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Rising triglyceride levels may be behind rising rates of obesity

A new 30-year analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database conducted by the National Lipid Association (NLA) indicates that while Americans are doing a better job of managing LDL or "bad" cholesterol, the percentage of adults with high triglycerides, a blood fat linked to heart disease, has doubled, leaving many people at risk for potentially life-threatening events such as heart attack or stroke.

10 Nov 2008

Low levels of potassium in diet linked to high blood pressure

As a risk factor for high blood pressure, low levels of potassium in the diet may be as important as high levels of sodium - especially among African Americans, according to research being presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 41st Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

10 Nov 2008

Scientists engineer immune cells to act as "bionic assassins" that see through HIV's many disguises

HIV is a master of disguise, able to rapidly change its identity and hide undetected in infected cells.

10 Nov 2008

Scientists engineer T cells to recognize HIV-1 strains that have evaded the immune system

The findings of the study, published online in the journal Nature Medicine, have important implications for developing new treatments for HIV, especially for patients with chronic infection who fail to respond to antiretroviral regimens.

10 Nov 2008

Kidney stones may increase risk for chronic kidney disease

Kidney stones may damage the kidneys and lead to chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to a paper being presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 41st Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

8 Nov 2008

ESF workshop makes major advance in cancer radiotherapy

Radical improvements in outcome for many cancer sufferers are in prospect following one of the most significant advances in radiotherapy since x-rays were first used to treat a tumour in 1904.

8 Nov 2008

EMD Serono launches patient registry for egg freezing

EMD Serono, Inc., an affiliate of Merck KGaA of Darmstadt, Germany, announced the launch of the Human Oocyte Preservation Experience (HOPE) Registry surrounding next week's 64th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM).

8 Nov 2008

Researchers discover metabolic deficiency in pancreatic cancer

UC Davis Cancer Center researchers have discovered a metabolic deficiency in pancreatic cancer cells that can be used to slow the progress of the deadliest of all cancers.

7 Nov 2008

The interaction between genes and behavior

Our DNA determines a lot about who we are and how we play with others, but recent studies of social animals (birds and bees, among others) show that the interaction between genes and behavior is more of a two-way street than most of us realize.

7 Nov 2008

Researchers find new path to antibiotics in dirt

A teaspoon of dirt contains an estimated 10,000 species of bacteria, but it's only one percent of these microbial bugs - the ones that can be grown easily in a lab - that have brought us antibiotics, anticancer agents and other useful drugs.

7 Nov 2008

10 years of stem cells science

Ten years ago this month (Nov. 6, 1998), the publication in the journal Science of a short paper entitled "Embryonic Stem Cell Lines Derived from Human Blastocysts" rocked biology - and the world - as the all-purpose stem cell and its possibilities were ushered into the limelight.

7 Nov 2008

Researchers screen 700 molecules by RNAi to identify host factors involved in malaria infection

The researchers of the Malaria Unit at Instituto de Medicina Molecular (IMM, Lisbon, Portugal) publish in the peer reviewed journal PLoS Pathogens the results of a large scale screening of more than 700 genes to identify host factors involved in the liver stage of malaria infection.

7 Nov 2008