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Mad cow disease prions can be removed from blood

New research results released today confirm that infectious variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) prions that cause the human form of "mad cow disease" can be removed from blood.

From Pall Corporation 3 Nov 2004

Scientists have uncovered a significant new link in the chain of immune system events through which estrogen prevents bone loss

Through research in mice, the scientists discovered that an immune signaling molecule called type b transforming growth factor (TGFb) is responsible for a cascade of events that leads estrogen to prevent bone loss.

29 Oct 2004

A new approach to controlling blood cholesterol levels may be a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease

A new approach to controlling blood cholesterol levels that is already being investigated to prevent cardiovascular disease also may be a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease.

13 Oct 2004

Edible vaccine for HIV AIDS

Scientists from Novosibirsk are engaged in the development of an unusual vaccine which, apart from being less expensive to produce, safe and painless to administer, is also edible.

22 Sep 2004

Vanilla may become a drug to treat sickle cell disease

In addition to its popular role in flavoring ice cream, fudge and cake frosting, vanilla may have a future use as a medicine. Recent laboratory research has strengthened the possibility that a form of vanilla may become a drug to treat sickle cell disease.

20 Sep 2004

Link between eosinophils and asthma

Mayo Clinic researchers have used a comparative genomic strategy to demonstrate a causative link between eosinophils, a rare type of white blood cell, and asthma.

18 Sep 2004

Jellyfish advance science

Salmon fishermen trolling along the waters off Puget Sound in Washington are often witness to an awesome sight when they haul in their catch: salmon captured in nets that glow brilliantly against the nighttime sky.

16 Sep 2004

Potential new drug for the treatment of sickle cell disease

The results were published in the June 2004 issue of The British Journal of Haematology (BJH). MX-1520 is a prodrug of vanillin, a very popular food additive generally regarded as safe (GRAS) by the FDA.

13 Sep 2004

Genetically modified fish may help treat hemophiliacs

A human blood-clotting factor used to treat some people with haemophilia and accident victims suffering serious bleeding has been produced using genetically modified fish.

9 Sep 2004

Hair growing stem cells may one day provide treatments for human hair conditions

Researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at The Rockefeller University have isolated stem cells from the skin of a mouse, and showed, for the first time, that an individual stem cell can renew itself in the laboratory and then be used in grafts to produce skin, hair and oil glands.

5 Sep 2004

New ways of looking at treatment for lung diseases such as pulmonary fibrosis

A research team at Yale University has found that blocking a kind of cell death called apoptosis in fibrotic diseases of the lung, also blocks the fibrosis, opening new ways of looking at treatment for lung diseases such as pulmonary fibrosis.

2 Sep 2004

Omega-3 supplement may help protect against Alzheimer's

Higher intake of fatty, cold-water fish (such as tuna, salmon, and mackerel) has long been associated with a lower risk of dementia and Alzheimer's and epidemiological studies suggest that dietary supplements of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids might also protect against Alzheimer's disease.

1 Sep 2004

Researchers have produced a marathon mouse that can run twice as far as normal mice

By enhancing the function of a single protein, Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have produced a “marathon mouse” with altered muscle composition and enough physical endurance to run twice as far as normal mice.

23 Aug 2004

Effect of prebiotic and probiotic foods on health

A group of researchers at the Public University of Navarre, led by Senior Lecturer in Zoology, Elena Urdaneta Artola, have studied both the mechanisms whereby foodstuffs known as functional act at a gastrointestinal level as well as their possible beneficial effects on the health of individuals.

23 Aug 2004

Scientists discover the body's own defense against H.Pylori, the cause of stomach ulcers and stomach cancer

An international team led by The Burnham Institute's Minoru Fukuda, Ph.D., has discovered that a human glycoprotein inhibits Helicobacter pylori ("H. pylori"), the bacterium that causes stomach ulcers and is linked with 90% of stomach cancers.

13 Aug 2004

Ways to economically recover recombinant proteins from transgenic tobacco

The economics of producing biopharmaceuticals from transgenic plants such as tobacco is still a roadblock to producing large quantities of urgently needed medicines, especially for people in underdeveloped nations.

12 Aug 2004

Scientists create mice that don't gain weight, even when fed fat-laden, high calorie diets

By altering the expression of a single -- albeit different – gene, Drs. Roger Davis (UMASS Medical School, USA) and Ying-Hue Lee (Academia Sinica, Taiwan) have succeeded in creating two different strains of transgenic mice that don't gain weight, even when fed fat-laden, high calorie diets.

2 Aug 2004

First tool to study image brain function at the cellular level

Carnegie Mellon University neuroscientist Alison Barth has developed the first tool to identify and study individual neurons activated in a living animal.

29 Jul 2004

New book predicts a "vaccine century"

A new book published by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) predicts that the 21st century will become the "century of vaccines" thanks to rapid developments in the field of immunization.

21 Jul 2004

Russian scientists incorporate HIV antigen into a tomato

Russian scientists are currently creating a pleasant and harmless vaccine, and edible one at that. So far, they managed to incorporate the protein gene – HIV antigen in tomatoes. The research is supported by International Science and Technology Center.

19 Jul 2004