Biochemistry News and Research

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Drug developers should take a different approach to snake venom and heart medications

With the help of snake venom and sophisticated laboratory testing, scientists believe they've uncovered the reason why a group of new heart medications were doing some patients more harm than good.

17 Aug 2004

Novel pharmacological target for cannabinoid-based therapies

Cannabinoids, the active ingredients in marijuana, restrict the sprouting of blood vessels to brain tumors by inhibiting the expression of genes needed for the production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).

15 Aug 2004

Self-assembling peptides, a breakthrough with enormous therapeutic potential

In the August 12 issue of the journal Nature, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania detail the creation of a library of small protein-like molecules that can self-assemble to form hollow corkscrew-like pores that could mimic pores seen in living systems.

11 Aug 2004

New direction for research into Sly Syndrome

Findings by a Saint Louis University research team led by the scientist who discovered Sly Syndrome 32 years ago point to a new direction for research into the rare genetic disorder that can cause bone deformities, vision and hearing loss, mental retardation and death in children.

9 Aug 2004

Entirely new approach to the treatment of aging

Dispelling the belief that the only way to treat such conditions is by fixing or replacing damaged genes, they instead focused on the field of epigenetics—the study of changes in gene silencing that occur without changes in the genes themselves.

3 Aug 2004

Brewing expert examines health potential of beer

Beer is often dismissed as a mere pleasant libation, at best, or an evil abomination, at worst. Few people stop to consider that the age-old beverage "is very much a food" with genuine benefits when consumed intelligently, writes a UC Davis brewing scientist.

29 Jul 2004

DNA of rare and endangered species is to be preserved for future generations

The DNA of rare and endangered species is to be preserved for future generations, thanks to a groundbreaking new project involving scientists at The University of Nottingham, the Institute of Zoology and London’s Natural History Museum.

29 Jul 2004

Molecular pathway in the brain may explain why some patients suffering from inflammatory diseases develop depression

Feeling sick can be "all in the head" for people with inflammatory disorders or for those receiving immunotherapy, say Robert Dantzer and Keith Kelley, professors in the department of animal sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

29 Jul 2004

Proof of principle that it is possible to deliver new genes body-wide to all the muscles of an adult animal

MDA-supported researchers at the University of Washington-Seattle have delivered the gene for the dystrophin protein to all voluntary muscles with a single intravenous injection in mice with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

29 Jul 2004

Further evidence about how estrogen helps activate breast cancer

A UC Irvine researcher has found a novel tumor- suppressor function for a gene that, when mutated, often triggers breast cancer in women.

29 Jul 2004

Leptin's fat-burning role in humans

For nearly a decade, scientists have known that leptin plays an important fat-burning role in humans. But the map of leptin's path through the body – the key to understanding how and why the hormone works – is still incomplete.

27 Jul 2004

How ulcer bugs stick to stomach

Scientists working to develop a vaccine for the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, the primary cause of ulcers and a contributor to stomach cancers, have uncovered new intricacies in the way the bacterium sticks to the lining of the human stomach.

26 Jul 2004

$1.6 million to develop gene therapy strategies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a fatal, childhood-onset disease

The Muscular Dystrophy Association has announced it has awarded $1.6 million to Asklepios, a biotechnology company closely allied with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, to develop gene therapy strategies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a fatal, childhood-onset disease.

23 Jul 2004

Genome decoded of distant relative of human pathogens

The Sanger Institute has completed the sequence and analysis of Erwinia carotovora subsp. atroseptica strain SCRI1043 (ATCC BAA-672).

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