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Genetically engineered bugs to fight cancer

GENETICALLY engineered bacteria could become the latest weapons against cancer, Cancer Research UK scientists suggest in a study published today 22nd April 2004.

22 Apr 2004

Protein on the centrosome key to new strategies for stopping cancer growth

A Mayo Clinic discovery about a protein known as Dynamin-2 has thrown conventional wisdom for a loop. Finding the protein on the centrosome, a minute structure near a cell’s nucleus, may lead to new strategies for stopping cancer growth.

20 Apr 2004

More useful plants may blossom from gene discoveries

It may be possible to alter plants so they are more nutritious and easier to process without weakening them so much they fall over, according to Purdue University researchers who found a new twist in a plant formation biochemical pathway.

19 Apr 2004

Proteomics helps fight colon cancer

Using new technology associated with the study of proteins, or proteomics, scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and their colleagues have made a step toward predicting which people with familial adenomatous polyposis.

19 Apr 2004

Curry offers possible protection against Alzheimer’s disease

A new study has found that curry, a common and popular cooking additive, could be an effective enhancer of an enzyme that protects the brain against oxidative conditions.

19 Apr 2004

Lung cancer varies between men and women

Tobacco use in American women rose dramatically during the 20th century, resulting in a 600 percent increase by the year 2003 in the number of women who died of lung cancer. In the same period, the number of lung cancer deaths in men declined.

18 Apr 2004

Daycare and siblings increase likelihood of contracting respiratory syncytial virus and rhinovirus

Daycare attendance and siblings are associated with viral-induced wheezing in children. Pre-existing immunologic factors may influence the expression of viral infections in infancy, and in turn, recurrent infections may influence the development of immune responses.

17 Apr 2004

Stem cell personal space determines their future

Johns Hopkins scientists report that restricting the shape and personal space of human stem cells from bone marrow is more important than any known molecular signal in determining the cell type they become.

16 Apr 2004

Certain prostate cancer cell lines are unable to repair DNA damage caused by "free radicals"

16 Apr 2004

New gene presents a potent new target for breast cancer therapy

A gene known to promote longevity in animals has now been discovered to encode a tumor suppressor – a protein that helps prevent cancer, according to a study by a team of scientists from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The new gene, which was inactivated in two-thirds of patients studied, presents a potent new target for breast cancer therapy, the researchers say.

16 Apr 2004

Microbiologists have characterised the DNA in bacteria responsible for vomiting

James Cook University microbiologists have characterised the DNA in bacteria responsible for one of the world's most common forms of food poisoning.

16 Apr 2004

Proteomics techniques to find a possible predictor of response in a chemoprevention trial

16 Apr 2004

Ground-breaking discoveries relating to the formation of kidney stones

Ground-breaking discoveries relating to the formation of kidney stones have earned Flinders University researchers a grant of more than $1.2 million (Australian) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the major funding body for medical science in the United States.

14 Apr 2004

Protein identification gets a speed boost

But the labor intensity of the procedure is now a thing of the past for researchers in the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine. The Proteomics Shared Resource, an unassuming but state-of-the-art lab on the fifth floor of OHSU's Medical Research Building, can process more than three times as many protein samples in half a day, and much of it can be done by one person.

14 Apr 2004

The amount of female smokers rose by 600% in the 20th century

American women who smoke rose dramatically during the 20th century, resulting in a 600 percent increase by the year 2003 in the number of women who died of lung cancer. In the same period, the number of lung cancer deaths in men declined.

14 Apr 2004

Gene therapy helps damaged heart cells regain strength and beat normally

Researchers at Jefferson Medical College and Duke University have used gene therapy to help damaged heart cells regain strength and beat normally again in the laboratory. The work takes the scientists one step closer to eventual clinical trials in humans.

12 Apr 2004

A drug that improves function of retinal blood vessels may be able to reduce the risk of stroke

The small study found that endothelial function is abnormal in eye blood vessels of patients who have early-stage hypertension, but that treatment with an angiotensin-receptor blocker (ARB) drug improves endothelial function. The endothelium is the lining of vessel walls and plays a key role in the vessels’ ability to relax and to constrict.

9 Apr 2004

DNA free radical damage research

Certain prostate cancer cell lines are unable to repair DNA damage caused by "free radicals," according to scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and National Institutes of Health (NIH). This type of damage has been implicated before in the development of prostate cancer, but the new research provides the first solid evidence that the normal repair process is altered in prostate cancer cells, possibly leading to a cascade of events that culminate in further DNA damage and cellular dysfunction.

9 Apr 2004

New microgel could potentially recover any enzyme and save manufacturers considerable money

Carnegie Mellon University scientists have employed biological molecules to create a microgel that could recover costly enzymes for repeated use in catalyzing commercially important reactions. The microgel could potentially recover any enzyme and theoretically save manufacturers considerable money.

8 Apr 2004

University of Florida researchers have used a common gel to successfully deliver gene therapy to the diaphragm

The technique, described in the current issue of Molecular Therapy, could eventually lead to a method to correct genetic conditions in humans that cause diaphragm weakness and respiratory failure -- a leading cause of death in tens of thousands of patients with forms of muscular dystrophy, including Pompe’s disease. Thousands of Americans with muscle-weakening diseases are placed on ventilators each year, according to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

7 Apr 2004