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Potential new treatment for Huntington's disease found

MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegererative Disorders (MIND) researchers have identified a compound that may lead to a treatment that could protect against the effects of Huntington's Disease (HD).

9 Oct 2007

Adding nitric oxide to blood in blood banks may preserve life giving properties

Researchers in the United States say one of the reasons why many patients do not do well after blood transfusions is because donated blood rapidly loses some of its life-saving properties.

8 Oct 2007

Researchers restore memory process in fragile X syndrome

University of California, Irvine scientists have discovered how to reverse the learning and memory problems inherent in the most common form of mental impairment.

8 Oct 2007

Dual action anthrax vaccine-antitoxin combination developed

The immune response generated in rats by the new agent protects against lethal toxin exposure after only one injection, and is faster and stronger than any currently available vaccine.

8 Oct 2007

Genes that increase rheumatoid arthritis risk found

Researchers in the United States and Sweden have identified a genetic region associated with increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a chronic and debilitating inflammatory disease of the joints that affects an estimated 2.1 million Americans.

8 Oct 2007

HMMR gene emerges as a key player in breast cancer

Researchers in a multicenter international study have identified a new gene that, if mutated, may increase a woman's risk of breast cancer by more than a third.

8 Oct 2007

Researchers report most complete list so far of the proteins present in the cerebral cortex

Researchers report in the October 2007 issue of Molecular & Cellular Proteomics the most complete list so far of the proteins present in the cerebral cortex – the outermost layer of the brain that plays a central role in memory, language, cognition, and consciousness.

8 Oct 2007

Proteins found that could be used to improve diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Researchers report in the October 2007 issue of Molecular & Cellular Proteomics that they have identified proteins that could be used to improve the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common type of liver cancer.

8 Oct 2007

Improving diagnosis of cancer by detecting protein-sugar structures

Researchers report in the October 2007 issue of Molecular & Cellular Proteomics that they have developed a new way of detecting the abnormal presence of complexes of sugars and proteins in the blood of cancer patients, thus providing a new tool for cancer diagnosis.

8 Oct 2007

Fungus genome yielding answers to protect grains, people and animals

Why a pathogen is a pathogen may be answered as scientists study the recently mapped genetic makeup of a fungus that spawns the worst cereal grains disease known and also can produce toxins potentially fatal to people and livestock.

8 Oct 2007

Lowering blood pressure protects stroke victims with chronic kidney disease from further strokes

New research, published in the Journal of American Society of Nephrology by The George Institute for International Health in Sydney, has found that lowering blood pressure protects stroke victims with Chronic Kidney Disease from further strokes or heart attacks.

8 Oct 2007

Researchers create modular, multi-functional drug delivery system

There are two aspects to creating an effective drug: finding a chemical compound that has the desired biological effect and minimal side-effects and then delivering it to the right place in the body for it to do its job.

8 Oct 2007

Artificial cornea saves eyesight

Every year, in Germany alone, around 7,000 people wait for a new cornea to save their eyesight.

8 Oct 2007

When taking a long time is seen as a good thing

Consumers often use the length of time a service takes as a measure of its quality. The longer a session lasts, the better the value.

4 Oct 2007

Norepinephrine and emotional memories

Both extensive psychological research and personal experiences confirm that events that happen during heightened states of emotion such as fear, anger and joy are far more memorable than less dramatic occurrences.

4 Oct 2007

UF researchers test stem cell therapy for heart patients

University of Florida doctors on Wednesday (Oct. 3) treated their first patient enrolled in a new study designed to test whether injecting stem cells into the heart helps restore blood flow to the organ by prompting new blood vessels to grow.

4 Oct 2007

Simplest circadian clocks operate via orderly phosphate transfers

Researchers at Harvard University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have found that a simple circadian clock found in some bacteria operates by the rhythmic addition and subtraction of phosphate groups at two key locations on a single protein.

4 Oct 2007

How emotionally charged events leave their mark on memory

Researchers have uncovered new evidence in mice that may explain how emotionally charged situations can leave such a powerful mark on our memories.

4 Oct 2007

Human embryonic stem cells remain embryonic because of epigenetic factors

A human embryonic stem cell is reined in - prevented from giving up its unique characteristics of self-renewal and pluripotency - by the presence of a protein modification that stifles any genes that would prematurely instruct the cell to develop into heart or other specialized tissue.

4 Oct 2007

How Candida albicans transforms from its normally benign form into life-threatening form

Researchers at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research's (A*STAR) Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) have discovered new molecular mechanisms that provide a more detailed understanding of how the normally benign Dr. Jekyll-like fungus known as Candida albicans transforms into a serious and often life-threatening Mr. Hyde-like form.

4 Oct 2007