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Mouse anti-aging study generates expert commentary

Age related changes like wrinkles, muscle wasting and cataracts could be delayed in mice, say researchers in the US. They achieved the feat by removing old cells that had stopped dividing. These accumulate naturally with age. The scientists believe their findings could eventually “really have an impact” in the care of the elderly. Experts said the results were “fascinating”, but should be taken with a bit of caution.

6 Nov 2011

Common gut pathogen increases activity of SMO gene and causes colon tumors

Working with lab cultures and mice, Johns Hopkins scientists have found that a strain of the common gut pathogen Bacteroides fragilis causes colon inflammation and increases activity of a gene called spermine oxidase (SMO) in the intestine.

5 Nov 2011

Scientists identify distinct tobacco transporter for nicotine metabolism

A team of Virginia Tech and Purdue University scientists have identified a distinct transporter used by tobacco plant cells for nicotine metabolism. The research appears in the Oct. 17 online before print issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) in the article, "A tobacco nicotine uptake permease effects alkaloid metabolism."

2 Nov 2011

Study finds multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in 48% of infected patient rooms

Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MDR-AB) was found in the environment of 48 percent of the rooms of patients colonized or infected with the pathogen, according to a new study published in the November issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of APIC - the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.

2 Nov 2011

First study to show how H. pylori toxin can spur apoptosis

Researchers report they have figured out how the cancer-causing bacterium Helicobacter pylori attacks a cell's energy infrastructure, sparking a series of events in the cell that ultimately lead it to self-destruct.

2 Nov 2011

Potential transmission of HBV, HCV and HIV infections in nail salons and barbershops

The risk of hepatitis transmission through non-single use instruments -- such as nail files, nail brushes, finger bowls, foot basins, buffers, razors, clippers, and scissors -- during nail salon and barbershop visits cannot be excluded, according to the results of a new report unveiled today at the American College of Gastroenterology's (ACG) 76th Annual Scientific meeting in Washington, DC.

1 Nov 2011

Researcher's compound disables bacteria instead of killing them

After 70 years, antibiotics are still the primary treatment for halting the spread of bacterial infections. But the prevalence of antibiotic resistance is now outpacing the rate of new drug discovery and approval. A microbiologist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) has discovered a different approach: Instead of killing the bacteria, why not disarm them, quashing disease without the worry of antibiotic resistance?

29 Oct 2011

Researchers identify compound that inhibits viral replication

Broad-spectrum antibiotics, which are active against a whole range of bacterial pathogens, have been on the market for a long time. Comparably versatile drugs to treat viral diseases, on the other hand, have remained elusive. Using a new approach, research teams led by Dr. Albrecht von Brunn of LMU Munich and Professor Christian Drosten from the University of Bonn have identified a compound that inhibits the replication of several different viruses, including the highly aggressive SARS virus that is responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome.

29 Oct 2011

Scientists identify nicotinamidase enzyme as new drug target for Leishmaniasis

IRD scientist and their research partners recently identified the key role of nicotinamidase, an enzyme in the parasite Leishmania, essential for its survival but which does not exist in humans. The pathogen is incapable of developing in mammals In the absence of this enzyme. Specific targeting of this enzyme could lead to more effective ways of controlling this neglected tropical disease.

29 Oct 2011

Gardasil vaccine safe and effective against anal cancer

A large, international clinical trial led by doctors at the University of California, San Francisco indicates that a vaccine to prevent anal cancer is safe and effective, according to a study reported in the Oct. 27, 2011 issue of New England Journal of Medicine.

27 Oct 2011

NHMRC awards $2 million to investigate new therapies for reversing autoimmune disease

Research being undertaken at the University of Adelaide and Women's and Children's Hospital is providing vital clues into the causes of autoimmune diseases which affect millions of people around the world.

24 Oct 2011

Tokyo Medical University enters RA research collaboration with Progenra

Progenra, Inc. announced today it has entered in to a research collaboration with Dr. Toshihiro Nakajima, Professor, Institute of Medical Science, Tokyo Medical University.

24 Oct 2011

American robin plays a key role in transmission of West Nile virus

After its initial appearance in New York in 1999, West Nile virus spread across the United States in just a few years and is now well established throughout North and South America.

21 Oct 2011

Scientists discover a way to accurately map typhoid outbreaks in the city

In the mid-nineteenth century, John Snow mapped cases of cholera in Soho, London, and traced the source of the outbreak to a contaminated water pump. Now, in a twenty-first century equivalent, scientists funded by the Wellcome Trust working in Kathmandu, Nepal, have combined the latest in gene sequencing technology and global positioning system (GPS) case localisation to map the spread of typhoid and trace its source.

18 Oct 2011

New insights into how adenovirus triggers an immune response

A Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine study could lead to improved gene therapies for conditions such as heart disease and cancer as well as more effective vaccines for tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases.

13 Oct 2011

U of U researchers receive NIH grant to uncover viral cause of MS

A team of investigators from the University of Utah has received a two-year, $275,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund novel research that may help to uncover a viral cause for the most acute and severe form of multiple sclerosis.

13 Oct 2011

Genetic mystery of bacterium causing ‘Black Death’ revealed

Between 1347 and 1351 - a period of just five years, Europe's Black Death wiped out about 30 million people - 30 to 50% of the population on the continent. Now geneticists have reconstructed the genome of the bacterium that caused the plague. It is found to be an ancient strain of a bacterium called Yersinia pestis very similar to the strain the exists today.

13 Oct 2011

USPTO issues patent to Oragenics' In Vivo Induced Antigen Technology

Florida-based nutraceutical company, Oragenics, Inc., announced today the issuance of patent number 8,034,571 from the United States Patent and Trademark office for In Vivo Induced Antigen Technology.

13 Oct 2011

Furiex announces publications and presentations about antibacterial drug JNJ-Q2

Furiex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced recent and upcoming publications and presentations about the novel investigational antibacterial drug JNJ-Q2.

12 Oct 2011

Progenra, Ono enter ubiquitin pathway research collaboration

Progenra, Inc. announced today that it has entered into a research collaboration with Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Under the agreement, Progenra will collaborate with Ono to conduct assay development and high throughput screening by using Progenra's proprietary technology on multiple targets in the ubiquitin pathway.

11 Oct 2011