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Fluorescent inhibitors hold promise for early-stage tumor detection

A series of novel imaging agents could light up tumors as they begin to form - before they turn deadly - and signal their transition to aggressive cancers.

29 Apr 2010

A new approach for treating neurological and degenerative disorders

In studies on cancer, heart disease, neurological disorders and other degenerative conditions, some scientists are moving away from the "nature versus nurture" debate, and are finding you're not a creature of either genetics or environment, but both - with enormous implications for a new approach to health.

29 Apr 2010

Investigators study Pioglitazone and Vitamin E for treatment of NASH

A daily dose of a specific form of vitamin E significantly improved the liver disease, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, according to a study funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health. Results were published April 28 online in the New England Journal of Medicine.

29 Apr 2010

Myriad Genetics OnDose collection kit eliminates need for frozen sample handling

Myriad Genetics, Inc. today announced a significant improvement in the sample collection kit for OnDoseTM, its 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) dose optimization product. Patient sample handling can now be conducted at room temperature, eliminating the need for frozen sample handling. Myriad said that it believes the simplified process should increase physician acceptance and utilization of OnDose.

28 Apr 2010

Cellular IPOD plays role in prion biology

Cells take advantage of a biologically ancient compartment to sequester prions, an action that can initially prevent the prions’ phenotypic expression, according to Whitehead Institute researchers. While in this compartment, less heritable prion plaques mature to a more transmissible state.

27 Apr 2010

Medivir rights offering to raise approximately SEK 325 million

The Board of Directors has resolved on the terms for the rights offering, that the Board of Directors on 28 March 2010 resolved, subject to approval by the Annual General Meeting. For every share held in Medivir, regardless of share class, the holder is entitled to one subscription right. Four subscription rights entitle the holder to subscribe for one new class B share.

27 Apr 2010

CocE exhibits potential for clinical treatment of cocaine toxicity

Cocaine toxicity due to drug overdose results in more than half a million emergency room visits annually. Despite these alarming statistics, there is no Food and Drug Administration-approved pharmacotherapy specifically designed to treat cocaine toxicity. Emergency medical personnel are limited to treating only the immediate life-threatening symptoms of patients, while toxic levels of cocaine and its metabolic break-down products persist and continue to damage the cardiovascular system, liver and brain.

27 Apr 2010

Nitration and allergy

Food proteins are nitrated through various processes. Just how these processes affect food allergies, however, is only now coming to light. The latest findings of a research project funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF are being presented today at an international symposium in Italy. The findings show that in the case of a particular food protein the nitrated form can trigger a stronger allergic reaction than the non-nitrated form. At the same time, however, this nitrated form of the protein is better digested and therefore rendered "harmless".

27 Apr 2010

Factors of hormone metabolism may make African-Americans more susceptible: Study

High blood pressure also called hypertension is a major health problem that when left untreated can lead to heart disease, stroke and kidney failure. African Americans are more likely to develop high blood pressure and develop it earlier in life than Caucasians. But the reasons for the heightened risk in African Americans still remained largely unknown, although new evidence may provide some insight.

26 Apr 2010

U.S. DOE awards Verenium additional $4.9M for development of cellulosic ethanol biorefinery plants

Verenium Corporation, a pioneer in the development of next-generation cellulosic ethanol and high-performance specialty enzymes, today announced that it has been awarded an additional $4.9 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to fund ongoing activities at its demonstration-scale facility in Jennings, Louisiana.

26 Apr 2010

Enhancing residence time improves drug effectivity: Study

Studies led by Stony Brook University professor of chemistry Peter J. Tonge indicate that modifications that enhance the time a drug remains bound to its target, or residence time, may lead to better diagnostic and therapeutic agents.

26 Apr 2010

Promising research on cryptosporidiosis could lead to effective treatment: Brandeis University biochemist

Discovered in 1976, cryptosporidium lurks worldwide in water, contaminating swimming pools, water parks, and drinking water supplies. Although it has even been featured on the comedy show The Colbert Report, it is no laughing matter-this microscopic pathogen is a leading cause of diarrhea and malnutrition and the most common source of infection in immune-weakened people such as AIDS patients.

26 Apr 2010

DeCODE scientists discover common SNPs that increase number of CPD and risk of lung cancer

Cigarette smoking is a major cause of illness and death worldwide. But it is a complex behavior, and how much people smoke, how hard they find it to quit, and the impact of long-term smoking on health varies greatly among individuals. A substantial portion of this variability is genetic. Two years ago, deCODE discovered the first common, single-letter variation in the sequence of the human genome, on chromosome 15q25, associated with nicotine addiction and risk of lung cancer.

26 Apr 2010

New method helps study interactions needed for formation of lipopolysaccharides

Scientists have combined chemistry and biology research techniques to explain how certain bacteria grow structures on their surfaces that allow them to simultaneously cause illness and protect themselves from the body's defenses.

26 Apr 2010

University of Utah researchers knock out genes in nematode worms

Knocking genes out of action allows researchers to learn what genes do by seeing what goes wrong without them. University of Utah biologists pioneered the field. Mario Capecchi won a Nobel Prize for developing knockout mice. Kent Golic found a way to cripple fruit fly genes. Now, biologist Erik Jorgensen and colleagues have devised a procedure for knocking out genes in nematode worms.

26 Apr 2010

Study finds changes in astrocytes key to brain dysfunction

Neuroscience researchers have zeroed in on a novel mechanism that helps control the firing of electrical signals among neurons. By isolating the molecular and electrical events that occur when this control is disrupted, the new research sheds light on epileptic seizures and potentially on other prominent diseases involving poorly regulated brain activity.

26 Apr 2010

Genes that predispose to smoking behavior and lung cancer identified: More reason to quit say researchers

According to new research there are certain genes in a smoker that make it difficult for them to cut down or quit the bad habit. This report from three studies published in the journal Nature Genetics mentions at least three different genetic mutations on chromosome 15 or changes that can increase the number of cigarettes smoked per day by an individual.

25 Apr 2010

PMI releases 6-year malaria strategy

The U.S. government Thursday released a six-year strategy to address malaria globally, Reuters reports (Fox, 4/22). The plan was issued through the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) in conjunction with World Malaria Day, April 25, and is a "core component of President [Barack] Obama's Global Health Initiative," according to a USAID press release (4/22).

24 Apr 2010

Advances in understanding of cardiac-specific genes in heart development

Researchers at the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital (THI at St. Luke's) announced today the results of research which they believe marks a significant advance in understanding how cardiac-specific genes are turned on during the development of the heart in mice embryos.

23 Apr 2010

CRT teams up with The University of Auckland to discover novel treatments for cancer

Cancer Research Technology - Cancer Research UK's development and commercialisation arm has teamed up with The University of Auckland to advance the discovery of new molecular targeted compounds for the treatment of leukaemia.

23 Apr 2010