-target HIV-1 test has received CE Mark certification, allowing it to be sold for clinical use in the European Union. The COBAS AmpliPrep/COBAS TaqMan HIV-1 Test, v2.0 utilizes a unique design to simultaneously amplify and detect two separate regions of the HIV-1 genome.

15 Dec 2008