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Researchers advance stem cell gene therapy

Ireland Cancer Center of University Hospitals Case Medical Center researchers have recently made great strides in stem cell gene therapy research by transferring a new gene to cancer patients, via their own stem cells, with the ultimate goal of being able to use stronger chemotherapy treatment with less severe side effects.

13 Dec 2007

Immune compound blocks virus' ability to hijack antibodies

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that a controversial phenomenon known as antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) of infection is suppressed by C1q, a blood-borne immune system compound.

13 Dec 2007

'Informed cohort' provides personal stake in genetics research

Patients are often reluctant to give up DNA samples for research, not knowing what the information will be used for and feeling there's no personal benefit to them.

13 Dec 2007

Researchers find genetic switch for internal body clock

University of California, Irvine researchers have identified the chemical switch that triggers the genetic mechanism regulating our internal body clock.

13 Dec 2007

Australian researchers plan for a pandemic

Sydney researchers have produced useful food and nutrition guidelines for survival rations to be used in the event of a pandemic such as influenza which appear in this week's Medical Journal of Australia.

13 Dec 2007

Nematodes provide clues to dopamine's role in human aging diseases

Research carried out with a paintbrush bristle, a metronome, smelly chemicals and thousands of microscopic worms called nematodes may reveal important information about human aging diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, thanks to a grant from the Ellison Medical Foundation awarded to a University at Buffalo neurobiologist.

13 Dec 2007

Secret lives of enzymes revealed

In a new study in Nature, Brandeis University Howard Hughes Medical Investigator Dr. Dorothee Kern and collaborators pull back the curtain on the secret lives of enzymes, the ubiquitous proteins that catalyze chemical reactions in the cell.

13 Dec 2007

Cancer stem cells may be cause of brain tumors

Expert available for comment on "Cancer Stem Cells" symposium at American Society of Hemotology (ASH) meeting, led by Dr. Andrew Schafer, chairman of medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell, and president, ASH.

13 Dec 2007

Cell trafficking finding may aid drug development

With findings highlighted on a recent cover of Developmental Cell , researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City have shed important new light on key trafficking mechanisms within epithelial cells. Epithelial cells line the outside of nearly all organs.

12 Dec 2007

Scientists develop new drug to outflank cancer resistance

A new drug has shown promising results against breast and prostate cancer cells and tumours that are resistant to conventional hormone-based treatments, according to research published in the British Journal of Cancer.

12 Dec 2007

Protein-dependent "switch" regulates intracellular trafficking in epithelial cells

12 Dec 2007

Biodegradable polymers with neurotransmitters promote nerve regrowth

Research reported December 11 in the journal Advanced Materials describes a potentially promising strategy for encouraging the regeneration of damaged central nervous system cells known as neurons.

12 Dec 2007

Exercise testing to predict mitral regurgitation

In as many as one in five people over age 55, when the heart contracts to send blood around the body, some degree of backward leakage occurs across the mitral valve, a condition known as mitral regurgitation (MR).

12 Dec 2007

Epigenomic test that could improve treatment for specific gastric cancers

A study by researchers at the John Wayne Cancer Institute at Saint John's Health Center in a recent issue of Journal of Clinical Oncology identifies activation of the enzyme COX-2 in gastric cancer tumors as a prognostic indicator for poor outcome.

12 Dec 2007

Red meat and cancer

New findings provide evidence that people who eat a lot of red and processed meats have greater risk of developing bowel and lung cancer than people who eat small quantities.

12 Dec 2007

Cancer cell line developed that is resistant to new cancer therapy

A cancer cell line that is resistant to one of the newest classes of cancer treatments has been developed by researchers who already are using it to determine what else to give patients when this happens.

12 Dec 2007

Addition of antibiotics to MS therapy could slow down progression of the disease

Researchers from Louisiana State University in the U.S. are suggesting that the addition of antibiotics to standard drug therapy for multiple sclerosis, may slow down the progress of the disease.

11 Dec 2007

Waterborne carbon increases threat of environmental mercury

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin and a worrisome environmental contaminant, but the severity of its threat appears to depend on what else is in the water.

10 Dec 2007

New model for neurodegeneration

The gradual loss of dopamine neurons is a hallmark of many neurodegenerative diseases - Parkinson's Disease chief among them.

10 Dec 2007

Need for education for primary care physicians on rarely seen cancers

Many primary care physicians may lack the necessary knowledge when it comes to recognizing the signs, symptoms and making proper diagnoses in cases of blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma, a recent survey indicates.

10 Dec 2007