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Salmonella protein can reduce drug resistant molecule found in cancer cells

A surprising result in an experiment on Salmonella bacteria has led to a discovery that may make drug resistant cancer cells more treatable by conventional chemotherapies.

25 Jul 2016

Researchers detect high levels of arsenic, chromium and kidney injury biomarker in children of Mexico

Water supply contamination has become a global issue, affecting communities in both the United States and around the world.

19 Jul 2016

UNC experts advise against routine recommendation of e-cigarettes for smokers

The health benefits of quitting smoking are widely accepted, but researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have taken issue with the suggestion that doctors should routinely recommend e-cigarettes as an alternative to cigarettes for their patients who smoke.

12 Jul 2016

Buck researchers find new way for possible treatment of AMD

Buck researchers boosted the potency of a broccoli-related compound by ten times and identified it as a possible treatment for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of vision loss affecting more than 10 million older Americans.

7 Jul 2016

Review examines role of gut microbes in development, progression of MS

An increasing number of clinical studies are pointing to a link between the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis (MS) and the composition of microbes in the human gut, sparking new research on the gut microbiome as a potential target for MS treatment and prevention.

7 Jul 2016

Researchers uncover sensing mechanism of food poisoning bacteria found in shellfish

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have uncovered a mechanism that a type of pathogenic bacteria found in shellfish use to sense when they are in the human gut, where they release toxins that cause food poisoning.

5 Jul 2016

Environmental toxins affect children's brain development, experts agree

An unprecedented alliance of leading scientists, health professionals, and children's and environmental health advocates agree for the first time that today's scientific evidence supports a link between exposures to toxic chemicals in air, water, food and everyday products and children's risks for neurodevelopmental disorders.

4 Jul 2016

Lab-established diagnosis necessary for treatment of patients with persistent diarrhea

Persistent diarrhea, which is diarrhea that lasts at least 14 days, is an illness typically caused by parasites or bacteria and requires accurate diagnosis in order to determine what treatment to give, according to Herbert L. DuPont, M.D., director of the Center for Infectious Diseases at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health.

29 Jun 2016

Anthrax capsule vaccine offers protection from deadly anthrax infection in monkeys

Vaccination with the anthrax capsule--a naturally occurring component of the bacterium that causes the disease--completely protected monkeys from lethal anthrax infection, according to a study published online this week in the journal VACCINE.

27 Jun 2016

Paper-based testing device can identify occurrence of cyanobacteria toxins in swimming water

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and the University of Turku have developed an easy-to-use and affordable blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) test. The testing device enables ordinary consumers to check that the water at their beach is free of cyanobacteria toxins.

17 Jun 2016

New UCLA study reveals strategy to fight against pesticide-associated Parkinson’s disease

Exposure to a group of common pesticides, called dithiocarbamates, has long been associated with an increased risk of Parkinson's disease, although the mechanism by which the compounds exert their toxicity on the brain has not been completely understood.

15 Jun 2016

New vaccine found safe, effective against Toxic Shock Syndrome

Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) is a severe circulatory and organ failure caused by bacterial toxins, usually triggered by bacteria from the Staphylococcus group. Researchers from MedUni Vienna's Department of Clinical Pharmacology, in collaboration with the company Biomedizinische Forschungsgesellschaft mbH in Vienna, have now developed the world's first safe and effective vaccine against this disease and successfully tested it in a Phase I trial.

13 Jun 2016

New method helps speed up bacterial identification

Pinpointing the type of bacteria that are at the root of an infection in clinical samples removed from living tissues, such as blood, urine or joint fluids, to quickly identify the best anti-microbial therapy still poses a formidable challenge.

10 Jun 2016

Tarantula venom could help provide relief for patients suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Researchers from The University of Adelaide in South Australia found that a specific peptide in the spider venom could be used to understand how people sense pain.

7 Jun 2016

Spider venom helps investigate pain signals experienced by irritable bowel syndrome patients

Spiders have helped researchers from Australia and the US discover a new target for irritable bowel syndrome pain.

7 Jun 2016

Scientists use new technique to repair fibrotic liver cells within the organ

Advances in stem cell research have made it possible to convert patients' skin cells into heart cells, kidney cells, liver cells and more in the lab dish, giving researchers hope that one day such cells could replace organ transplantation for patients with organ failure.

3 Jun 2016

Organic chemists succeed in synthesizing 3,6-Dihydro-2H-pyran derivatives with high enantiomeric purity

The pyran ring is present in so many useful compounds, such as pharmaceuticals (antibiotics, anti-infectives, cardiovascular agents, neurological modulators, anti-allergic, anti-asthmatic, anti-inflammatory agents, reproductive and genitourinary agents, growth promoters and antidiabetic agents), veterinary products, agrochemicals, toxins, polymers and additives, photosensitizers and photoinitiators, surfactants, food products, dyes and pigments.

28 May 2016

TSRI scientists discover new method for harnessing venoms for therapeutic use

There are lessons to be learned from venoms. Scorpions, snakes, snails, frogs and other creatures are thought to produce tens or even hundreds of millions of distinct venoms. These venoms have been honed to strike specific targets in the body.

26 May 2016

New drug that combines methicillin with polymer BPEI can combat MRSA

A University of Oklahoma team of chemists has developed a new antibiotic formulation to fight the sometimes deadly staph infection caused by methicillin-resistant S. aureus or MRSA and other antibiotic-resistant infectious bacteria.

19 May 2016

Food components can have significant influence on immune system

An international team of researchers under the leadership of the LIMES Institute and the excellence cluster ImmunoSensation of the University of Bonn unraveled a new regulatory mechanism how food components and environmental factors influence the immune system.

18 May 2016