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Technology for analyzing gene expression must be standardized

Technology for analyzing gene expression must be standardized among laboratories and across platforms around the world to support this age of human genome exploration, an Oregon Health & Science University researcher says.

29 May 2005

WIN compound - a prototype drug for curing colds - is showing so much promise

An antiviral compound that wiggles its way into the common cold virus may provide one piece of the solution to halting the infection, say Purdue University scientists.

25 May 2005

Scientists watch agents of brain-wasting diseases invade and move within brain cells

Scientists for the first time have watched agents of brain-wasting diseases, called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE), as they invade a nerve cell and then travel along wire-like circuits to points of contact with other cells.

25 May 2005

New insight into the machinery cells use to internalize cell surface receptors

Using state of the art imaging technology a team from Yale School of Medicine has glimpsed one of the cell's most important 'nano-machines' in action. The work, performed in collaboration with English and French scientists, provides new insight into the machinery cells use to internalize cell surface receptors.

22 May 2005

CAD system makes breast MRI more effective, efficient

A computer-aided detection (CAD) system is helping radiologists to more quickly and accurately determine the sizes and locations of cancers found on breast MRI—information that could change patients’ treatment, a new study shows.

20 May 2005

Embryonic body wash controls left-right development

Humans and other animals may appear to be symmetrical on the outside, but symmetry is only skin deep. Many body organs, such as the stomach, the heart and the liver, are tipped to the right or left side. So how does the developing embryo distinguish left from right?

20 May 2005

Engineers have found a way to modify a plastic to anchor molecules that promote nerve regeneration, blood vessel growth or other biological processes

In the study led by Dr. Christine Schmidt, the researchers identified a piece of protein from among a billion candidates that could perform the unusual feat of attaching to polypyrrole, a synthetic polymer (plastic) that conducts electricity and has shown promise in biomedical applications.

17 May 2005

Discovery of a fundamental new route into cells may lead to new methods of drug delivery

Researchers from The University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB), and the Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis used electron microscopy to uncover new structures, 100,000th of a mm in size, which are involved in the very first step of particle and nutrient uptake into cells.

10 May 2005

Green laser pointers can cause visible harm to the eye's retina

Mayo Clinic ophthalmologists have found commercially available Class 3A green laser pointers can cause visible harm to the eye's retina with exposures as short as 60 seconds. The findings will be published in the May issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.

9 May 2005

CSMA examines medical devices - tests for the characterisation and analysis of catheter tubing

CSMA has recently developed a unique range of tests for the characterisation and analysis of catheter tubing. CSMA is the only company in Europe to offer a standard suite of tests related specifically to catheter tubing manufacturers.

5 May 2005

After surgery check colon tumors for signs of syndrome, study suggests

A new study suggests that, after surgery, all colon tumors should be tested to learn if the patient may have an inherited syndrome that carries an extremely high risk of cancer. It also suggests that this prescreening can be done using a relatively inexpensive microscopy test already used in hospital pathology laboratories.

5 May 2005

The humble snail is helping scientists explore ways of treating memory loss in humans

Drug manufacturers are looking at ways to create a "Viagra for the brain", which could alleviate memory loss, one of the distressing symptoms of diseases such as Alzheimer's. Work carried out by Dr George Kemenes, Senior Fellow in the Department of Biology and Environmental Science at the University of Sussex, will hopefully help to show how such drugs could work.

4 May 2005

New study confirms 'wait and see' approach best for some prostate cancers

Men diagnosed with low-grade localized prostate cancer who opt not to undergo aggressive treatment for the disease are unlikely to die of the disease, even after 20 years, according to researchers in Connecticut.

4 May 2005

Two-photon imaging gives real-time video of cells in living tissue

Biologists have a new tool to track and videotape cells moving about inside living tissue.

3 May 2005

First time video capture of chemical signals that traverse human cells messaging

Researchers at UCSD and UC Irvine have captured on video for the first time chemical signals that traverse human cells in response to tiny mechanical jabs, like waves spreading from pebbles tossed into a pond. The scientists released the videos and technical details that explain how the visualization effect was created as part of a paper published in the April 21 issue of Nature.

21 Apr 2005

What makes children laugh?

Children say the funniest things, but what makes them laugh? Do German and Israeli kids share the same sense of humour - or is the Simpsons the universal language of laughter?

20 Apr 2005

Scientists reveal the shape of a protein that helps retroviruses break into cells

Retroviruses are among the trickier and more malicious disease agents, causing AIDS and cancers such as leukemia. The viruses manage to sneak into cells with the help of special protein assemblies scattered all over their surfaces. These retrovirus surface proteins cause the membrane envelope of the virus to fuse with the membrane of the cell, spilling virus RNA into the cell to wreak damage.

13 Apr 2005

Link between insomnia and obesity

A possible link between lack of sleep (insomnia) and obesity has been traced to hypocretin/orexin cells in the hypothalamus region of the brain that are easily excited and sensitive to stress, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in the April issue of Cell Metabolism.

13 Apr 2005

New invention can easily spot whether cancer has spread

German researchers have come up with a test that measures how stretchy cells are, which could revolutionise the way doctors spot whether cancers have spread, Inventors at the University of Leipzig have produced a laptop-sized gadget which can give a diagnosis using as few as 50 cells and avoids the need to cut out tissue and say it is 1,000 times more accurate than traditional tests.

12 Apr 2005

Assessing the function of unknown genes is feasible and can be done with a microarray phenotype

Microarrays provide a method of quantifying the expression and order of genes in a particular genome -- acting as a surrogate measure of cell physiology, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears online today in the journal Nature Genetics.

10 Apr 2005