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Research on rare women's lung disease may yield insights into common diseases

For many decades, medical research studies focused primarily on men and the results of countless studies were then applied to women.

18 Jun 2007

Antitumor vaccine

How can we induce the body to use its own weapon, the immune system, to battle cancer" In principle, by the same means used against infectious diseases: immunization.

18 Jun 2007

Scientists link cell's protein recycling systems

Many age-related neurological diseases are associated with defective proteins accumulating in nerve cells, suggesting that the cell's normal disposal mechanisms are not operating correctly.

17 Jun 2007

New mathematical model of sepsis

A new mathematical model of sepsis can help predict deaths, discharges, and disease progression in hospital patients with this serious bacterial blood infection. It's hoped the model, described in the online open access journal Critical Care, will help clinicians assess which interventions are likely to be best for their patients.

17 Jun 2007

Better understanding of how the body fights off mucosal pathogens

In a finding that could have important implications for HIV vaccine research, new research at Weill Cornell Medical College illuminates the ways in which the body prevents its mucosal surfaces from being overwhelmed by bacteria.

17 Jun 2007

Focus on motor neurone disease

Motor neurone disease (MND), also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a degenerative disease of unknown cause which causes patients to lose basic motor functions and has a devastating effect on them and their families.

17 Jun 2007

Synaptic dysfunction in Huntington's disease

Huntington's disease is a hereditary disorder that primarily affects the brain, leading to death within just over a decade.

17 Jun 2007

Researchers use 'genomic pathway' to predict Parkinson's

A new Mayo Clinic study provides strong evidence that the joint effects of common DNA variations in several genes that encode proteins within a well-defined biological pathway largely explain why some persons get Parkinson's disease while others don't, and even predict with great accuracy at what age people might develop their first symptoms.

17 Jun 2007

Many people fail to plan ahead when making dynamic decisions about their lives

More than half of the participants in experiments conducted at the University of York fail to plan ahead when making dynamic decisions about their lives, according to the findings of research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council that will have implications for policies on financial planning and pensions.

17 Jun 2007

Herpes virus hijacks DNA repair process

Scientists probing the details of viral infection have discovered an intriguing surprise: in mice, herpes viruses hijack their host cells' tools for fixing DNA damage and use those tools to enhance their own reproduction.

17 Jun 2007

New area of stroke drug discovery for the 22nd century

A new therapy to re-activate silenced genes in patients who suffer from neurodegenerative diseases or stroke is being developed by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Cornell University.

17 Jun 2007

Rogue cells found that could cause spread of breast cancer

Stephanie Lebret completed the study for her PhD at Deakin's Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology under the supervision of Associate Professor Leigh Ackland.

17 Jun 2007

Starving Listeria bug of oxygen makes it turn nasty

If the Listeria monocytogenes bacteria behind food poisoning are starved of oxygen, they are liable to turn really nasty according to research published in the online journal BMC Microbiology.

17 Jun 2007

Scientists step closer to curing genetic or acquired hearing loss

Researchers at the University of Virginia Health System have discovered a way to transfer genes, which they hope will restore hearing, into diseased tissue of the human inner ear.

17 Jun 2007

Discovery of IKBKE gene linked to breast cancer

Using a novel three-part screening process, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have identified a gene that is made inappropriately in about a third of all breast cancers.

17 Jun 2007

New understanding of how Staphylococcus aureus hides

A major cause of human and animal infections, Staphylococcus aureus bacteria may evade the immune system" defences and dodge antibiotics by climbing into our cells and then lying low to avoid detection.

17 Jun 2007

How accurate are recovered memories?

A decade or so ago, a spate of high profile legal cases arose in which people were accused, and often convicted, on the basis of recovered memories.

17 Jun 2007

Researchers culture blood-forming stem cells from human fat tissue

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have successfully isolated and cultured human hematopoietic stem cells from fat, or adipose, tissue, suggesting that they have found another important source of cells for reconstituting the bone marrow of patients undergoing intensive radiation therapy for blood cancers.

17 Jun 2007

RAS signaling of circadian output

In the June 15th issue of G&D, Drs. Jay Dunlap and Jennifer Loros, with colleagues at Dartmouth Medical School, have finally cloned the band gene, and have found that it is an allele of ras-1.

17 Jun 2007

New research in animals uncovers another mechanism of cholesterol lowering drug ezetimibe

It had previously been thought that the drug works by preventing cells in the intestine from absorbing cholesterol. The new research suggests that Zetia also works in the liver.

17 Jun 2007