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FDA approves Avastin (bevacizumab) for treatment of glioblastoma multiforme

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved Avastin (bevacizumab) to treat patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) when this form of brain cancer continues to progress following standard therapy.

7 May 2009

Study reveals current multi-component vaccines may need reworking

Current strategies for designing vaccines against HIV and cancers, for instance, may enable some components in multi-component vaccines to cancel the effect of others on the immune system, eliminating their ability to provide protection, according to an article to be published shortly in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

7 May 2009

New tag could enable more detailed structural studies of mammalian proteins

To say our genes are resourceful is a gross understatement. Through ingenious combinations of a paltry 20 amino acids, the basic building blocks of life, genes engineer all of the tissues and organs that are the marvel of our working bodies.

6 May 2009

Estrogen plays a key role in how the brain processes sounds

The findings, published in today's issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, show for the first time that a sex hormone can directly affect auditory function, and point toward the possibility that estrogen controls other types of sensory processing as well.

5 May 2009

Snippet of RNA helps make individuals alike

"No two people are alike." Yet when we consider the thousands of genes with frequent differences in genetic composition among different people, it is remarkable how much alike we are.

5 May 2009

oct3 protein key to Parkinson's, drug addiction

Scientists have identified a protein that appears not only to be central to the process that causes Parkinson's disease but could also play a role in muting the high from methamphetamine and other addictive drugs.

4 May 2009

New understanding on how DNA repair works

One can have a dream, two can make that dream so real, goes a popular song. Now a Weizmann Institute study has revealed that it takes two to perform an essential form of DNA repair.

4 May 2009

Breakthrough in understanding of how blood cells develop and divide

A West Australian research team has made the world-first discovery a 'pied piper' molecule within blood cells, called Liar, that leads other molecules into the nucleus of the cell, and could offer a key in treating prostate, breast and colon cancers as well as leukemia.

30 Apr 2009

Researchers identify a molecular target for quinoline compounds

The full details about the molecules and mechanisms that underlie the development of autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosus, remain to be discovered.

30 Apr 2009

Stem cell focus for inflammatory bowel disease wound healing

Scientists at The University of Nottingham are investigating whether stem cell markers could have a role to play in speeding up wound healing in patients suffering from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

30 Apr 2009

Nanoneedle introduces minimal intrusiveness in penetrating cell membranes

Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a membrane-penetrating nanoneedle for the targeted delivery of one or more molecules into the cytoplasm or the nucleus of living cells.

30 Apr 2009

Level of cellular stress determines longevity of retinal cells

Stress can be adaptive. It can make you sharper, help you focus and it can even improve your performance. But too much of it can tax cells to the point where they can no longer cope and slowly self-destruct.

30 Apr 2009

Discovery of gene region that may account for as many as 15 percent of autism cases

A research team has connected more of the intricate pieces of the autism puzzle, with two studies that identify genes with important contributions to the disorder.

30 Apr 2009

A potentially better option to blocks tumors

On the heels of dismaying reports that a promising antitumor drug could, in theory, shorten patients' long-term survival, comes a promising study by a Japanese team of researchers that suggests a potentially better option.

30 Apr 2009

Oral delivery system for RNAi therapeutics

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) report on a novel approach to the delivery of small bits of genetic material in order to silence genes using "RNA interference"-and in the process, discovered a potent method of suppressing inflammation in mice similar to what occurs in a range of human diseases.

30 Apr 2009