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New insight into the machinery cells use to internalize cell surface receptors

Using state of the art imaging technology a team from Yale School of Medicine has glimpsed one of the cell's most important 'nano-machines' in action. The work, performed in collaboration with English and French scientists, provides new insight into the machinery cells use to internalize cell surface receptors.

22 May 2005

EraGen Biosciences and Bayer announce agreements for new cystic fibrosis (CF) assay

EraGen Biosciences, a rapidly growing molecular diagnostics company and Bayer HealthCare LLC, Diagnostics Division, announced today that EraGen has licensed its patented MultiCode-PLx® System to Bayer HealthCare in an exclusive worldwide agreement for Cystic Fibrosis.

18 May 2005

New blood tests for both prostate and colon cancer

Tessera Inc., a Seattle-based biomedical company is, in collaboration with Dr. Robert Getzenberg, Director of the Brady Urological Research Institute at Johns Hopkins University, developing blood tests for both prostate and colon cancer and expects to commence clinical trials on EPCA (Early Prostate Cancer Antigen), its first blood test for prostate cancer, before the end of this year.

18 May 2005

Nephrogenic Syndrome of Inappropriate Antidiuresis - a new genetic disease

Two infant boys whose bodies were overloaded with excess fluid have led UCSF pediatricians to the discovery of a new genetic disease. In the process, they have discovered a rare type of mutation where different substitutions in a single amino acid cause two different, opposite genetic disorders.

4 May 2005

Patients' lives at risk from substandard drugs say heart specialists

Global action is needed to counter the dangers of substandard life-saving drugs that are putting patients' lives and health at risk, according to heart specialists writing in the new (19 April) issue of Europe's leading cardiology journal, the European Heart Journal.

27 Apr 2005

Viramidine demonstrates anti-HCV Genotype 1 activity that compares favorably to Ribavirin

Dose-limiting anemia can be a prominent adverse event of therapy with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. This dose-ranging study examined whether viramidine, a liver-targeting prodrug of ribavirin, may be a safer alternative when used in combination with pegylated interferon alfa-2a/ PEG-IFN (Pegasys).

23 Apr 2005

Selenium will have critical role in prostate cancer treatment

Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia have come a step closer to understanding selenium's molecular role in causing prostate cancer cells to self-destruct. According to data presented today at the 96th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Anaheim, Calif., selenium helps malignant cells overcome their resistance to TRAIL-induced apopstosis (self-inflicted cell death).

20 Apr 2005

Innovative urine test for highly specific prostate cancer gene shows promise

Gen-Probe's prototype urine test for PCA3 gene expression may help improve the diagnosis of prostate cancer, according to three early-stage studies presented as posters at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry's 37th Annual Oak Ridge Conference and the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).

20 Apr 2005

Patients' lives at risk from substandard drugs

19 Apr 2005

New blood test improves the ability to diagnose or exclude congestive heart failure

A new blood test that measures a particular marker of cardiac distress can markedly improve the ability to diagnose or exclude congestive heart failure in patients with shortness of breath who come to hospital emergency departments.

11 Apr 2005

SV40 does not have a role in the majority of malignant mesotheliomas

SV40 does not have a role in the majority of malignant mesotheliomas -- a cancer associated with exposure to asbestos – according to a study in this month's Cancer Research. The study, led by Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers used a scrupulous protocol that eliminated contamination that has likely been the reason previous studies have implicated SV40 in this cancer.

6 Apr 2005

Chronic inflammation caused by too little stomach acid leads to gastric cancer

When it comes to gastric cancer, too little stomach acid can be just as dangerous as too much, according to scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School. Both extremes create inflammatory changes in the stomach lining and a condition called chronic atrophic gastritis, which over time often leads to cancer.

4 Apr 2005

CDC experts sent to Angola to help with Marburg epidemic

In an effort to control the Marburg virus outbreak in Angola, Health officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta will assist the World Health Organization by going to Angola to help with outbreak investigation, infection control and laboratory diagnosis of the disease.

30 Mar 2005

Tiny scaffolding allows stem cells to become working fat cells

Researchers here have used a new microscopic, three-dimensional scaffolding to coax mouse stem cells to transform themselves into fat cells, and then to function identical to how fat cells naturally do in the body.

22 Mar 2005

Genomic DNA provides clues to new advances in cancer diagnostics

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have identified a method of assessing the malignant potential of cells based on the sensitivity of cellular DNA to enzyme digestion.

22 Mar 2005

Targeting the Hedgehog pathway could be used in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases

Aberrant activation of the Hedgehog (Hh) pathway has been associated with numerous malignancies including basal cell carcinoma, medulloblastoma, and pancreatic cancer. Several reports also suggest that positive regulators of the Hh pathway could be used in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

27 Feb 2005

Scientists have replicated hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the laboratory

For the first time, scientists have replicated hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the laboratory. The ability to replicate HCV in cell culture will allow researchers to better study the life cycle and biology of this virus and to test potential antiviral compounds, which may lead to new therapies for the liver disease that results from infection with HCV.

22 Feb 2005