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GSA announce winners of GSA Poster Awards at 55th Annual Drosophila Research Conference

The Genetics Society of America (GSA) and the Drosophila research community are pleased to announce the winners of GSA Poster Awards at the 55th Annual Drosophila Research Conference, which took place in San Diego, March 26-30, 2014.

21 May 2014

Researcher to recieve 2014 EMBO Gold Medal at FEBS-EMBO Meeting

EMBO today announced Sophie Martin of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, as the winner of the 2014 EMBO Gold Medal. The award acknowledges her work to understand the molecular events that define the organization and development of the cell.

25 Apr 2014

Scientists present protein that facilitates control of nerve cells by light

Networked nerve cells are the control center of organisms. In a nematode, 300 nerve cells are sufficient to initiate complex behavior. To understand the properties of the networks, re-searchers switch cells on and off with light and observe the resulting behavior of the organism.

2 Apr 2014

Standard nomenclature of insect brains may improve future research on brain function and disease

When you're talking about something as complex as the brain, the task isn't any easier if the vocabula

3 Mar 2014

Researchers examine how evolution relates to health

February 12 marks the birth of the 19th century naturalist Charles Darwin, who launched the scientific study of evolution. While Darwin's theory laid the groundwork, ongoing studies have deepened our understanding of evolution, including how it relates to health. Research funded by the National Institutes of Health has helped answer many questions about evolution, health and medicine. Here's a sampling.

12 Feb 2014

Researchers suggest new targets may provide druggable alternatives to Ewing's Sarcoma

Ewing's Sarcoma is an aggressive pediatric cancer, most commonly caused by the improper fusion of the gene EWS with the gene FLI1. Though the cause has long been known, therapeutic targeting of this fusion has to date proven very difficult.

22 Jan 2014

Research findings point to possible new strategy for treating ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a devastating illness that gradually robs sufferers of muscle strength and eventually causes a lethal, full-body paralysis. The only drug available to treat the disease extends life spans by a meager three months on average.

17 Dec 2013

Spaceflights cause cellular-level damage and may lead to long-term vision problems

Those who travel to space are rewarded with a beautiful sight - planet Earth. But the effects of space travel on the human sense of sight aren't so beautiful. More than 30 percent of astronauts who returned from two-week space shuttle missions and 60 percent who spent six months aboard the International Space Station were diagnosed with eye problems. Two recent investigations examined mechanisms that may explain eye changes in spaceflight, help find ways to minimize this health risk to astronauts and eventually prevent and treat eye diseases on Earth.

13 Dec 2013

New Journal presents techniques for finding new uses for approved drugs

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is pleased to announce Drug Repurposing, Rescue, and Repositioning, a dynamic new peer-reviewed journal that will present techniques and tools for finding new uses for approved drugs—particularly for disorders where no animal model, physiologic abnormality, biochemical pathway, or molecular target has been identified.

12 Dec 2013

Study confirms therapeutic potential of inhibiting Aurora-A in cancer treatment

Aurora-A is a protein involved in the cell division process that is highly expressed or synthesised in a large number of human cancers, especially in those associated with a bad prognosis. Several pharmaceutical companies have recently developed these protein inhibitors, although the therapeutic and physiological effects that blocking Aurora-A might have on adult tissues are still unknown.

19 Nov 2013

Two organochlorine pesticides associated with increased risk of endometriosis

A Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center-led study has found that two organochlorine pesticides are associated with an increased risk of endometriosis, a condition that affects up to 10 percent of reproductive-age women.

5 Nov 2013

‘Distinct’ bipolar pathways revealed

A genetic analysis reported in Nature suggests two mechanisms that could lead to bipolar disorder.

25 Oct 2013

Ohio State's Heart and Vascular Center names Garret FitzGerald as recipient of Schottenstein Prize

The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center's Heart and Vascular Center has named Dr. Garret FitzGerald, professor of Medicine and Pharmacology; chair of the Department of Pharmacology and director of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics at the Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania, the recipient of the 2013 Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Prize in Cardiovascular Sciences.

26 Sep 2013

Glutathione peroxidase activity protects against symptoms of Huntington's disease

Leicester geneticists have discovered a potential defence against Huntington's disease - a fatal neurodegenerative disorder which currently has no cure.

26 Aug 2013

Bacterial strains that delay cell division might be used to design drugs that stop division entirely

In 1958 a group of scientists working in Denmark made the striking observation that bacterial cells are about twice as large when they are cultured on a rich nutrient source than when they are cultured on a meager one.

13 Aug 2013

Protein on surface of human breast tumour cells may serve as drug target for breast cancer

Scientists have identified higher levels of a receptor protein found on the surface of human breast tumour cells that may serve as a new drug target for the treatment of breast cancer.

19 Jul 2013

Innovative X-ray method advances new treatments for genetic diseases

An international team of scientists using a new X-ray method recorded the internal structure and cell movement inside a living frog embryo in greater detail than ever before.

18 May 2013

Scientists create animal models by altering specific genes associated with a given disease

Whitehead Institute Founding Member Rudolf Jaenisch, who helped transform the study of genetics by creating the first transgenic mouse in 1974, is again revolutionizing how genetically altered animal models are created and perhaps even redefining what species may serve as models.

6 May 2013

Fralin Life Science Institute researchers use TALENS to alter mosquito genome

Virginia Tech researchers successfully used a gene disruption technique to change the eye color of a mosquito - a critical step toward new genetic strategies aimed at disrupting the transmission of diseases such as dengue fever.

22 Mar 2013

Tau release from healthy neurons can be regulated by neuronal activity

Researchers from King's College London have discovered that neuronal activity can stimulate tau release from healthy neurons in the absence of cell death.

16 Feb 2013