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Mother's immune system may block fetal treatments for blood diseases

Pediatric researchers have resolved an apparent contradiction in the field of prenatal cell transplantation - a medical approach that holds future promise in correcting sickle cell disease and other serious congenital blood disorders. In a new study in animals, the researchers showed that the mother's immune response interferes with the offspring's earlier ability to tolerate transplanted donor cells.

17 Aug 2009

Discovery of inherited gene variants that account for 37 percent of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have identified inherited variations in two genes that account for 37 percent of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), including a gene that may help predict drug response.

16 Aug 2009

New strategy for inhibiting virus replication

Viruses need living cells for replication and production of virus progeny. Thus far, antiviral therapy primarily targets viral factors but often induces therapy resistance. New improved therapies attempt to targets cellular factors that are essential for viral replication.

16 Aug 2009

New study suggests possible genetic link between environmental toxins and myeloma

The International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) today said newly published data may provide a possible genetic link between environmental toxins and bone disease in multiple myeloma. Myeloma, also called multiple myeloma, is a cancer of cells in the bone marrow that affect production of blood cells and can damage bone.

14 Aug 2009

New immune therapy for kidney cancer tested

Researchers at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) have opened a clinical trial to evaluate whether the standard treatment for a common form of kidney cancer works better by itself or when combined with a certain type of blood cell that comes from a patient’s relative. CINJ is a Center of Excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

14 Aug 2009

Opexa Therapeutics reports Q2 2009 financials

Opexa Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPXA), a company developing a novel T-cell therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS), today reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2009, and provided details on further developments.

13 Aug 2009

When cell death goes wrong - scientists gain new insights

Medical Research Council (MRC) scientists have made an important advance in understanding the biological processes involved when cells are prompted to die. The work may help scientists to eventually develop new treatments for the many common diseases and conditions which occur when cell death goes wrong.

13 Aug 2009

First batch of cancer vaccine from Cancer Vaccine Collaborative goes into trial

The first batch of NY-ESO-1 recombinant protein produced in a facility supported entirely by non-profit entities has successfully cleared regulatory review and has entered clinical testing. The clinical trials are part of the Cancer Vaccine Collaborative, a joint program of the Cancer Research Institute, Inc. (CRI) and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ltd. (LICR).

13 Aug 2009

New tumour theory could change cancer treatment

University of Sydney researcher Dr Guy Lyons has come up with a new theory of cancer tumours that could change the way we treat cancer and conduct research into its causes.

13 Aug 2009

Sigma-Aldrich offers customizable synthetic extracellular matrix (ECM) for stem cell research

Sigma-Aldrich (Nasdaq: SIAL) today announced an agreement with Glycosan BioSystems for the sale of HyStem(TM), a fully customizable synthetic extracellular matrix (ECM) for stem cell research. HyStem offers researchers flexibility to tailor microenvironments for their cultured cells that mimic natural in vivo conditions, optimizing stem cell proliferation and differentiation. HyStem was developed by Glycosan BioSystems and will be sold by Sigma-Aldrich under a non-exclusive distribution agreement.

13 Aug 2009

Marijuana/Cannabis may protect against osteoporosis

Scientists investigating the effects of cannabis on bone health have found that its impact varies dramatically with age.

13 Aug 2009

Discovery of compounds that selectively kills cancer stem cells

The cancer stem cells that drive tumor growth and resist chemotherapies and radiation treatments that kill other cancer cells aren't invincible after all. Researchers reporting online on August 13th in the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, have discovered the first compound that targets those cancer stem cells directly.

13 Aug 2009

Protein plays unexpected role protecting chromosome tips

A protein specialist that opens the genomic door for DNA repair and gene expression also turns out to be a multi-tasking workhorse that protects the tips of chromosomes and dabbles in a protein-destruction complex, a team lead by researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports in the Aug. 13 edition of Molecular Cell.

13 Aug 2009

Researchers tackle aggressive cancer cells head on

A multi-institutional team of Boston-area researchers has discovered a chemical that works in mice to kill the rare but aggressive cells within breast cancers that have the ability to seed new tumors.

13 Aug 2009

Clever biochemical strategy enables bacteria to move freely and colonize host

A team of researchers from Boston University, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently made a discovery that changes a long held paradigm about how bacteria move through soft gels.

13 Aug 2009

Antigenics’ Oncophage cancer vaccine trial starts enrolling patients

Antigenics Inc. (NASDAQ:AGEN) today announced that the Brain Tumor Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco, has begun enrolling patients into a Phase 2 clinical trial of Oncophage (vitespen) in combination with the standard of care - radiation therapy plus Temodar (temozolomide) - for newly diagnosed glioma patients.

13 Aug 2009

Similarities found in the way neural circuits linked to vision process information in both sighted and blind since birth

The ability to recognize visually presented objects relies on a critical neural pathway called the ventral stream. Previous imaging studies of the human brain have demonstrated that the sight of nonliving objects, such as tools and houses, activates different regions within the ventral stream than the sight of living things, such as animals and faces. It is not known whether category-specific neural responses in the ventral stream depend on visual experience.

13 Aug 2009

Promising new treatment target for Kennedy's disease

New research with transgenic mice reveals that a therapy directed at the muscle significantly improves disease symptoms of a genetic disorder characterized by destruction of the neurons that control movement. The study, published by Cell Press in the August 13th issue of the journal Neuron, highlights a promising new treatment for this currently incurable and nontreatable neurodegenerative disorder.

12 Aug 2009

Oncothyreon reports Q2 2009 financials

Oncothyreon Inc. (NASDAQ: ONTY) (TSX: ONY) today reported a net loss of $6.3 million, or $0.30 per basic and diluted share, for the three months ended June 30, 2009, compared with a net loss of $4.9 million, or $0.25 per basic and diluted share, for the comparable period in 2008.

12 Aug 2009

Same-sex mating found in most common human fungal pathogen Candida albicans

Brown University researchers have discovered that Candida albicans, a human fungal pathogen that causes thrush and other diseases, pursues same-sex mating in addition to conventional opposite-sex mating.

12 Aug 2009