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Amazonian tribe sheds light on causes of heart attacks and strokes in developed countries

Heart attacks and strokes — the leading causes of death in the United States and other developed countries — may have been rare for the vast majority of human history, suggests a study to be published in PLoS ONE on Tuesday, August 11.

10 Aug 2009

New hope for sufferers of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the University of Florida in Gainesville have safely given new, functional genes to patients with a hereditary defect that can lead to fatal lung and liver diseases, according to clinical trial findings slated to appear this week in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

10 Aug 2009

Discovery of gene that may play a role in the development of type 1 diabetes

Scientists at Stanford University have identified a gene that may play a role in the development of type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the body's insulin-producing cells. Insulin, a hormone produced by cells of the pancreas, helps the body to absorb sugars found in food and to maintain blood sugar at appropriate levels.

10 Aug 2009

White tea shows most health benefits out of 21 plant and herb extracts

Next time you’re making a cuppa, new research shows it might be wise to opt for a white tea if you want to reduce your risk of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis or even just age-associated wrinkles. Researchers from Kingston University teamed up with Neal’s Yard Remedies to test the health properties of 21 plant and herb extracts. They discovered all of the plants tested had some potential benefits, but were intrigued to find white tea considerably outperformed all of them.

10 Aug 2009

Cephalon, Inc. completes acquisition of Arana Therapeutics

Cephalon, Inc. (Nasdaq: CEPH) announced today that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of all of the outstanding ordinary shares of Australian biotechnology company, Arana Therapeutics Limited. As a result of the acquisition, Arana is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cephalon.

10 Aug 2009

Innovative projects addressing childhood obesity

Youth Service America (YSA) and UnitedHealth Group team up for the second year to offer UnitedHealth HEROES grants to youth-led service-learning projects addressing childhood obesity.

10 Aug 2009

H5N1 avian influenza leaves people at increased risk for Parkinson's disease

At least one strain of the H5N1 avian influenza virus leaves survivors at significantly increased risk for Parkinson's disease and possibly other neurological problems later in life, according to new research from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

10 Aug 2009

Nanoviricides anti-herpes drug candidate reduces viral load by 99.99%

NanoViricides, Inc. (OTC BB: NNVC.OB) (the "Company"), has announced that the herpes simplex viral load was reduced by 99.99% or 10,000 fold in in-vitro studies by nanoviricides™ drug candidates.

10 Aug 2009

Oncogenex Pharmaceuticals issued key patent

OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: OGXI), today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has issued United States Patent Number 7,569,551 entitled "Chemo-and Radiation-sensitization of Cancer by Antisense TRPM-2 Oligodeoxynucleotides," on the method of using OncoGenex' lead cancer drug candidate, OGX-011, to treat certain cancers.

10 Aug 2009

Chemists rationally design inhibitors against an RNA molecule that causes myotonic muscular dystrophy

Chemists at the University at Buffalo have used rational drug design to synthesize small, cell-permeable molecules that are effective in vitro against two common types of myotonic muscular dystrophy, a result that has implications for potentially curing muscular dystrophy, as well as other diseases.

9 Aug 2009

NIH stimulus funding supports Emory - grants to advance research, create jobs, support students

At least 50 research projects so far, supported by more than $10 million in stimulus grants from the National Institutes of Health, are expected to lead to new discoveries at Emory University that will improve medical treatment, create new jobs, and provide additional educational opportunities for students. Emory has received half of all the NIH ARRA grants awarded to Georgia academic institutions thus far.

9 Aug 2009

Scientists discover link between mutations in INPP5E gene and ciliopathies

An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, have discovered a connection between mutations in the INPP5E gene and ciliopathies. Their findings, which may lead to new therapies for these diseases, will appear in the online edition of Nature Genetics on August 9.

9 Aug 2009

Changes in mtDNA can cause premature ageing

The normal ageing process has long been linked to problems with cell respiration, the process through which the cells extract energy from nutrients. Researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have now shown how certain proteins that are synthesised in the cellular mitochondria - popularly known as the cells' power plants - become unstable and disintegrate, which in turn can impair cell respiration and cause premature ageing.

7 Aug 2009

Scientists find key to strengthening immune response to chronic infection

A team of researchers from The Wistar Institute has identified a protein that could serve as a target for reprogramming immune system cells exhausted by exposure to chronic viral infection into more effective "soldiers" against certain viruses like HIV, hepatitis C, and hepatitis B, as well as some cancers, such as melanoma.

6 Aug 2009

Proteomics helps find key to keeping cells in shape

Yale University researchers have discovered how a protein within most cell membranes helps maintain normal cell size, a breakthrough in basic biology that has implications for a variety of diseases such as sickle cell anemia and disorders of the nervous system.

6 Aug 2009

GE Global Research Biosciences technology celebrated fifth anniversary

From creating a new business in digital pathology to developing next generation diagnostic imaging agents and life sciences tools that are breaking new ground in the detection and treatment of disease, the Biosciences technology organization at GE Global Research today celebrated its fifth anniversary.

6 Aug 2009

Nanotechnology helps scientists measure the forces that hold proteins together

Rice University physicists have written the next chapter in an innovative approach for studying the forces that shape proteins -- the biochemical workhorses of all living things.

6 Aug 2009

Bellicum Pharmaceuticals starts phase I/II trial of novel advanced prostate cancer vaccine

Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced dosing of the first patient in a Phase I/II clinical trial of BP-GMAX-CD1, a novel pharmacologically regulated dendritic cell vaccine for the treatment of prostate cancer. The disease-specific trial is being conducted under a Bellicum Investigational New Drug application allowed by the FDA in 2008. The company anticipates reporting initial results of the study in 2010.

6 Aug 2009

Genetic profiling of tumors could have 'immediate impact' on treating cancer

New work by MIT cancer biologists shows that the interplay between two key genes that are often defective in tumors determines how cancer cells respond to chemotherapy.

6 Aug 2009

Discovery of cells responsible for bladder cancer spread

Johns Hopkins scientists have tracked down a powerful set of cells in bladder tumors that seem to be primarily responsible for the cancer's growth and spread using a technique that takes advantage of similarities between tumor and organ growth. The findings, reported in the July Stem Cells, could help scientists develop new ways of finding and attacking similar cells in other types of cancer.

6 Aug 2009