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Tobacco smoke toxin could increase pain in people with spinal cord injury

A neurotoxin called acrolein found in tobacco smoke that is thought to increase pain in people with spinal cord injury has now been shown to accumulate in mice exposed to the equivalent of 12 cigarettes daily over a short time period.

4 Dec 2014

MIT engineers create new computer model to design complex 3-D DNA shapes

MIT biological engineers have created a new computer model that allows them to design the most complex three-dimensional DNA shapes ever produced, including rings, bowls, and geometric structures such as icosahedrons that resemble viral particles.

3 Dec 2014

Scientists reveal how bacterial nanodrills enter into our cells to kill them

A team of scientists has revealed how certain harmful bacteria drill into our cells to kill them. Their study shows how bacterial 'nanodrills' assemble themselves on the outer surfaces of our cells, and includes the first movie of how they then punch holes in the cells' outer membranes.

3 Dec 2014

CHFA reveals top five healthy holiday gift ideas

Finding that perfect gift for health-conscious friends and family can be hard, but this holiday season, you can put those fears to rest.

1 Dec 2014

UCL research opens up new way to treat neurological disorders

The way that tetanus neurotoxin enters nerve cells has been discovered by UCL scientists, who showed that this process can be blocked, offering a potential therapeutic intervention for tetanus. This newly-discovered pathway could be exploited to deliver therapies to the nervous system, opening up a whole new way to treat neurological disorders such as motor neuron disease and peripheral neuropathies.

28 Nov 2014

Researchers take major step in fight against sleeping sickness

Researchers from Aarhus University have taken an important step in the fight against sleeping sickness, a disease that is a major problem in parts of Africa. According to the World Health Organization, the disease threatens approximately 60 million people and the treatment options are poor.

24 Nov 2014

UCLA creates largest-ever protein that self-assembles into molecular 'cage'

UCLA biochemists have created the largest-ever protein that self-assembles into a molecular "cage." The research could lead to synthetic vaccines that protect people from the flu, HIV and other diseases.

23 Nov 2014

Strains of enterotoxigenic E. coli worldwide have similar toxins and virulence factors

The strains of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) that infect adults and children in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, have notably similar toxins and virulence factors, according to research published ahead of print in the Journal of Bacteriology.

14 Nov 2014

LSU Health New Orleans professor awarded $1.8 million grant to target intra-abdominal infections

Mairi Noverr, PhD, Associate Professor of Prosthodontics at LSU Health New Orleans School of Dentistry's Center of Excellence in Oral Biology, has been awarded a $1.8 million grant by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

13 Nov 2014

Inovio Pharmaceuticals reports Q3 2014 financial results, provides corporate update

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today reported financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2014.

10 Nov 2014

Liposomes can help prevent bacterial toxins from killing human cells

Published in Nature Biotechnology, the study at the University of Liverpool showed that specially engineered lipid (fat) bodies, called liposomes, can be used to prevent bacterial toxins from killing human cells.

7 Nov 2014

ETEC vaccine candidate provides significant protection against bacterial diarrhea

New results from a safety and immunogenicity study, which included a challenge phase to test efficacy, indicate that a live attenuated enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) vaccine candidate, given in combination with a novel adjuvant, provided significant protection against disease.

28 Oct 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

Viewpoints: Examining the U.S. Ebola response, possible solutions, facts vs. fear, and the need for candor

The Ebola cases in the United States show that American hospitals and public health officials have much to learn about effective ways to protect health care workers and the public from possible infection.

17 Oct 2014

Research initiative focuses on microbial characteristics of Staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus aureus (Sa) and methicillin-resistant staph aureus (MRSA) continue to be among the most common pathogens that overwhelm the immune system, causing serious skin, soft tissue and life-threatening blood-borne infections.

16 Oct 2014

New UCLA study reveals why people with autism experience neural stem cell overgrowth after birth

People with autism spectrum disorder often experience a period of accelerated brain growth after birth. No one knows why, or whether the change is linked to any specific behavioral changes.

10 Oct 2014

Probiotic yogurt protects children, pregnant women against heavy metal exposure

Yogurt containing probiotic bacteria successfully protected children and pregnant women against heavy metal exposure in a recent study.

7 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

New approach to solve global challenges in food security, emerging diseases and biodiversity loss

Solving global challenges in food security, emerging diseases and biodiversity loss requires evolutionary thinking, argues a new study published online in Science Express that was co-authored by Bruce Tabashnik of the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

30 Sep 2014

Fecal microbiota transplantation officially recommended for effective treatment of C. difficile infection

The transplantation of faecal microbiota from a healthy donor has been shown in recent clinical studies to be a safe and highly effective treatment for recurrent Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection and is now recommended in European treatment guidelines.

29 Sep 2014