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New study could hold key to control growth of cancer cells

A new study by researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology could hold a key to control cancer cell growth and development. In a paper published yesterday in CELL, the team reports on the discovery of two cancer-suppressing proteins.

12 Apr 2015

Being underweight in middle age associated with increased dementia risk

Middle-aged people who are underweight (with a Body Mass Index [BMI] less than 20 kg/m2) are a third more likely to develop dementia than people of similar age with a healthy BMI, according to new research published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal.

10 Apr 2015

TGen scientists discover the likely cause of rare type of muscle weakness in six children

Scientists at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), using state-of-the-art genetic technology, have discovered the likely cause of a child's rare type of severe muscle weakness.

10 Apr 2015

New combination therapy holds promise for treating HER2-positive breast cancer

Resistance to therapy is a major problem in the cancer field. Even when a treatment initially works, the tumors often find ways around the therapy.

10 Apr 2015

Clinical research studies improve medical care, allow access to new therapies

Clinical research studies are the reason medical care has improved leaps and bounds in the past few decades. Without these carefully-designed tests for new drugs, procedures or devices, treatments for diseases would not progress. These studies should be viewed as opportunities, although some people may view them negatively.

10 Apr 2015

Fraunhofer researchers develop cell-free substrate made of advanced fibers

Regenerative medicine uses cells harvested from the patient's own body to heal damaged tissue. Fraunhofer researchers have developed a cell-free substrate containing proteins to which autologous cells bind and grow only after implantation.

10 Apr 2015

New automated tool rapidly delivers large particles into mammalian cells

A new device developed by UCLA engineers and doctors eventually help scientists study the development of disease, enable them to capture improved images of the inside of cells and lead to other improvements in medical and biological research.

10 Apr 2015

Study explores the impact of costly hepatitis C drugs on Rhode Island's prison system

A new study finds that effective new hepatitis C drugs are so expensive the state of Rhode Island would have to spend almost twice its entire prison health budget to treat all its chronically infected inmates.

10 Apr 2015

Stem cell disease model reveals how tumor suppressor may drive bone cancer

Using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), a team led by Mount Sinai researchers has gained new insight into genetic changes that may turn a well known anti-cancer signaling gene into a driver of risk for bone cancers, where the survival rate has not improved in 40 years despite treatment advances.

10 Apr 2015

Better insulin injection technique can improve blood glucose control in diabetes patients, says study

A recent study by Grassi et al. has concluded that blood glucose control in diabetes patients who inject insulin can be improved through better injection technique, which includes switching patients to 4 mm pen needles.

10 Apr 2015

NIAID funds nine research projects to advance rapid diagnostics tests for drug-resistant bacteria

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded more than $11 million in first-year funding for nine research projects supporting enhanced diagnostics to rapidly detect antimicrobial-resistant bacteria.

10 Apr 2015

DFG selects 10 researchers to receive 2015 Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize

This year's recipients of the most important prize for early career researchers in Germany have been announced. The selection committee, appointed by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), has chosen ten researchers, five women and five men, to receive the 2015 Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prizes.

10 Apr 2015

Newly approved drug for rare blood cancer shows sustained benefit for 2 years

The most recent results from a clinical trial show that ibrutinib, a newly approved drug for Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia, continued to control the rare blood cancer, with 95 percent of patients surviving for two years, report investigators from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

10 Apr 2015

Protein-degrading enzyme can trigger strong allergic reactions through skin

Papain is an important industrial protein-degrading enzyme that is used, for example, in the food and cosmetic industries.

10 Apr 2015

Administration of selenide protects heart tissue post cardiac arrest, shows study

Damage to heart muscle from insufficient blood supply during cardiac arrest and reperfusion injury after blood flow is restored can be reduced by nearly 90 percent if selenide, a form of the essential nutrient selenium, is administered intravenously in the wake of the attack, according to a new preclinical study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

10 Apr 2015

Researchers identify phenomenon that explains effects of oxidative stress on immune cells

You're up in the mountains, the snow is blindingly white, and the sun is blazing down from the sky: ideal skiing conditions - but any skiers carrying the herpes virus might also have to reckon with the onset of cold sores after their day out.

10 Apr 2015

Scientists identify chemical compounds that block cancer-causing oncoprotein

A team of scientists at the University of Kansas has pinpointed six chemical compounds that thwart HuR, an "oncoprotein" that binds to RNA and promotes tumor growth.

10 Apr 2015

fMRI can predict language development outcomes in ASD toddlers

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), University of California, San Diego School of Medicine researchers say it may be possible to predict future language development outcomes in toddlers with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), even before they've been formally diagnosed with the condition.

10 Apr 2015

Fewer patients take effective gout drug after steep price increase

Study finds that fewer patients with gout received useful colchicine drug after FDA actions led to 50x increase in price.

10 Apr 2015

Researchers use new gene editing tool to cut HIV DNA

The virus that causes AIDS is an efficient and crafty retrovirus. Once HIV inserts its DNA into the genome of its host cells, it has a long incubation period, and can remain dormant and hidden for years.

10 Apr 2015