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National Institutes of Health develops research plan on Fragile X syndrome and associated disorders

The National Institutes of Health has developed a research plan to advance the understanding of fragile X syndrome and its associated conditions, fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome and fragile X-associated primary ovarian insufficiency. Fragile X syndrome causes intellectual and developmental disabilities and results from a mutation in a gene on the X chromosome.

20 Jul 2009

Potential new treatment for Alzheimer’s

Indeed, these carriers tend to develop the disease later than others, but when that happens, it progresses more rapidly and does not respond to medication. Therefore, the bottom line is that carriers of the mutated gene have a greater risk than others for disease progression.

20 Jul 2009

Researchers expose the biology of Clostridium difficile transmission in mice

New research suggests that antibiotic treatment could be asymptomatically inducing the transmission of the healthcare-acquired infection, C. difficile, contributing to the outbreaks that have recently been widely reported in hospitals and other settings. A team of scientists have successfully mirrored the infection cycle of C. difficile by generating a 'mouse hospital' with conditions mimicking the human environment in which C. difficile is transmitted.

20 Jul 2009

Researchers discover how flu damages lung tissue

A protein in influenza virus that helps it multiply also damages lung epithelial cells, causing fluid buildup in the lungs, according to new research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and Southern Research Institute . Publishing online this week in the journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, the researchers say the findings give new insight into how flu attacks the lungs and provides targets for new treatments.

19 Jul 2009

Estrogen can reduce stroke damage by inactivating a tumor-suppressing protein

Estrogen can halt stroke damage by inactivating a tumor-suppressing protein known to prevent many cancers, Medical College of Georgia researchers say.

17 Jul 2009

Research reveals major genetic differences between blood and tissue cells

Research by a group of Montreal scientists calls into question one of the most basic assumptions of human genetics: that when it comes to DNA, every cell in the body is essentially identical to every other cell. Their results appear in the July issue of the journal Human Mutation.

15 Jul 2009

New alliance for discovery of WNT pathway inhibitors to be used in cancer therapy

Cancer Research Technology (CRT), Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, Cancer Research UK, Cardiff University and The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) are set to begin a major new research collaboration for the first time. This will provide substantial investment in research on the WNT signalling pathway in the hope of finding new drug targets.

15 Jul 2009

Surprising new insights into the repair strategies of DNA

A microscopic single-celled organism, adapted to survive in some of the harshest environments on earth, could help scientists gain a better understanding of how cancer cells behave.

15 Jul 2009

Special pathway makes bacteria vulnerable - new target for tailored antibiotics

More and more strains of bacteria are developing resistance to previously life-saving antibiotics. Researchers at TUM, the Technische Universitaet Muenchen, have shed light on a metabolic step that appears in many aggressive microorganisms -- such as tuberculosis and malaria pathogens -- and that may provide a promising target for a new class of antibiotics. The researchers present their results in the chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie.

14 Jul 2009

Childhood cancer risk rises with mother's age

Research from the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota indicates that a baby born to an older mother may have a slightly increased risk for many of the cancers that occur during childhood.

14 Jul 2009

Obama cabinet members meet Thursday for H1N1 preparedness summit

"The White House, months before flu season, will roll out the big guns Thursday for a swine flu preparedness summit, underscoring the importance the Obama administration is placing on the pandemic," CNN reports.

9 Jul 2009

Innovative study brings us closer to an explanation for Crohn's disease

Twenty-five per cent of Crohn's disease patients have a mutation in what is called the NOD2 gene, but it is not precisely known how this mutation influences the disease.

9 Jul 2009

Discovery of key gene for bone development that when mutated lead to dwarfism

Scientists have just discovered the gene behind Recessive Omodysplasia, a rare skeletal disease characterised by short-limbed dwarfism and craniofacial anomalies.

9 Jul 2009

Research may hold key to maintaining embryonic stem cells in lab

In a new study that could transform embryonic stem cell (ES cell) research, scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered why mouse ES cells can be easily grown in a laboratory while other mammalian ES cells are difficult, if not impossible, to maintain.

9 Jul 2009

International health experts hold two-day H1N1 meeting

WHO leaders and international health ministers met Thursday for a two-day meeting in Cancun, Mexico, to share the lessons learned from the spread of H1N1 (swine flu) (Xinhua, 7/3) and strategies for "battling the pandemic," the AP/Washington Post reports (Rodriguez, 7/2).

7 Jul 2009

Swine flu different from ordinary flu in a number of ways

Scientists say new research has shown that the new H1N1 influenza strain (swine flu) is somewhat less contagious than seasonal flu, but appears to be more able to cause stomach upsets.

5 Jul 2009

Concern over case of drug resistant swine flu

The influenza A H1N1 (swine flu) outbreak has now spread to almost all corners of the world - the last update, # 56, from the World Health Organisation (WHO) says there are now a grand total of 77,201 confirmed cases including 311 deaths.

2 Jul 2009

New test detects genetic and chromosomal abnormalities in embryos - ready for clinical trials

One-step screening for both genetic and chromosomal abnormalities has come a stage closer as scientists announced that an embryo test they have been developing has successfully screened cells taken from spare embryos that were known to have cystic fibrosis.

30 Jun 2009

Women with cystic fibrosis can have safe and successful fertility treatment

Women with cystic fibrosis can have fertility treatment to help them have babies without any long-term adverse effects on either themselves or their children, according to new research presented at the 25th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Amsterdam today (Tuesday).

30 Jun 2009

New pieces in the autism inheritance puzzle

Pieces in the complex autism inheritance puzzle are emerging in the latest study from a research team including geneticists from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). The study identified 27 different genetic regions where rare copy number variations - missing or extra copies of DNA segments - were found in the genes of children with autism spectrum disorders, but not in the healthy controls. The findings are published June 26 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics.

30 Jun 2009