immunity News and Research

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Gene therapy used to fight AIDS

The apparent success of a case in which German doctors cured a man of AIDS using a bone marrow transplant comes as no surprise to Gerhard Bauer, a UC Davis stem cell researcher.

8 Dec 2008

Biomarkers in blood could aid diagnosis of two severe and debilitating forms of malaria

Canadian researchers have identified protein biomarkers that shed new light on the development of two severe and debilitating forms of malaria.

8 Dec 2008

Extraordinary immune cells may hold the key to managing HIV

People who manage to control HIV on their own are providing scientists with valuable information about how the immune system eliminates virus-infected cells.

5 Dec 2008

Vitamin D enhances placental innate immunity

In a paper available at the online site of the journal Biology of Reproduction, a team of UCLA researchers reports for the first time that vitamin D induces immune responses in placental tissues by stimulating production of the antimicrobial protein cathelicidin.

1 Dec 2008

New study indicates smallpox vaccination effective for decades

Although naturally occurring smallpox was eradicated in 1977, there is concern that bioterrorists might obtain smallpox from a laboratory and release it into the population.

30 Nov 2008

Discovery of new way in which epigenetic information is inherited

Hereditary information flows from parents to offspring not just through DNA but also through the millions of proteins and other molecules that cling to it.

28 Nov 2008

EpiVax receives grant for $390,000 to optimize HIV vaccine delivery

EpiVax, Inc., a leader in the field of computational immunology, announced today that it has received a grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to optimize delivery of an HIV vaccine.

26 Nov 2008

AIDS research group reports significant viral load drop in HIV/AIDS infected study groups

AIDS Research Assistance Institute, a non-profit organization, has been monitoring hundreds of people with AIDS/HIV when they add the immunity boosting food supplement, 'concentrated Flax Hull Lignans' (FHL) to their diets.

26 Nov 2008

Scientists reconstruct bat variant of SARS coronavirus

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Vanderbilt University Medical Center have synthetically reconstructed the bat variant of the SARS coronavirus (CoV) that caused the SARS epidemic of 2003.

25 Nov 2008

Humoral immunity in kidney transplantation

There are more than 76,000 end-stage renal disease patients waiting for one of the 17,000 kidneys transplanted each year, making a host rejection an unacceptable waste.

24 Nov 2008

Two common cancer drugs prevent, reverse type 1 diabetes

Two common cancer drugs have been shown to both prevent and reverse type 1 diabetes in a mouse model of the disease, according to research conducted at the University of California, San Francisco.

18 Nov 2008

NCI sponsors Canadian cold/flu remedy trial in leukemia patients

Cancer patients, with their weakened immune systems, are particularly vulnerable when the cold and flu season hits. The National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health and the world's most prestigious cancer research body, is sponsoring a landmark trial to evaluate if a unique Canadian cold remedy - ginseng extract COLD-FX - can help.

18 Nov 2008

Scientists discover new cause of fatal brain injury from acute viral meningitis

In a November 16 advance, online publication of the journal Nature, the researchers say their discovery revamps common beliefs about how such potentially lethal infections may be ravaging the brain and suggests the possibility of new treatments.

17 Nov 2008

Intervention program boosts survival in breast cancer patients

A new study provides the best evidence to date that a psychological intervention program designed for breast cancer patients not only improves their health - it actually increases their chance of survival.

17 Nov 2008

Governments urged to take broader perspective when considering whether to fund vaccines

Including quality-of-life impacts in assessments of national vaccination programs would lead to many benefits, including improved productivity and less sick leave for parents, according to an editorial co-authored by a University of New South Wales (UNSW) researcher, that has appeared in the Lancet Infectious Diseases.

17 Nov 2008

Genetic Immunity announces first patient dosed in trial with DermaVir patch for HIV

Genetic Immunity, a US/Hungarian clinical-stage company focused on development of nanomedicines for targeted immune amplification, today announced it has treated the first subject in a Phase II clinical study to evaluate DermaVir Patch.

13 Nov 2008

Analyses of Merck's HIV vaccine 'Step' study

Results from the Step study, a test-of-concept efficacy study of a Merck & Co., Inc. HIV vaccine candidate, were published online in two papers in The Lancet.

12 Nov 2008

Medicine, math and engineering combine to reveal how sepsis and less severe infections occur

It's a leading cause of death, but no one knows for sure how and why it happens. It's a major source of health care costs, adding days or weeks to the hospital stays and lost work time of millions of people. But no one fully understands how best to fight it.

11 Nov 2008

Calls for a more flexible approach to vaccine funding

Governments should take a broader perspective - including quality-of-life impacts - when considering whether to fund vaccines, according to a paper from the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

11 Nov 2008

1918 Spanish flu records could hold the key to solving future pandemics

Ninety years after Australian scientists began their race to stop the spread of Spanish flu in Australia, University of Melbourne researchers are hoping records from the 1918 epidemic may hold the key to preventing future deadly pandemic outbreaks.

10 Nov 2008