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Researchers find drug that may suppress genetic mutation using a novel screening approach

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital have developed a way of identifying promising new drugs that may get around a major challenge in drug discovery.

18 Apr 2004

Newborn lambs’ central heating system could aid fat busting in humans

The way newborn lambs regulate their temperature in the first few weeks of life using a special deposit of brown fat could give clues for tackling obesity in humans, according to Imperial College London scientists.

18 Apr 2004

New diagnostic test for latent tuberculosis introduced

The Tuberculin skin test, used to detect latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, has many drawbacks and a new diagnostic test for latent tuberculosis (QuantiFERON®-TB) has recently been introduced.

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

Possible new treatment strategy for Alzheimer's disease

A new study in mice identifies one of the missing steps in how Alzheimer's develops and suggests a possible new treatment strategy, according to researchers at Columbia University Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medical College and their colleagues.

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

New insights into how tumors neutralize CD8 T cells

Scientists have speculated that this may be because the immune response is not strong enough, or because it does not last long enough to have an effect. Hence the increasing efforts to develop cancer vaccines that induce, strengthen, and increase the duration of immunological attack against cancer cells.

16 Apr 2004

Cancer-specific protein offers new target for the development of melanoma vaccine

Scientists from the Cancer Vaccine Collaborative (CVC) have discovered that the cancer-specific protein, SSX-2, induces a spontaneous immunological reaction against cancer cells in melanoma patients, offering a new target for the development of a therapeutic melanoma vaccine. SSX-2 is the prototype of the SSX family, and is part of a larger group of proteins known as cancer/testis (CT) antigens.

16 Apr 2004

Three hours exercise reduces risk of breast cancer

Three hours of moderate exercise per week significantly reduced circulating estrogens in postmenopausal women, according to a new study published in the current issue of Cancer Research. The finding may explain why women who exercise regularly lower their risk for breast cancer.

16 Apr 2004

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

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 (FAP), an inherited condition that often leads to colon cancer, will respond to the prevention drug celecoxib.

16 Apr 2004

Scientists discover gene for Parkinson's disease

UCL scientists have discovered a new gene implicated in the early development of Parkinson's disease. In a study of families with early onset disease, Professor Nick Wood and colleagues at University College London's Institute of Neurology identified a novel gene which produces a malfunctioning protein that could pave the way for new treatments for Parkinson sufferers.

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

Cinnamon's role as an insulin substitute in type II diabetes

Cinnamon may be more than a spice – it may have a medical application in preventing and combating diabetes. Cinnamon may help by playing the role of an insulin substitute in type II diabetes, according to cellular and molecular studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Iowa State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

14 Apr 2004

Ultrasound therapy does nothing to help an injured skeletal muscle heal any faster

Although ultrasound is one of the most frequently prescribed treatments for one of the most common sport and athletic injuries – skeletal muscle contusions – there's really no good scientific evidence showing that it treats injured muscles effectively, said Steven Devor, the study's lead author and an assistant professor of sport and exercise sciences at Ohio State University.

14 Apr 2004

Autism gene discovered

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine are first to strongly link a specific gene with autism. While earlier studies have found rare genetic mutations in single families, a study published in the April issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry is the first to identify a gene that increases susceptibility to autism in a broad population.

14 Apr 2004

New tool for study of carbohydrates could aid drug research

While many dieters are trying to cut carbs, a University of New Hampshire (UNH) biochemist has invented a way to capture them so scientists can more easily study their structure.

13 Apr 2004

Researchers have developed a new method for finding antigens

Researchers at National Jewish Medical and Research Center have developed a method for finding the molecular targets of the immune system, known as antigens.

13 Apr 2004

Protein sequences harder to predict than originally thought

Scientists have believed for decades that the sequencing of the human genome would automatically yield the sequences of proteins, the functional products of genes, and thus lead to the unraveling of the mechanisms behind human cell biology and disease.

12 Apr 2004

Vitamin C can reduce levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation and chronic disease

Vitamin C supplements can reduce levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation and chronic disease risk in humans, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

12 Apr 2004