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Salmonella bacteria found in garden birds are sensitive to antibiotics

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that Salmonella bacteria found in garden birds are sensitive to antibiotics, suggesting that the infection is unlike the bacteria found in livestock and humans.

2 Jun 2008

The emerging role of infection in Alzheimer’s

A number of chronic diseases are in fact caused by one or more infectious agents. For example, stomach ulcers are caused by Helicobacter pylori, chronic lung disease in newborns and chronic asthma in adults are both caused by Mycoplasmas and Chlamydia pneumonia, while some other pathogens have been associated with atherosclerosis. The realization that pathogens can produce slowly progressive chronic diseases has opened new lines of research into Alzheimer's disease.

25 May 2008

Scientists reveal the genetic determinants of fat storage in cells

New research by the Gladstone Institutes of Cardiovascular Disease (GICD) and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), has revealed the genetic determinants of fat storage in cells, which may lead to a new understanding of and potential treatments for obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. While scientists have long understood that lipid droplets contribute to fat build up in cells, the genes involved in droplet biology have been a focus of extensive research.

21 May 2008

Plant flavonoid luteolin reduces inflammatory response in the brain

Researchers at the University of Illinois report this week that a plant compound found in abundance in celery and green peppers can disrupt a key component of the inflammatory response in the brain. The findings have implications for research on aging and diseases such as Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis.

20 May 2008

Scientists publish guidelines for the improved description of genomes and metagenomes

The Genomic Standards Consortium (GSC), an international initiative including representatives from a range of major sequencing and bioinformatics centres, has created a new guideline for describing genomes and metagenomes. The guideline, 'Minimum Information about a Genome Sequence' (MIGS), is published in the May issue of the journal Nature Biotechnology.

12 May 2008

Fruit fly avoidance mechanism could lead to new ways to control pain in humans

At first, fruit flies eat like horses. Hatching inside over-ripe fruit where they were laid, they feed wildly in the sugar-rich environment until nature sends them an offer they can't refuse. To survive, they must leave the fruit, wander off and burrow into the earth where they avoid food as if it were poison. Only then can the larvae grow and hatch into flies that will take wing to lay their own eggs.

11 May 2008

Silent fungus metabolism awakened for source of new drugs

U.S. scientists have re-awakened 'silent' metabolic pathways in fungi to reveal a new range of natural products. The research could provide not only a source of new drugs, but a way to "listen to what fungi are saying" to organisms around them.

30 Apr 2008

Hypertension all about what you eat and drink

Scientific research on human metabolism based on people from around the world has revealed compounds in urine indicate surprising differences affecting blood pressure.

20 Apr 2008

Mature B cells reprogrammed to stem-cell-like state

Fully mature, differentiated B cells can be reprogrammed to an embryonic-stem-cell-like state, without the use of an egg, according to a study published in the April 18 issue of Cell.

18 Apr 2008

Direct reprogramming of terminally differentiated mature B lymphocytes to pluripotency

Fully mature, differentiated B cells can be reprogrammed to an embryonic-stem-cell-like state, without the use of an egg according to a study published in the April 18 issue of Cell.

17 Apr 2008

Angiotech receives FDA clearance to market 5-Fluorouracil-coated central venous catheter

Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its innovative 5-Fluorouracil-coated (5-FU) Central Venous Catheter (CVC) in the United States.

17 Apr 2008

T-cell multiplication unexpectedly delayed after infection

In a surprising outcome that overturns the conventional wisdom on the body's immune response to infection, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have shown that T cells do not begin proliferation until up to three days after infection.

11 Apr 2008

Alligator blood may provide a source of powerful new antibiotics

Despite their reputation for deadly attacks on humans and pets, alligators are wiggling their way toward a new role as potential lifesavers in medicine, biochemists in Louisiana reported today at the 235th national meeting of the American Chemical Society.

7 Apr 2008