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Study focuses on genetic markers in the diagnosis of autism

Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital has launched a study to determine whether genetic markers can be used to help identify children who are at risk of developing autism.

1 Mar 2012

HDAC2 enzyme could be a potential target for new Alzheimer's drugs

MIT neuroscientists have shown that an enzyme overproduced in the brains of Alzheimer's patients creates a blockade that shuts off genes necessary to form new memories. Furthermore, by inhibiting that enzyme in mice, the researchers were able to reverse Alzheimer's symptoms.

1 Mar 2012

Scientists develop safer and more accurate way to administer warfarin

A team of global scientists, led by researchers at Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City, has developed a safer and more accurate way to administer warfarin, one of the most commonly prescribed but also potentially dangerous medications in the United States.

1 Mar 2012

Researchers observe how cholera decimates competing bacteria and human cells

Bacteria live in a state of perpetual warfare, with different species battling for dominion over their competitors and when pathogen, over their infected host. New research suggests that the human pathogen Vibrio cholerae, which causes the disease cholera, kills off its microbial rivals by jabbing them with a spring-loaded poison dagger.

1 Mar 2012

Scripps Florida study to focus on four new classes of pain-relieving compounds

Scripps Florida scientists have been awarded $3.1 million by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health, to study and develop several new compounds that could prove to be effective in controlling pain without the unwanted side effects common with opiate drugs, such as morphine, Oxycontin, and Vicoden.

1 Mar 2012

Brain mitochondria are dysfunctional in early-stage Alzheimer's

Mitochondria -- subunits inside cells that produce energy -- have long been thought to play a role in Alzheimer's disease. Now Mayo Clinic researchers using genetic mouse models have discovered that mitochondria in the brain are dysfunctional early in the disease.

1 Mar 2012

New research shows beneficial side effect of anti-allergy parasite

New research is showing a beneficial side effect of parasites for our health. Hygiene Hypothesis: As rates of allergy are reported to have tripled in the UK in the past decade, the scientific finger is pointing to an over-sanitised lifestyle making our immune responses overactive. Now, a team of biologists at the University of Edinburgh, led by Professor Rick Maizels, are investigating how parasitic worms could offer a cure for modern illnesses.

1 Mar 2012

First clinical assessment of how interferon fights infections in people

A drug once taken by people with HIV/AIDS but long ago shelved after newer, modern antiretroviral therapies became available has now shed light on how the human body uses its natural immunity to fight the virus—work that could help uncover new targets for drugs.

1 Mar 2012

Springer adds 6 new quarterly clinical review journals to medicine portfolio

Springer is adding six new quarterly clinical review journals to its existing medicine portfolio in March 2012. These new journals will expand the publisher's medical specialty coverage, focusing on dermatology, geriatrics/gerontology, nutrition, obesity, obstetrics/gynecology and respiratory care.

29 Feb 2012

CU professor to interview epilepsy sufferers and their families in depth

Sara Shostak, assistant professor in the department of sociology, along with principal investigator Ruth Ottman, professor of epidemiology at Columbia University, and other collaborators were recently awarded a $2 million grant from The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) to learn more about these questions.

29 Feb 2012

No link between gestational weight gain and cognitive performance of children

A child's cognitive development is not generally impacted by how much weight his or her mother gained during pregnancy, according to a study from Nationwide Children's Hospital. This is the first study to use methods controlling for the widest range of confounding factors when directly examining the association between gestational weight gain and childhood cognition.

29 Feb 2012

Shire, arGEN-X partner to create novel antibodies against rare diseases

arGEN-X, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of human monoclonal antibodies from its proprietary SIMPLE Antibody platform, announces today that it has entered into an alliance with Shire to create novel therapeutic antibody products against multiple targets submitted by Shire.

29 Feb 2012

WUSM to study children with weakened immune systems

Not all viruses make us sick. But which ones are friends and which ones are foes? Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received a five-year, $3.3 million grant to study children with weakened immune systems to identify the viruses that make children sick.

29 Feb 2012

FDA grants orphan drug designation to Ultragenyx UX003 for treatment of MPS 7

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc., a biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for rare and ultra-rare genetic disorders, today announced that the FDA Office of Orphan Products Development has granted orphan drug designation for UX003 for the treatment of MPS 7.

28 Feb 2012

Scientists find evidence of a ‘different’ flu virus in bats

They were surprised to find genetic fragments of a flu virus in bats. So far, scientists haven't been able to grow it, and it's not clear if — or how well — it spreads. Flu bugs are common in humans, birds and pigs and have even been seen in dogs, horses, seals and whales, among others. About five years ago, Russian virologists claimed finding flu in bats, but they never offered evidence.

28 Feb 2012

Scientists demonstrate how immortal flatworm overcomes aging process

Researchers from The University of Nottingham have demonstrated how a species of flatworm overcomes the ageing process to be potentially immortal.

28 Feb 2012

Childhood adversity may lead to epigenetic changes in glucocorticoid receptor gene

In a look at how major stressors during childhood can change a person's biological risk for psychiatric disorders, researchers at Butler Hospital have discovered a genetic alteration at the root of the association.

28 Feb 2012

The high cost of cancer care

Forty years after the National Cancer Act launched the "war on cancer," the battle is not just finding cures and better treatments but also being able to afford them. New drugs often cost $100,000 or more a year. Patients are being put on them sooner in the course of their illness and for a longer time -; sometimes for the rest of their lives.

28 Feb 2012

NTU's Complexity Programme aims to establish Singapore as Asian hub

Asia will receive a boost in the field of complexity science through a dedicated programme by Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

28 Feb 2012

LA BioMed to honor Women & Infants physician as 'Legend'

The Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed) recently announced that it will honor John E. Buster, MD, associate director of the Center for Reproduction and Infertility at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island and Tufts Medical Center, as one of its three "Legends" this May.

28 Feb 2012