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New data supporting the use of Renagel in patients who are new to hemodialysis

Genzyme Corporation announced that investigators tomorrow will unveil new preliminary data supporting the use of Renagel (sevelamer hydrochloride) in patients who are new to hemodialysis.

29 Oct 2004

Biomedical engineers and physicians have brought the day when artificial limbs will be controlled directly by the brain considerably closer

Biomedical engineers and physicians at Vanderbilt University have brought the day when artificial limbs will be controlled directly by the brain considerably closer by discovering a method that uses laser light, rather than electricity, to stimulate and control nerve cells.

28 Oct 2004

Collaborative research will help bring hope to Americans who are losing their sight to degenerative retinal diseases

A collaborative research and development agreement signed today between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Second Sight LLC will help bring hope to hundreds of thousands of Americans who are losing their sight to degenerative retinal diseases.

18 Oct 2004

Researchers analyze the mechanisms and proteins that underlie mitochondria

New findings explaining the complicated process by which the "energy substations" of human cells split apart and recombine may lay the groundwork for new treatment approaches to a wide range of diseases, including some cancers and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

12 Oct 2004

Carbon nanotubes offer a new approach to gene therapy

Many genes that are related to particular diseases have now been identified. Scientists are trying to use this knowledge to treat diseases.

11 Oct 2004

Scientists have shown that the textbook explanation of how enzymes work is wrong

Their discovery may explain why attempts to make artificial enzymes have often been disappointing. Industry must now re-think the rationale for the design of biological catalysts and its approaches to drug design.

5 Oct 2004

Sibling history is a better predictor of coronary heart disease than parental history or traditional risk factor scoring

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have found that sibling history -- whether or not a brother or sister had early heart disease -- is a better predictor of a person's likelihood of developing coronary heart disease than parental history or traditional risk factor scoring.

4 Oct 2004

Study provides insight on how DNA code is turned into instructions for protein construction

A team of scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Weizmann Institute of Science has revealed the structure of a cellular editor that “cuts and pastes” the first draft of RNA straight after it is formed from its DNA template.

9 Sep 2004

Blacks and whites have similar amounts of coronary calcium deposits, which are a sign of atherosclerotic plaques

In contrast to earlier studies that indicated African-Americans tend to have lower amounts of atherosclerosis than whites, despite having higher cardiovascular death rates, heart scans in a large, representative population indicate that blacks and whites have similar amounts of coronary calcium deposits

1 Sep 2004

International research sheds light on Escherichia coli

An unprecedented picture of how bacteria latch on to human cells has been published by UK, French and US scientists. They have produced a finely detailed model of one of the tools used by some of the nastiest varieties of the stomach bug, Escherichia coli, to stick to and gain entry to host cells.

1 Sep 2004

High-resolution images reveal the molecular rearrangements that rotavirus uses to break into cells

High-resolution images constructed by researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School reveal the molecular rearrangements that rotavirus – the most common cause of severe, dehydrating diarrhea and vomiting in children worldwide – uses to break into cells.

25 Aug 2004

Computed tomography may improve screening of latent atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is the progressive narrowing and hardening of the arteries over time, known to occur to some degree with aging; but other risk factors (such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes and family history for atherosclerotic disease) that accelerate this process have been identified.

18 Aug 2004

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

New imaging technique may help cystic fibrosis sufferers

Now, Jefferson Lab scientists have used their expertise to build a small animal medical imager that's helping researchers develop a new gene therapy technique for cystic fibrosis.

15 Aug 2004

Trick illustrates life’s determination to survive hostile environments

Dipping your hands into 160-degree water is guaranteed to give you an immediate and severe scalding - unless you’re one of the few species of bacteria that manage to thrive in temperatures that would maim or kill the rest of the Earth’s inhabitants.

13 Aug 2004

Researchers map structure of anti-cancer molecule and open the door to the creation of more effective cancer treatments

Scientists at Emory University, in collaboration with researchers at three national laboratories, have solved the structural puzzle of how an emerging class of promising cancer drugs works to halt cell division. The discovery potentially opens the door to the creation of more effective cancer treatments.

13 Aug 2004

Promising families of drugs combat the spread of tumors in different ways

Pharmaceutical companies seeking to design more effective cancer chemotherapy agents may have an easier road ahead than was previously believed.

9 Aug 2004

A prototype microscope that uses neutrons instead of light to "see" magnified images

A prototype microscope that uses neutrons instead of light to "see" magnified images has been demonstrated at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Neutron microscopes might eventually offer certain advantages over optical, X-ray and electron imaging techniques such as better contrast for biological samples.

2 Aug 2004

Gene responsible for infertility

A paper describing discoveries about the role of a gene that is important in all animals, plants, and fungi is published in the 20 July 2004 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

23 Jul 2004

Rabies infections in organ donor and transplant recipients

On June 30, 2004, CDC confirmed diagnoses of rabies in three recipients of transplanted organs and in their common donor, who was found subsequently to have serologic evidence of rabies infection.

2 Jul 2004