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U.S. has highest levels of illegal cocaine and cannabis use

A survey of 17 countries has found that despite its punitive drug policies the United States has the highest levels of illegal cocaine and cannabis use.

1 Jul 2008

Cancer cells revert to normal at specific signal threshold

Cancer starts when key cellular signals run amok, driving uncontrolled cell growth. But scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine report that lowering levels of one cancer signal under a specific threshold reverses this process in mice, returning tumor cells to their normal, healthy state. The finding could help target cancer chemotherapy to tumors while minimizing side effects for the body's healthy cells.

1 Jul 2008

Travellers to China warned about dog bites

An estimated 600,000 foreign visitors and athletes, and as many as 2 million Chinese are expected to visit the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

1 Jul 2008

Electrostatic-based RNA assays technique could revolutionize medical diagnostics

The dream of personalized medicine - in which diagnostics, risk predictions and treatment decisions are based on a patient's genetic profile - may be on the verge of being expanded beyond the wealthiest of nations with state-of-the-art clinics.

30 Jun 2008

Wound-cleaning laser kills harmful bacteria

A laser-activated antimicrobial offers hope for new treatments of bacterial infections, even those that are resistant to current drugs. Research published today in the open access journal BMC Microbiology describes the use of a dye, indocyanine green, which produces bacteria-killing chemicals when lit by a specific kind of laser light.

30 Jun 2008

Zinc finger technology brings personalized HIV therapy a step closer

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and collaborators are using minute, naturally occurring proteins called zinc fingers to engineer T cells to one day treat AIDS in humans.

30 Jun 2008

Stillbirths, infant deaths lead to anxiety, guilt among obstetricians

Nearly one in 10 obstetricians in a new study has considered giving up obstetric practice because of the emotional toll of stillbirths and infant deaths.

30 Jun 2008

NIAID announces grants to stimulate food allergy research

Twelve investigators have received grants totaling $5 million over two years to lead high-impact, innovative studies of food allergy, a significant public health concern.

30 Jun 2008

Dividing cells find their middle by following a protein contour map

Self-organization keeps schools of fish, flocks of birds and colonies of termites in sync. It's also, according to new research, the way cells regulate the final stage of cell division. Scientists at Rockefeller University have shown that a protein-chemistry-based contour map, which helps individual proteins locate the center of their cell without direction from a 'master organizer,' is key to ensuring accurate division during mitosis.

30 Jun 2008

Vibrating exercise platform helps reduce falls in the elderly

Australian researchers have found a way of reducing the risks of older people falling.

30 Jun 2008

Novel approach for treating mitochondrial disorders wins Kaye prize

A novel concept for the treatment of mitochondrial disorders using directed enzyme replacement therapy (DERT) has won for a Hebrew University of Jerusalem doctoral candidate one of this year's Kaye Innovation Awards. The awards were presented at this year's 71st meeting of the Hebrew University Board of Governors.

30 Jun 2008

New approach to HIV vaccine research taps Rochester expertise

A new national effort to create a vaccine against HIV will include work by a University of Rochester Medical Center rheumatologist who is an expert on a portion of the immune system that has sometimes gotten short shrift in the fight against HIV.

30 Jun 2008

Growth hormone FGF21's link to starvation may be clue to increasing life span, researchers find

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have determined that starvation blocks the effects of growth hormone via a mechanism that may have implications in treating diabetes and extending life span.

30 Jun 2008

Protein Ronin shown to be an alternate control for embryonic stem cells

Like the masterless samurai for whom it is named, the protein Ronin chooses an independent path, maintaining embryonic stem cells in their undifferentiated state and playing essential roles in genesis of embryos and their development, said Baylor College of Medicine researchers who reported on this novel cellular regulator in the current issue of the journal Cell.

27 Jun 2008

Scientists discover how an injured embryo can regenerate itself

More than 80 years have passed since the German scientist Hans Spemann conducted his famous experiment that laid the foundations for the field of embryonic development. After dividing a salamander embryo in half, Spemann noticed that one half - specifically, the half that gives rise to the salamander's 'belly' (ventral) starts to wither away.

27 Jun 2008

What price for a more effective Australian health care system?

The pressures from an ageing population on the rising costs of healthcare in Australia will be the subject of the third annual Menzies Oration to be held at The Australian National University tonight.

26 Jun 2008

New clinical trial for patients with asbestos-associated lung cancer

The Mesothelioma Center within the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center is now recruiting patients for a clinical research study of a new targeted radiation and chemotherapy protocol for pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the lung's lining that is almost always caused by previous exposure to asbestos.

26 Jun 2008

Discovery of toxic key to Alzheimer’s disease memory loss

Using new scientific techniques, scientists have unlocked the cascade of molecular events that lead to Alzheimer's disease.

26 Jun 2008

Genetic profiling for breast cancer on the horizon

Cancer Research UK scientists have shown that it may soon be possible to offer women a genetic test to assess their risk of breast cancer which could aid early diagnosis for those at high risk of the disease. Their findings are revealed in the New England Journal of Medicine today (Wednesday).

26 Jun 2008

Penn researchers propose major changes to informed consent for transplantation

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine physicians and bioethicists are calling for a new, more standardized way for patients in need of organ transplants to be informed of the risks they face. If adopted, their policy recommendations could promote greater equity in how organs are allocated while restricting patients' abilities to "cherry-pick" the best organs.

26 Jun 2008