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Inserting corrective genes into the brain to fight Parkinson's disease

An international team of scientists has used gene therapy in two separate studies to renew brain cells and restore normal movements in monkeys and rats with a drug-induced form of Parkinson's disease.

8 Feb 2005

Link between heart disease and periodontal bacteria

Researchers report this week that older adults who have higher proportions of four periodontal-disease-causing bacteria inhabiting their mouths also tend to have thicker carotid arteries, a strong predictor of stroke and heart attack.

7 Feb 2005

People with gum disease are more likely to suffer from atherosclerosis

A new study by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center provides the most direct evidence to date that preventing gum disease could significantly improve your chances of avoiding vascular problems.

7 Feb 2005

Potential treatments for neurofibromatosis

Scientists at the Indiana University School of Medicine are closing in on potential treatments for neurofibromatosis, a genetic disease that afflicts 100,000 Americans with nerve tissue tumors, some of which become cancerous.

3 Feb 2005

Compound, derived from a rare South American plant, stops the growth of human breast cancer cells

They started with a bare room and an idea. Now, after five years of painstaking, sophisticated tests, scientists at the University of Virginia Health System have discovered that a compound, derived from a rare South American plant, stops the growth of human breast cancer cells in laboratory cultures.

1 Feb 2005

Clinical trials to test the safety of a first-of-its-kind human hookworm vaccine

Clinical trials to test the safety of a first-of-its-kind human hookworm vaccine will begin in the Washington, DC area in a couple of months after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration conferred investigational new drug status on the vaccine.

27 Jan 2005

Researchers discover way to overcome major hurdle in gene therapy for cancer

In a new study published in the Jan. 25 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the researchers demonstrated that the technique works by incorporating it into a specially designed virus. The virus eradicated prostate cancer cells in the lab and in animals while leaving normal cells unscathed.

26 Jan 2005

Scientists are a step closer to developing drug targets to treat fungal meningitis

Scientists are a step closer to developing drug targets to treat fungal meningitis -- the infection linked to at least three deaths on Vancouver Island -- thanks to the sequencing of two Cryptococcus genomes by an international team that included researchers at the University of British Columbia and the BC Cancer Agency's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre in Vancouver.

17 Jan 2005

FDA licenses Sanofi pasteur vaccine for protection against meningococcal disease

Sanofi pasteur, the vaccines business of the sanofi-aventis Group, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has licensed Menactra (Meningococcal [Groups A, C, Y and W-135] Polysaccharide Diphtheria Toxoid Conjugate Vaccine) for protection against meningococcal disease in adolescents and adults aged 11-55 years.

17 Jan 2005

Zinc treatment may help prevent esophageal and oral cancers

Cancer researchers at Jefferson Medical College and the Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia have found that zinc treatment may help prevent esophageal and oral cancers in those individuals at high risk.

9 Jan 2005

Diagnosis of tuberculosis in young children can be confirmed by a straightforward sputum test

Diagnosis of tuberculosis is difficult in infants and young children and can be complicated by HIV infection. Heather Zar (School of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Cape Town, South Africa) and colleagues studied 250 children aged 1 month to 5 years who were admitted for suspected pulmonary tuberculosis in Cape Town. Sputum induction and gastric lavage were done on three consecutive days according to a standard procedure.

7 Jan 2005

Gene sequencing explains why natural bioremediation 'bug' has big appetite for chlorinated pollutants

"The born-to-dechlorinate bug" is what Cornell University researchers called Dehalococcoides ethenogenes Strain 195 when they found the bacterium obligingly detoxifying the pollutant PCE, or perchloroethylene (a chlorinated solvent used for dry cleaning), in sludge from an Ithaca, N.Y., sewage treatment plant.

6 Jan 2005

Genomics tools provide clues to what causes 400 million cases of gastrointestinal disease each year

In a study that could benefit medical and food-safety research, scientists have used comparative genomics tools to find clues about why some strains of the bacterium Campylobacter – which each year cause more than 400 million cases of gastrointestinal disease – are more virulent than others.

4 Jan 2005

Evidence suggests that changes in the bacteria and fungi in the gastrointestinal tract can intensify the immune system's reaction to common allergens

If you want to avoid allergies or asthma, scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School suggest you start paying more attention to what's in your gut.

23 Dec 2004

Key advance in understanding the proteins and mechanisms involved in the spread of Lyme Disease

Virginia Commonwealth University scientists have made a key advance in understanding the proteins and mechanisms involved in the spread of Lyme Disease, a finding that could lead to a vaccine against the tick-borne illness that affects thousands of people each year.

16 Dec 2004

Vaccinating mice against Lyme disease could help reduce the risk of transmission of the disease to humans

Vaccinating large populations of white-footed mice against the bacterium that causes Lyme disease could help reduce the risk of transmission of the disease to humans, says a study supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

14 Dec 2004

Celebrex like gene suppresses the growth of colon cancer

Cancer researchers at the Case Western Reserve University (Case) School of Medicine, University Hospitals of Cleveland (UHC) and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have found a "Celebrex-like" gene that suppresses the growth of colon cancer.

13 Dec 2004

Using precise, radioactively labeled genetic probes, researchers study cancer gene activity from outside the body

Using precise, radioactively labeled genetic probes, researchers at Jefferson Medical College have seen cancer gene activity from outside the body in laboratory mice. The probes, which work by attaching to genetic codes copied from an active cancer gene, may someday aid physicians and scientists in cancer detection and in determining the appropriate treatment for a cancer.

13 Dec 2004

Key molecular signal allows malarial parasites to target human red blood cells

Northwestern University researchers have identified a key molecular "signal" that allows malarial parasites to release virulence proteins inside human red blood cells.

13 Dec 2004

Animal model helps explain how AIDS virus spreads throughout the body following oral exposure

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have utilized an animal model to trace how the virus that causes AIDS in humans may enter and spread throughout the body following an oral exposure.

3 Dec 2004

Microbiology News and Research

Inserting corrective genes into the brain to fight Parkinson's disease

Link between heart disease and periodontal bacteria

People with gum disease are more likely to suffer from atherosclerosis

Potential treatments for neurofibromatosis

Compound, derived from a rare South American plant, stops the growth of human breast cancer cells

Clinical trials to test the safety of a first-of-its-kind human hookworm vaccine

Researchers discover way to overcome major hurdle in gene therapy for cancer

Scientists are a step closer to developing drug targets to treat fungal meningitis

FDA licenses Sanofi pasteur vaccine for protection against meningococcal disease

Zinc treatment may help prevent esophageal and oral cancers

Diagnosis of tuberculosis in young children can be confirmed by a straightforward sputum test

Gene sequencing explains why natural bioremediation 'bug' has big appetite for chlorinated pollutants

Genomics tools provide clues to what causes 400 million cases of gastrointestinal disease each year

Evidence suggests that changes in the bacteria and fungi in the gastrointestinal tract can intensify the immune system's reaction to common allergens

Key advance in understanding the proteins and mechanisms involved in the spread of Lyme Disease

Vaccinating mice against Lyme disease could help reduce the risk of transmission of the disease to humans

Celebrex like gene suppresses the growth of colon cancer

Using precise, radioactively labeled genetic probes, researchers study cancer gene activity from outside the body

Key molecular signal allows malarial parasites to target human red blood cells

Animal model helps explain how AIDS virus spreads throughout the body following oral exposure

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