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Stem cell research may one day help cerebral palsy

Natural chemicals that assist healing may one day help transplanted adult stem cells integrate into an injured brain, helping children with cerebral palsy recover lost function, according to researchers at the Medical College of Georgia.

18 Aug 2004

Research will lead to better treatments for mastocytosis

Tens of millions of people know what it's like to suffer the seasonal torment of allergies, when just a whiff of pollen, mold or dust can set off a chain reaction in the body that causes sniffling, sneezing and coughing.

18 Aug 2004

Vitamin E has potential benefit in fighting colds in the elderly

Vitamin E supplementation has potential benefit in fighting upper respiratory tract infections such as colds in the elderly, says a study published in the Aug. 18 issue of JAMA.

18 Aug 2004

Contract for the production of an investigational vaccine based on an H9N2 strain of avian influenza virus

In 1999 and 2003, an H9N2 influenza strain caused illness in three people in Hong Kong. Scientists are concerned about H9N2 and other emerging types of avian influenza viruses because as they spread—most commonly through poultry—they continually mutate, increasing chances that they may infect humans, evade the body’s immune response and become more lethal.

17 Aug 2004

Revolutionary new test for identifying people infected with tuberculosis

The test – named T SPOT-TB – is designed to replace the century old skin test for TB, which is currently given to 600,000 UK schoolchildren every year. The test comes from discoveries made over the last 10 years at the University of Oxford by Dr Aljit Lalvani and collaborators at the Nuffield Department of Medicine.

16 Aug 2004

No adverse side-effects have been observed in clinical trial of SARS vaccine

Sinovac Biotech has announced that all 36 subjects of the Phase I human clinical trial for its inactivated SARS vaccine have now been vaccinated with either SARS vaccine or placebo.

11 Aug 2004

Research unlocks the mystery of the miraculous healing powers of honey

A Sydney researcher has unlocked the mystery of the miraculous healing powers of honey, adding to the calls for its use as a first line defence against serious infection.

11 Aug 2004

Significant advance in the understanding of the hepatitis C virus (HCV)

Researchers have made a significant advance in the understanding of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) by identifying new genetic factors associated with clearing the virus spontaneously without the necessity for additional treatment.

9 Aug 2004

Self-recovery from Hep C infection linked to genes that suppress action of killer immune cells

In a study to be published in Science online Aug. 6, researchers at Johns Hopkins have found that genes involved in suppressing the body's defensive "killer" immune cells are a potential key factor in spontaneous recovery from hepatitis C.

5 Aug 2004

Experimental vaccine against ricin

Scientists have developed an experimental vaccine against ricin, a potential biological threat agent, which fully protected mice from aerosol challenge with lethal doses of the toxin.

5 Aug 2004

New approach to cancer vaccines may eradicate skin cancer tumors

Mayo Clinic and British researchers have developed a new approach to cancer vaccines that purposely kills healthy skin cells to target the immune system against tumors. The new approach has eradicated skin cancer tumors in mice.

2 Aug 2004

Proof of principle that it is possible to deliver new genes body-wide to all the muscles of an adult animal

MDA-supported researchers at the University of Washington-Seattle have delivered the gene for the dystrophin protein to all voluntary muscles with a single intravenous injection in mice with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

29 Jul 2004

Researchers discover a carbohydrate with an unusual structure in the cell walls of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis

Even though we have lost much of our fear of tuberculosis in the industrialized countries, according to the WHO about 2 million people worldwide die each year of this infectious disease.

28 Jul 2004

A new vaccine that may delay cancer recurrence

A therapeutic cancer vaccine being co-developed by the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and the Australian biotech company CSL Limited successfully induced a comprehensive immune response in patients and appeared to delay cancer recurrence

21 Jul 2004

Russian scientists incorporate HIV antigen into a tomato

Russian scientists are currently creating a pleasant and harmless vaccine, and edible one at that. So far, they managed to incorporate the protein gene – HIV antigen in tomatoes. The research is supported by International Science and Technology Center.

19 Jul 2004

3M granted FDA approval for cream to treat superficial basal cell carcinoma

3M announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first prescription therapy in nearly a decade for the treatment of superficial basal cell carcinoma (sBCC), a type of nonmelanoma skin cancer.

16 Jul 2004

Research team developing new defenses against plague and smallpox

Using a federal biodefense grant, a Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center team will try to develop new approaches to immunizing people against the plague and smallpox, two of the most feared potential agents of bio-terrorism.

15 Jul 2004

Research that directs cancer-killing immune cells against the deadliest brain tumors shows promise

Researchers seeking to direct cancer-killing immune cells against the deadliest brain tumors have three new targets that show promise in laboratory studies and in a Phase I patient trial, according to two articles in the July 15 issue of the journal Cancer Research.

15 Jul 2004

Important milestone for any cancer therapy that will be useful for treating patients

Mayo Clinic researchers have manipulated a human antibody to induce an anti-tumor response in living mice that consistently curbs - and often cures - malignant melanoma, one of the most lethal forms of skin cancer and the most common cancer of young adults.

15 Jul 2004

Latest findings on HIV pathogenesis at AIDS Conference in Bangkok

At the XVth International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief of the NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation (LIR), will present his laboratory’s latest findings on how aberrant immune activation underlies HIV pathogenesis.

15 Jul 2004