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Researchers create mouse models to advance the study of unusual deadly diseases

By directly manipulating a portion of the prion protein-coding gene, Whitehead Institute researchers have created mouse models of two neurodegenerative diseases that are fatal in humans. The highly accurate reproduction of disease pathology seen with these models should advance the study of these unusual but deadly diseases.

20 Aug 2013

Scientists reveal how females select 'right' sperm to fertilize their eggs

University of East Anglia scientists have revealed how females select the 'right' sperm to fertilize their eggs when faced with the risk of being fertilized by wrong sperm from a different species.

19 Aug 2013

Viewpoints: Latest Health law delay just a 'glitch;' feds' overhaul of health care gets many 'moving parts wrong'

Today brings news of another delay in the implementation of Obamacare -- the second significant glitch this summer. … If this sounds like a winner for Republicans in 2014 it probably isn't.

17 Aug 2013

New test hints 3 sodas daily hurt lifespan, reproduction in mice

When mice ate a diet of 25 percent extra sugar - the mouse equivalent of a healthy human diet plus three cans of soda daily - females died at twice the normal rate and males were a quarter less likely to hold territory and reproduce, according to a toxicity test developed at the University of Utah.

14 Aug 2013

TUM scientists decode typical protein profile of tumor cells

In what is the biggest study of its kind to date, researchers from Technische Universit-t M-nchen have identified over 10,000 different proteins in cancer cells. "Nearly all anti-tumor drugs are targeted against cellular proteins," says Prof. Bernhard K-ster, Head of the TUM Chair of Proteomics and Bioanalytics. "Identifying the proteome the protein portfolio of tumor cells increases our chances of finding new targets for drugs."

9 Aug 2013

Study suggests obesity does not affect women’s chances of conception with donor eggs

In women who use donor eggs to become pregnant through in vitro fertilization (IVF), those who are obese are just as likely to become pregnant as normal weight women, according to a new report.

1 Aug 2013

Research shows exposure to BPA may play a role in unexplained infertility

As many as 20 percent of infertile couples in the United States have unexplained reasons for their infertility. Now, new research led by Catherine Racowsky, PhD, director of the Assisted Reproductive Technologies Laboratory at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), shows that exposure to BPA (Bisphenol-A) could be a contributing factor as to why some infertile couples are having difficulty conceiving.

31 Jul 2013

Scientists show link between lunar cycles and human sleep behavior

Many people complain about poor sleep around full moon. Scientists at the University of Basel in Switzerland now report evidence that lunar cycles and human sleep behavior are in fact connected.

26 Jul 2013

Stem cell-based epilepsy approach may help in search for better medicines to treat seizure disorders

A new stem cell-based approach to studying epilepsy has yielded a surprising discovery about what causes one form of the disease, and may help in the search for better medicines to treat all kinds of seizure disorders.

25 Jul 2013

BGI, CITIC-XIANGYA successfully apply NGS to detect IVF embryos with genetic abnormalities

The largest genomic institute of the world, BGI Shenzhen, China, together with Reproductive & Genetic Hospital CITIC-XIANGYA announced today that they have successfully applied Next Generation Sequencing to detect in vitro fertilized embryos with genetic abnormalities.

24 Jul 2013

Study results suggest reexamination of biological, medical importance of X chromosome

Painstaking new analysis of the genetic sequence of the X chromosome—long perceived as the "female" counterpart to the male-associated Y chromosome—reveals that large portions of the X have evolved to play a specialized role in sperm production.

24 Jul 2013

Researchers discover new protein that encourages ‘bad’ blood vessel growth

The discovery of a protein that encourages blood vessel growth, and especially 'bad' blood vessels - the kind that characterise diseases as diverse as cancer, age-related macular degeneration and rheumatoid arthritis - has been reported in the journal Nature.

18 Jul 2013

TAp73 protein frequently overexpressed in wide range of human tumors

They say you can pick your friends, but not your family. The same may hold true for related proteins. The protein TAp73 is a relative of the well-known, tumor-suppressor protein p53. It shares extensive common gene sequences with p53 and, as suggested by some previous studies, it may function similar to p53 to prevent tumor formation.

17 Jul 2013

One step closer to understanding how to control cancer cells without harming healthy ones

The nasty side effects of radiation and chemotherapy are well known: fatigue, hair loss and nausea, to name a few. Cancer treatment can seem as harsh as the disease because it can't differentiate healthy cells from cancerous cells, killing both.

17 Jul 2013

Study shows flavonoid-based nutritional supplements can affect endocrine system

Plant-based diets are healthy. Plants are high in flavonoids. So flavonoids are healthy. At least that's the reasoning of many manufacturers of flavonoid-based nutritional supplements.

16 Jul 2013

Childhood cancer survivors can still get pregnant despite increased risk of infertility

Although women who survived childhood cancer face an increased risk of infertility, nearly two-thirds of those who tried unsuccessfully to become pregnant for at least a year eventually conceived, according to clinical researchers at Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center and Brigham and Women's Hospital. This is comparable to the rate of eventual pregnancy among all clinically infertile women.

15 Jul 2013

Semi-quantitative pregnancy tests: an interview with Dr. Paul Blumenthal, Stanford University School of Medicine

Regular pregnancy tests work a little bit like a simple light switch that you have on your wall. It’s either on or off. When it’s on, that means the test is positive; if it’s off, obviously, it’s negative.

12 Jul 2013

Researchers identify receptor mutation that blocked estrogen action in young woman

A receptor mutation that essentially blocks estrogen's action has been identified for the first time a female, researchers report.

12 Jul 2013

Robotic retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RPLND) for testicular cancer: an interview with Dr. Stephen Williams of St. Joseph Hospital in Orange

Robotic RPLND utilizes laparoscopy combined with robotic technology to perform dissection and removal of lymph node tissue in the retroperitoneum both as a staging as well as therapeutic procedure for patients with testicular cancer.

10 Jul 2013

Women feel positive about egg freezing

Egg freezing as insurance against age-related infertility is a growing trend in many countries. Women who bank oocytes for use at some time in the future hope to buy a little time in their search for a suitable partner.