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UMMS scientists awarded $9.5 million grant to study Fragile X syndrome

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a $9.5 million grant to investigators at the University of Massachusetts Medical School to establish a Center for Collaborative Research in Fragile X, one of three centers designated by the NIH.

18 Nov 2014

Scientists devise novel way to use stem cells in fight against brain cancer

Harvard Stem Cell Institute scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital have devised a new way to use stem cells in the fight against brain cancer. A team led by neuroscientist Khalid Shah, MS, PhD, who recently demonstrated the value of stem cells loaded with cancer-killing herpes viruses, now has a way to genetically engineer stem cells so that they can produce and secrete tumor-killing toxins.

27 Oct 2014

Researchers discover mitochondrial and nuclear tRNA-lookalikes in human genome

Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) are ancient workhorse molecules and part of the cellular process that creates the proteins, critical building blocks of life that keep a cell running smoothly.

9 Oct 2014

TyrRS enzyme protects DNA during cellular stress

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have found that an enzyme best known for its fundamental role in building proteins has a second major function: to protect DNA during times of cellular stress.

3 Oct 2014

Cedars-Sinai scientists test ELAD bioartificial liver support system for patients with acute liver failure

Cedars-Sinai physicians and scientists are testing a novel, human cell based, bioartificial liver support system for patients with acute liver failure, often a fatal diagnosis.

23 Sep 2014

MIT engineers find new strategy to combat superbugs

In recent years, new strains of bacteria have emerged that resist even the most powerful antibiotics. Each year, these superbugs, including drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis and staphylococcus, infect more than 2 million people nationwide, and kill at least 23,000. Despite the urgent need for new treatments, scientists have discovered very few new classes of antibiotics in the past decade.

22 Sep 2014

Isis receives $4 million in milestone payment from Achaogen for initiation of plazomicin Phase 3 study

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that it has earned a $4 million milestone payment from Achaogen, Inc. associated with the initiation of a Phase 3 study of plazomicin in patients with serious multi-drug resistant (MDR), gram-negative bacterial infections.

17 Sep 2014

Researchers unravel molecular mechanism of mRNA recognition

The information encoded in our genes is translated into proteins, which ultimately mediate biological functions in an organism.

9 Sep 2014

Biochemists report advance in production of functional mirror-image proteins

University of Utah biochemists have reported an advance in the production of functional mirror-image proteins.

29 Jul 2014

Unnatural DNA bases: an interview with Professor Floyd E. Romesberg, The Scripps Research Institute

The natural DNA bases that form the letters of DNA are usually referred to as G, C, A, and T. Those are only the first letters of the chemical names. They’re often called nucleotides by their scientific name and all of them have in common a phosphate part, a sugar part and a nucleobase part.

21 Jul 2014

Scientists develop RNA that binds cGMP

The transmission of signals within cells is dependent on cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) as an important secondary messenger. German scientists have now developed an RNA that binds cGMP. As reported in the journal Angewandte Chemie, it is possible to suppress the cGMP signal cascade in genetically modified cells that produce this RNA.

10 Jul 2014

New method to repair pain

A study published in the scientific journal Nature Neuroscience by Yves De Koninck and Robert Bonin, two researchers at Universit- Laval, reveals that it is possible to relieve pain hypersensitivity using a new method that involves rekindling pain so that it can subsequently be erased.

9 Jul 2014

Growth hormone levels may manifest in signs of aging

The decreased production of growth hormone is caused by a physiological process known as somatopause, which practically affects the entire body, since it's involved in body composition, metabolism, bone mineral density and cardiovascular function.

16 Jun 2014

Combination of metformin and rapamycin shows potential in treating aging and related diseases

A proven approach to slow the aging process is dietary restriction, but new research in the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University helps explain the action of a drug that appears to mimic that process - rapamycin.

21 May 2014

Protein Data Bank now contains over 100,000 structures

Spanning the globe from the US, UK, and Japan, the Worldwide Protein Data Bank (wwPDB) organization announces that the Protein Data Bank archive now contains more than 100,000 entries.

14 May 2014

Blend of soy-dairy proteins may prolong muscle building after resistance exercise, says study

A new study published online in the Journal of Applied Physiology shows additional benefits of consuming a blend of soy and dairy proteins after resistance exercise for building muscle mass.

26 Apr 2014

Exposure to microgravity can simulate aging for immune cells

Telling someone to "act your age" is another way of asking him or her to behave better. Age, however, does not always bring improvements.

23 Apr 2014

Whey protein consumption may lead to significant decrease in body weight

New research published in the March/April 2014 issue of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition shows whey protein, either as a supplement combined with resistance exercise or as part of a weight-loss or weight-maintenance diet, may provide men and women benefits related to body composition.

16 Apr 2014

Researchers identify new Chinese herbal medicine that inhibits hepatitis C virus activity

Data from a late-breaking abstract presented at the International Liver CongressTM 2014 identifies a new compound, SBEL1, that has the ability to inhibit hepatitis C virus (HCV) activity in cells at several points in the virus' lifecycle.

15 Apr 2014

Researchers find that protein synthesis can be studied in adult stem cells

For the first time, researchers have shown that an essential biological process known as protein synthesis can be studied in adult stem cells - something scientists have long struggled to accomplish. The groundbreaking findings from the Children's Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) also demonstrate that the precise amount of protein produced by blood-forming stem cells is crucial to their function.

10 Mar 2014