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Discovery raises hope for severe forms of human epilepsy

Epilepsy that does not respond to drugs can be halted in adult mice by transplanting a specific type of cell into the brain, UC San Francisco researchers have discovered, raising hope that a similar treatment might work in severe forms of human epilepsy.

5 May 2013

Genes play role in wound healing, regulate biological processes in human skin

Biologists at UC San Diego have identified eight genes never before suspected to play a role in wound healing that are called into action near the areas where wounds occur.

26 Apr 2013

Researchers identify key regulator that controls expansion and folding of brain during fetal development

During fetal development of the mammalian brain, the cerebral cortex undergoes a marked expansion in surface area in some species, which is accommodated by folding of the tissue in species with most expanded neuron numbers and surface area. Researchers have now identified a key regulator of this crucial process.

26 Apr 2013

Scientists discover new mechanism that controls egg cell fertility

Scientists in Mainz and Aachen have discovered a new mechanism that controls egg cell fertility and that might have future therapeutic potential.

25 Apr 2013

Individual hydroxymethylcytosine molecules in DNA detected by new method involving chemical modification and nanopore analysis

Changes in the bases that make up DNA act as markers, telling a cell which genes it should read and which it shouldn’t. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, a British team has now introduced a new method that makes it possible to enrich the rare gene segments that contain the modified base hydroxymethylcytosine and to identify individual hydroxymethylcytosine molecules in DNA. Such modifications are associated with autoimmune diseases and cancer.

24 Apr 2013

Phase III clinical trial data of Milprosa vaginal ring presented at PCRS annual meeting

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. today presented data from a sub-analysis of a Phase III clinical trial of Milprosa (progesterone) vaginal ring, an investigational, once-weekly therapy for luteal phase support in women undergoing in vitro fertilization.

18 Apr 2013

Study sheds light on role of retinoic acid in tissue development

In a ground-breaking study, researchers from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Japan report a new technique that allows them to visualize the distribution of retinoic acid in a live zebrafish embryo, in real-time.

9 Apr 2013

Nobel Prize recipient describes on innate immunity at Annual Drosophila Research Conference

A young scientist's astute observation - that grasshoppers don't get sick - eventually led to profound insights into our own immunity.

6 Apr 2013

Fruit fly study offers clues to wound healing

A person's skin and a fruit fly's exoskeleton, called a "cuticle" may not look alike, but both coverings protect against injury, infection, and dehydration.

6 Apr 2013

UEA research could offer long-lasting solution to eating disorders

Researchers at the University of East Anglia have made a discovery in neuroscience that could offer a long-lasting solution to eating disorders such as obesity.

5 Apr 2013

Researchers diagnose genetic disease in embryonic DNA without biopsy

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) technologies allow identification of genetic disorders in human preimplantation embryos after in vitro fertilization (IVF) and before the embryo is transferred back to the patient.

3 Apr 2013

Study: Neural-crest stem cells also play a key role in building olfactory sensory neurons

When our noses pick up a scent, whether the aroma of a sweet rose or the sweat of a stranger at the gym, two types of sensory neurons are at work in sensing that odor or pheromone.

26 Mar 2013

Study investigates new way to treat necrotizing enterocolitis

Stem cells taken from amniotic fluid were used to restore gut structure and function following intestinal damage in rodents, in new research published in the journal Gut.

25 Mar 2013

Scientists reveal genetic activity that led to development of wings in fruit flies

Scientists have delved deeper into the evolutionary history of the fruit fly than ever before to reveal the genetic activity that led to the development of wings - a key to the insect's ability to survive.

12 Mar 2013

Scientists develop new method for replacing missing teeth

Scientists have developed a new method of replacing missing teeth with a bioengineered material generated from a person's own gum cells.

11 Mar 2013

tRNA synthetases play unexpected and critical role in cancer metastasis

Studied for decades for their essential role in making proteins within cells, several amino acids known as tRNA synthetases were recently found to have an unexpected - and critical - additional role in cancer metastasis in a study conducted collaboratively in the labs of Karen Lounsbury, Ph.D., University of Vermont professor of pharmacology, and Christopher Francklyn, Ph.D., UVM professor of biochemistry.

5 Mar 2013

Researchers elucidate how Fgf8 is controlled by multiple regulatory elements in mammal embryos

During embryo development, genes are dynamically, and very precisely, switched on and off to confer different properties to different cells and build a well-proportioned and healthy animal. Fgf8 is one of the key genes in this process, controlling in particular the growth of the limbs and the formation of the different regions of the brain. Researchers at EMBL have elucidated how Fgf8 in mammal embryos is, itself, controlled by a series of multiple, interdependent regulatory elements.

1 Mar 2013

Stem cell line could also advance research into liver cancers, cystic fibrosis

Chronic or acute, liver failure can be deadly. Toxins take over, the skin turns yellow and higher brain function slows. "There is no effective therapy at the moment to deal with the toxins that build up in your body," said Neil Talbot, a Research Animal Scientist for the USDA Agricultural Research Service. "Their only option now is to transplant a liver."

1 Mar 2013

Blocking aPKC activity can stop growth of transplanted skin tumors resistant to vismodegib

Hailed as a major step forward in the effort to develop targeted cancer therapies, a recently approved drug for the most common type of skin cancer has been a mixed blessing for patients. Although the initial response is usually dramatic, the tumors often recur as the cancer becomes resistant to treatment.

28 Feb 2013

Study finds major risk factor behind increased risk of adverse outcomes in IVF pregnancies

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers have identified what may be a major factor behind the increased risk of two adverse outcomes in pregnancies conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF).

26 Feb 2013