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WHO warns bird flu could kill 7 million

The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a warning regarding the deadly bird flu virus currently circulating.

24 Apr 2007

Researchers identify key function of a molecule - wound healing in the skin

The skin is the largest organ of the human body. It protects against environmental influences and pathogens, regulates body temperature, and protects the body against dehydration.

24 Apr 2007

Novel two-step mechanism ensures that all cilia beat in unison

Cilia, tiny hair-like structures that propel mucus out of airways, have to agree on the direction of the fluid flow to get things moving. Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies discovered a novel two-step mechanism that ensures that all cilia beat in unison.

24 Apr 2007

Muscle restoration in an animal model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Using a new type of drug that targets a specific genetic defect, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, along with colleagues at PTC Therapeutics Inc. and the University of Massachusetts Medical School, have for the first time demonstrated restoration of muscle function in a mouse model of Duchenne's muscular dystrophy (DMD).

24 Apr 2007

Chitin compound causes allergic inflammation

The beetle's back and the crab's shell owe their toughness to a common compound called chitin that now appears to trigger airway inflammation and possibly asthma, UCSF scientists have found.

24 Apr 2007

Junk DNA plays a role in controlling when genes turn on and off

Large swaths of garbled human DNA once dismissed as junk appear to contain some valuable sections, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the University of California-Santa Cruz.

24 Apr 2007

New methods for treating lung cancer cells that have become resistant to new anti-cancer agents

Researchers at the Ireland Cancer Center of University Hospitals Case Medical Center have developed methods for treating lung cancer cells that have become resistant to new anti-cancer agents.

24 Apr 2007

New drug offers hope to muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis sufferers

Scientists in the United States say an experimental drug may be able to compensate for the genetic error responsible for some cases of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) and cystic fibrosis.

23 Apr 2007

Discovery of molecular mechanism that alters strength of higher brain network connections

Yale School of Medicine and University of Crete School of Medicine researchers report in Cell April 20 the first evidence of a molecular mechanism that dynamically alters the strength of higher brain network connections.

21 Apr 2007

New research may help identify patients most likely to benefit from cisplatin treatment

Researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center have identified a subgroup of hard-to-treat breast cancers that may be sensitive to the drug cisplatin, rarely used in the treatment of breast tumors.

20 Apr 2007

New approach to cystic fibrosis treatment

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that an enzyme produced by lung-infecting bacteria further shuts down a protein that is defective in cystic fibrosis patients.

19 Apr 2007

New automated test for gene mutations causing fragile X syndrome

A new automated test could enable population screening to identify carriers of the gene mutations causing fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common inherited form of mental retardation, reports a study in the April issue of Genetics in Medicine, published by the American College of Medical Genetics and Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

19 Apr 2007