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Copper-bottomed guarantee for safe shellfish in restaurants

Putting brass where your money is could be a guarantee of safety according to researchers looking at the dangers of eating raw fish and shellfish in seafood restaurants, scientists heard today (Wednesday 10 September 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin.

9 Sep 2008

Scientists discover how mutation in the copper-regulating protein ATP7B causes Wilson disease

Using a combination of computer simulations and cutting-edge lab experiments, physical biochemists at Rice University have discovered how a small genetic mutation -- which is known to cause Wilson disease -- subtly changes the structure of a large, complex protein that the body uses to keep copper from building up to toxic levels.

19 Aug 2008

Dual-mode nanoparticles image tumors using MRI and PET

Medical imaging represents one of the most used and useful procedures in the oncologist's diagnostic toolkit, even though each of the most useful techniques-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computerized tomography x-ray imaging (CT), and positron emission tomography (PET) scanning-has its own set of limitations.

17 Aug 2008

Australian Alzheimer's trial published in the Lancet

Prana Biotechnology Limited announced today the publication of the results of its Phase 2a clinical trial on Alzheimer's disease patients in The Lancet Neurology journal.

29 Jul 2008

Alzheimer's disease patients show improvement in trial of new drug

A new drug has been shown to improve the brain function of people with early stage Alzheimer's disease and reduce a key protein associated with the disease in the spinal fluid, in a small study published today in the journal Lancet Neurology and presented at the 2008 Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease.

29 Jul 2008

Novel drug ionophore shows potential for Alzheimer's

Scientists report a remarkable improvement in Alzheimer's transgenic mice following treatment with a new drug. The study, published by Cell Press in the July 10th issue of the journal Neuron, provides the first demonstration that an ionophore, a compound that transports metal ions across cell membranes, can elicit rapid and pronounced improvement in neuropathology and cognitive function in mouse models of Alzheimer's Disease (AD).

10 Jul 2008

Clostridium difficile killed on exposure to surfaces made of copper and its alloys, brass and bronze

Scientists in the Environmental Healthcare Unit at the University of Southampton in the U.K. have found that infectious bacterium Clostridium difficile is killed when exposed to surfaces made of copper and its alloys, brass and bronze. The results of the study have been published in the February 2008 issue of the Journal of Hospital Infection.

3 Jun 2008

Scripps Research Institute awarded patent for revolutionary technology

The Scripps Research Institute has been awarded U.S. Patent No. US 7,375,234 B2, which covers a broad class of chemical reactions that mimic biological efficiency and opens the door to a new world of chemistry.

20 May 2008

Deadly genetic disease prevented before birth in zebrafish with genetic patch

By injecting a customized "genetic patch" into early stage fish embryos, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis were able to correct a genetic mutation so the embryos developed normally.

24 Mar 2008

Zero-field remote detection of NMR with a microfabricated atomic magnetometer

A super-sensitive mini-sensor developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) can detect nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in tiny samples of fluids flowing through a novel microchip.

21 Feb 2008

MIT researchers devised novel way to create tiny colonies of living human liver cells that model full-sized organs

Liver toxicity is one of the main reasons pharmaceutical companies pull drugs off the market. These dangerous drugs slip through approval processes due in part to the shortcomings of liver toxicity tests. Existing tests rely on liver cells from rats, which do not always respond to toxins the way human cells do. Or they rely on dying human cells that survive for only a few days in the lab.

19 Nov 2007

How does the antitumor drug get to the cell nucleus?

Platinum complexes such as the well-known cisplatin are powerful antitumor medications. They cross the cell membrane and reach the nucleus, where they attach to DNA and stop cell growth. But how does cisplatin get to the nucleus Italian researchers have now proven that a copper transport protein may play a critical role.

5 Nov 2007

Search for new uses for heroin and marijuana

The world's leading expert on the opium poppy has joined forces with researchers working on another infamous drug-producing plant – cannabis – in hopes of finding new uses for the much-maligned sources of heroin and marijuana.

1 Nov 2007

Copper transporter plays an unexpected role in the absorption of cisplatin

30 Oct 2007

Brookhaven microgrid allows simultaneous study of multiple variables

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a method for correlating the results of microscopic imaging techniques in a way that could lead to improved understanding, diagnosis, and possibly treatment of a variety of disease conditions, including Alzheimer's disease. The Laboratory has filed a U.S. provisional patent application for the invention.

10 Oct 2007

Do static magnets help reduce pain?

Static magnets are widely marketed to the public with claims of effectiveness for relieving pain.

25 Sep 2007

DNA and nanotechnology

DNA is one of the most popular building blocks of nanotechnology and is commonly used to construct ordered nanoscale structures with controlled architectures.

5 Sep 2007

Overexposure to metals and Alzheimer's disease

A multi-institutional team of researchers led by Emory University has defined for the first time how metal ions bind to amyloid fibrils in the brain in a way that appears toxic to neurons.

7 Aug 2007

Baby boomers are starting to feel the aches, pains and weight gain of aging

Because they, like others, want to feel younger for longer, food companies and food researchers are striving to meet their needs. Increased amounts of nutritional supplements and antioxidants, including calcium, vitamin D and zinc, can slow the rate of age-related disease and increase the number of healthy years, according Jeffrey Blumberg, a nutrition scientist at Tufts University and speaker here at the Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting & Food Expo.

1 Aug 2007

Key finding on ALS related protein

Chemists from UCLA and the University of Florence in Italy may have solved an important mystery about a protein that plays a key role in a particular form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, a progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disorder that strikes without warning.

28 Jun 2007