Toxin News and Research

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New type of probe enables visualization of single ribonucleic acid

Biomedical engineers have developed a new type of probe that allows them to visualize single ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules within live cells more easily than existing methods.

6 Apr 2009

Intestinal parasites significantly reduce immune response to the cholera toxin

Cholera patients also infected with parasitic intestinal worms have a significantly reduced immune response to the cholera toxin, according to a report published March 31st in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

30 Mar 2009

Carbohydrate-based medicine

Scientists from Germany today reported a major advance toward opening the doors of a carbohydrate-based medicine chest for the 21st Century.

22 Mar 2009

MRSA study suggests strategy shift needed to develop effective therapeutics

USA300-the major epidemic strain of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) causing severe infections in the United States during the past decade-inherits its destructiveness directly from a forefather strain of the bacterium called USA500 rather than randomly acquiring harmful genes from other MRSA strains.

17 Mar 2009

FDA looks at nanotechnology for the detection of anthrax

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has completed a "proof-of-concept" study of a test that quickly and accurately detects the presence of even the smallest amount of the deadly anthrax toxin.

17 Mar 2009

Sensitive new test for protein detection

Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) recently reported the detection of toxins with unprecedented speed, sensitivity, and simplicity.

16 Mar 2009

New botulinum toxin type A (Reloxin) appears to be well tolerated and may help reduce forehead wrinkles

Injections with a new type of botulinum toxin appears to be well tolerated and may help to improve the appearance of moderate to severe forehead lines with no evidence of diminishing treatment response over 13 months, according to a report in the March/April issue of Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery.

16 Mar 2009

Novel anti-inflammatory therapy protects lungs from runaway inflammation

A novel anti-inflammatory therapy designed by Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators prevents acute lung injury in mice exposed to an inflammation-causing toxin, the researchers report in the journal Molecular Therapy.

11 Mar 2009

Insecticidal toxin useless without 'friendly' bacteria accomplices

The toxin produced by the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a popular insecticide used to control pest moths and butterflies, and in some GM pest-proof crops.

3 Mar 2009

Instant immunity through chemically programmable vaccination and covalent self-assembly

The experiments, thus far performed only in mice, appear to overcome a major drawback of vaccinations - the lag time of days, or even weeks, that it normally takes for immunity to build against a pathogen.

2 Mar 2009

Scientists debug Clostridium difficile

An international team of scientists, led by Monash University researchers, has uncovered the workings of a superbug that kills elderly hospital patients worldwide - a discovery that has the potential to save lives and health care systems billions of dollars each year.

2 Mar 2009

Air pollution dangerously high around some U.S. schools

Air pollution is dangerously high around schools near some U.S. industrial plants, according to a recent study involving researchers from the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University.

16 Feb 2009

Toxin-nanoparticle combo inhibits brain cancer invasion while imaging tumors

Working with a nanoparticle designed to target and image glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, investigators at the University of Washington in Seattle have found that these same nanoparticles inhibit tumor cell invasion, one of the key events that leads to the metastatic spread of cancer. The investigators have also determined how the nanoparticles exert this potentially beneficial effect.

18 Jan 2009

New mouse model for peanut allergy

Chicago researchers report the development of a new mouse model for food allergy that mimics symptoms generated during a human allergic reaction to peanuts.

12 Jan 2009

New nasal spray vaccine shown to be effective against botulism

A preclinical study found a new nasal spray vaccine to provide complete protection against a major botulism toxin, according to a study published today in the Nature journal Gene Therapy .

8 Jan 2009

Virtuoso cell engineering

University of Michigan researchers have discovered that a key protein in cells plays a critical role in not one, but two processes affecting the development of cancer.

6 Jan 2009

Discovery of new way for bacteria to transfer toxic genes to unrelated bacterial species

In a laboratory experiment, the scientists from NYU School of Medicine discovered that Staphylococcus aureus, a notorious bacterium that causes toxic shock syndrome and many other types of infections and is the scourge of hospitals nationwide due to its growing antibiotic resistance, could co-opt viral parasites as secret pipelines for transferring toxin genes to vastly different bacterial species.

6 Jan 2009

What are protective effects of anti-ricin A-chain aptamer?

Ricin, a lectin from the castor bean plant Ricinus communis is considered one of the most potent plant toxins.

30 Dec 2008

FDA issues complete response letter to Ipsen for Dysport BLA

Ipsen has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Complete Response Letter for its Biologics License Application (BLA) for its Botulinum toxin Type A, Dysport.

30 Dec 2008

Botulinum toxin used to treat patients with masseteric muscle hypertrophy

For patients with an uncommon condition causing a swollen appearance of the lower face, treatment with botulinum toxin type A (Botox) provides an effective alternative to plastic surgery, according to a study in the November Journal of Craniofacial Surgery.

21 Dec 2008