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Fast food and no exercise damages the liver

Too much fast food and too little exercise can harm the liver, reveals a small study published ahead of print in the journal Gut.

18 Feb 2008

New blood test six times more effective for tuberculosis control

In a landmark study electronically published today in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, a blood test for detecting TB infection, QuantiFERON(R)-TB Gold (QFT), has been shown to be six times more accurate than the conventional tuberculin skin test (TST) at predicting which tuberculosis (TB)-exposed individuals will go on to develop TB disease.

18 Feb 2008

Cholesterol-lowering drug used to block staph infections in mince

An international team of researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has blocked staph infections in mice using a drug previously tested in clinical trials as a cholesterol-lowering agent.

17 Feb 2008

New control mechanism for genetic code translation discovered in bacteria

Almost all organisms, from bacteria to human beings, share the same genetic code, a group of universal instructions used to convert DNA or RNA sequences into proteins, the "building blocks" of life.

17 Feb 2008

Scientists solve structure of gene regulator that plays key role in cancer

Scientists at The Wistar Institute have collaborated on a major advance in understanding a gene regulator that contributes to some of the deadliest cancers in humans.

14 Feb 2008

Bacterial toxin closes gate on immune response

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have demonstrated that a bacterial toxin from the common bacterium Staphylococcus aureus shuts down the control mechanism of the tunnel, called an ion channel, in immune cell membranes.

14 Feb 2008

What do marathoners and heart failure patients have in common?

The new study shows that the fatigue that marathoners and other extreme athletes feel at the end of a race is caused by a tiny leak inside their muscles that probably also saps the energy from patients with heart failure.

12 Feb 2008

Prion infection of neurons increases the free cholesterol content in cell membranes

A new study published in the online open access journal BMC Biology suggests that disturbances in membrane cholesterol may be the mechanism by which prions cause neurodegeneration and could point to a role for cholesterol in other neurodegenerative diseases.

12 Feb 2008

Researchers find new U.S. trend in antibiotic resistance

A research team from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, examining bacterial isolates obtained in hospital and non-hospital clinical settings between 2000 and 2006, has identified drug-resistant strains of E. coli and Klebsiella bacteria in more than 50 blood, urine and respiratory samples.

11 Feb 2008

Moss protein plays role in Alzheimer's disease

Preventing Alzheimer's from developing is a goal of Raphael Kopan, Ph.D., professor of molecular biology and pharmacology at the Washington University School of Medicine.

11 Feb 2008

Discovery of cellular mechanisms that lead to in insulin resistance in diabetics

Researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have in collaboration with researchers from Finland, China, Japan and the US discovered new cellular mechanisms that lead to in insulin resistance in people with diabetes.

11 Feb 2008

Researchers decode genetics of chlorophyll d

A bacterium that harvests far-red light by making a rare form of chlorophyll (chlorophyll d) has revealed its genetic secrets, according to a team of researchers who recently sequenced the bacteria's genome.

8 Feb 2008

Novel drug shows promise in limiting heart attack damage

A novel drug designed to lessen muscle damage from a heart attack has passed initial safety tests at the Duke Clinical Research Institute.

8 Feb 2008

Discovery of new cellular mechanisms that lead to in insulin resistance in people with diabetes

8 Feb 2008

MIT applies engineering approach to studying biological pathways

An MIT team has used an engineering approach to show that complex biological systems can be studied with simple models developed by measuring what goes into and out of the system.

7 Feb 2008

Gene in grain-producing plants guards against infection in animals and humans

Purdue University and USDA-Agricultural Research Service scientists have discovered that a type of gene in grain-producing plants halts infection by a disease-causing fungus that can destroy crops vital for human food supplies.

5 Feb 2008

Structure of important neurotransmitter regulator solved

Researchers from Virginia Tech and the Brookhaven National Laboratory have solved the structure of an enzyme that is critical in the regulation of the neurotransmitter system in the human brain.

4 Feb 2008

Zinc supplementation helps diarrhea symptoms

Diarrhea is a major health problem, especially in the developing world. It is estimated that diarrheal disease is responsible for roughly 21 percent of all deaths in children younger than 5 worldwide.

4 Feb 2008

Less waste in the synthesis of anti-inflammatory drugs

Dr Francesca Paradisi of the Centre for Synthesis and Chemical Biology (CSCB) at University College Dublin, and Professor Daria Giacomini and co-workers at the University of Bologna, Italy, have developed a highly efficient enzyme-driven process which could be applied to the synthesis of drugs such as Ibuprofen, avoiding the 50% waste of the undesired byproduct generated by current processes.

4 Feb 2008

Researchers examine immune cells where HIV can lie dormant, possible treatments

Researchers have determined how HIV is able to lie dormant in certain immune system cells and prevent the cells from self-destructing, according to a study published Thursday online in the journal Retrovirology, the AP/Google.com reports.

4 Feb 2008