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New understanding of how some bacteria survive antibiotic treatment

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered how some bacteria can survive antibiotic treatment by turning on resistance mechanisms when exposed to the drugs.

30 Apr 2008

First sequence-based map of large-scale structural variation across the human genome

A nationwide team of researchers, funded in part by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has produced the first sequence-based map of large-scale structural variation across the human genome. The work, published today in the journal Nature, provides a starting point to examine how such DNA variation contributes to human health and disease.

30 Apr 2008

CSIRO researchers open up new class of chemistry

CSIRO Entomology business manager, Cameron Begley, said researchers believed the discovery opened up an entirely new class of chemistry.

29 Apr 2008

Newly refined antibody therapy may be potent treatment for autoimmune diseases

An old, fickle therapy for a variety of autoimmune diseases is getting a makeover, thanks to a decade-long investigation by Rockefeller University researchers.

26 Apr 2008

Bioartificial kidney speeds recovery, reduces mortality

Another promising clinical trial for the bioartificial kidney is offering researchers even more hope that within the next few years the device will be available to save lives of patients with acute renal failure.

24 Apr 2008

Researchers unravel heparin death mystery

An international team of researchers led by MIT has explained how contaminated batches of the blood-thinner heparin were able to slip past traditional safety screens and kill dozens of patients recently in the United States and Germany.

23 Apr 2008

Biopharmaceutical spin-out company Domainex, secures funding

Headquartered in London, Domainex is a contract research company specialising in the provision of structural biology and chemistry services to major pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms. The Company is also developing a pipeline of pre-clinical drugs and targets.

From Domainex 23 Apr 2008

Different processes govern sight, light detection - findings could point toward help for SAD, insomnia patients

A Johns Hopkins University biologist, in research with implications for people suffering from seasonal affective disorder and insomnia, has determined that the eye uses light to reset the biological clock through a mechanism separate from the ability to see.

23 Apr 2008

Discovery of gene that may influence metastasis risk in breast cancer

Researchers have identified a pattern of gene activity in mice that may help to predict individual risk for breast cancer metastasis and survival in humans. A single gene, called bromodomain 4 (Brd4), regulates the expression of this pattern, also called a signature.

22 Apr 2008

Raptor Pharmaceuticals initiates phase IIa clinical study for Convivia

Raptor Pharmaceuticals Corp. has announced that its clinical development subsidiary, Bennu Pharmaceuticals Inc. , has initiated the Company's first clinical-stage program after dosing the first cohort in a Phase IIa study of oral 4-methylpyrazole ("4-MP") in subjects with ALDH2 deficiency, or ethanol intolerance, as the initial development stage of its Convivia program.

21 Apr 2008

Can IT fuel the race to the $1,000 human genome?

Ever wonder if you have a genetic disposition to a certain disease, or why a medicine works for your friend, but not for you?

21 Apr 2008

European action in global life sciences - food forum

The EAGLES conference focused on the European response through research to the global challenges posed by food security, quality and safety, and sustainable agriculture in the developing and emerging countries (DECs).

21 Apr 2008

Urgent action needed against global food crisis

Life scientists from the developing world told their European colleagues at the EAGLES Food Symposium, held this week at the New Library of Alexandria (Egypt), that they are dismayed and even horrified at the persistent failure of Europe to deploy its life sciences effectively in the fight against hunger. Our Asian, African and Latin American colleagues have said that they simply cannot understand why that on the continent of Darwin and Pasteur, the voices of science and reason have been devalued.

18 Apr 2008

Life Sciences Discovery Fund awards $2.2 million to support new solid-tumor research program

The state's Life Sciences Discovery fund has awarded $2.2 million to establish a formal phase 1 clinical-trials program to test new therapies for solid tumors at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Announced this evening, the grant is among the first funded by Washington's $350 million tobacco-lawsuit-settlement bonus.

17 Apr 2008

Austrian scientists identify common mechanism underlying acute respiratory disease syndrome

The Spanish flu outbreak of 1918 killed between 30 and 50 million people. In the infected patients, the ultimate cause of death was acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). This fatal condition is a massive reaction of the body during which the lung becomes severely damaged. ARDS can be induced by various bacterial and viral infections, but also by chemical agents.

17 Apr 2008

Nanomagnets used to carry genes to fight tumours

A revolutionary cancer treatment using microscopic magnets to enable 'armed' human cells to target tumours has been developed by researchers funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

17 Apr 2008

Wild Mediterranean plant provides potential anticancer medicines

A group of scientists from the Department of Organic Chemistry and the Biotechnology Institute of the University of Granada have found out that the plant “Dittirichia viscose”, known as elecampe, can be used to obtain inhibitors of neurogenic vasodilatation, a significant progress in migraine and cancer treatments.

17 Apr 2008

2nd Alzheimer's vaccine by AFFiRiS

The Viennese biotech company Affiris is today taking stock of the progress achieved to date in its clinical Alzheimer's vaccination programme. All the Alzheimer's patients treated so far as part of the toxicological trials have tolerated the treatment extremely well. As a result, Affiris is among the leading international centres in the race to develop the first causal immunotherapy for Alzheimer's disease.

17 Apr 2008

New hope for blood disorder anaemia

A new understanding of how red blood cell production is controlled could lead to improvements in the treatment of the blood disorder anaemia, according to West Australian medical researchers.

13 Apr 2008

Inserting tiny scaffolding into the brain could dramatically reduce damage caused by strokes

With funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) neurobiologists from the Institute of Psychiatry and tissue engineers from The University of Nottingham have joined forces to tackle the challenge of tissue loss as a result of stroke.

13 Apr 2008