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Three-dimensional cryo-electron microscope may help guide the design of new antibiotics

Understanding the last step of protein synthesis – the basic process of translating DNA into its final protein product – just became more clear both literally and figuratively.

1 Jul 2004

Patent for orally administrable pharmaceutical may aid treatment of overdose patients

Global nanotechnology company pSivida Limited, is pleased to announce that its UK operating subsidiary pSiMedica Limited has been granted a new Australian patent for BioSiliconTM.

30 Jun 2004

Oldest evidence yet of a human hereditary genetic disorder found

The discovery of what is believed to be the oldest evidence yet found of a human hereditary genetic disorder has been announced by researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

28 Jun 2004

Paclitaxel analog kills more cancer cells than natural product

Paclitaxel, a natural compound from yew trees, is the world's best-selling anticancer drug. Several analogs are in clinical trial, with others in preclinical development. One problem that paclitaxel and all its analogs share, however, is that they are all highly complex compounds, and cannot be prepared synthetically in a commercially viable way.

21 Jun 2004

Discovery may help to define the limits for life on Earth, as well as elsewhere in the universe

The discovery of millions of micro-microbes surviving in a 120,000-year-old ice sample taken from 3,000 meters below the surface of the Greenland glacier was announced by Penn State scientists today (May 26) at the General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in New Orleans, La. The discovery may help to define the limits for life on Earth, as well as elsewhere in the universe, such as on cold planets like Mars.

27 May 2004

Link between oral bacterium and premature babies

For years, scientists have noticed a particular oral bacterium can be found in the amniotic fluid of about 20 percent of women with premature babies.

27 May 2004

Cultured nanoparticles from filtered homogenates of diseased calcified human cardiovascular tissue

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic found they could isolate and culture nanoparticles from filtered homogenates of diseased calcified human cardiovascular tissue. These cultured nano-sized particles were recognized by a DNA-specific dye, incorporated radiolabeled uridine, and after decalcification, appeared via electron microscopy to contain cell walls.

24 May 2004

Multimillion-dollar electron microscope unveils shapes of viruses and proteins

With a multimillion-dollar electron microscope and computer programs that can pick out the shapes of structures only six atoms wide, Dr. Wah Chiu and his colleagues at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston are attempting to explain the intricate structures of viruses and proteins.

19 May 2004

Glucose metabolism could be used to selectively destroy cancer cells

Scientists have known for decades that cancer cells consume more glucose than normal cells. A longstanding assumption that the excess glucose metabolism was needed to make energy has not been borne out by research studies.

15 May 2004

World’s first clinical images acquired using a 64-slice CT system

Siemens Medical Solutions today released the world’s first clinical images acquired using a 64-slice computed tomography (CT) system, which were acquired at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany.

11 May 2004

Overview of West Nile virus before season starts

West Nile virus is a newly emergent virus of the family Flaviviridae, found in both tropical and temperate regions. It mainly infects birds, but is also the cause of a number of conditions in humans, horses, and some other mammals. It is transmitted by bites of infected mosquitoes.

24 Apr 2004

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) overview

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is an atypical form of pneumonia that first appeared in November 2002 in Guangdong Province, China.

24 Apr 2004

The April 2004 issue of Otolaryngology focuses on head and neck surgery

The efficacy of a new cancer-fighting virus is tested in the study, “Treatment of Solid Sarcomas in Immunocompetent Mice with Novel Oncolytic Herpes Simplex Viruses.” A team of multi-disciplinary Japanese researchers found that a weakened version of herpes simplex virus (HSV) effectively eradicated neck and flank tumors in mice.

23 Apr 2004

Lab discovers way to keep short-lived catalysts active for longer than five months

Enzymes, the workhorses of chemical reactions in cells, lead short and brutal lives. They cleave and assemble proteins and metabolize compounds for a few hours, and then they are spent. This sad fact of nature has limited the possibilities of harnessing enzymes as catalytic tools outside the cell, in uses that range from biosensing to toxic waste cleanup.

1 Apr 2004

Scientists have taken a significant leap forward in understanding the complex ways that molecules work together in cells.

Although scientists already know a lot about single molecules, they know very little about how they are assembled into larger molecular complexes or "machines" and how these machines work together to create a complete, functioning cell. The problem is like trying to assemble a puzzle with billions of pieces– with only the shapes of some pieces to go on.

25 Mar 2004

Carbon Dioxide may be used in medical implants

Carbon dioxide, an environmentally friendly solvent for dyeing and dry cleaning, may become a valuable new tool for making medical implants, according to a study at Ohio State University.

23 Mar 2004