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Interleukin 21 may enhance the effectiveness of Herceptin

Preliminary research suggests that a drug that targets a particular type of breast cancer might be more effective if patients are also given a substance made by the body that stimulates certain immune cells.

6 Aug 2006

Driver distraction causes one in five crashes

Results published in the new issue of international journal, Injury Prevention, show that driver distraction causes one in five crashes reported by drivers.

6 Aug 2006

Living by yourself helps create consumption crisis

One-person households are the biggest consumers of land, energy and household appliances in England and Wales, with men between the ages of 35 and 45 being the worst offenders, according to UCL (University College London) research.

4 Aug 2006

Researchers identify how molecules of microRNA are responsible for the growth of blood vessels in a model for human colon cancer

The process, called angiogenesis, results in ability of ravenous cancer cells to recruit blood vessels and receive a steady supply of nutrients and oxygen.

4 Aug 2006

Federally approved human embryonic stems inferior to those donated for research

Neural stem cells grown from one of the federally approved human embryonic stem cell lines proved to be inferior to neural stem cells derived from fetal tissue donated for research, a UCLA study has found.

4 Aug 2006

Researchers discover one of the malaria parasite's sneakiest tricks

Researchers have discovered one of the malaria parasite's sneakiest tricks--using dead liver cells to cloak and transport itself back into the bloodstream after leaving the liver.

4 Aug 2006

Turning the immune system against cancer

Medicine can now prevent a host of diseases with a mere shot of vaccine. Polio and smallpox are almost non-existent, and mumps and chicken pox are rarely seen nowadays.

4 Aug 2006

Methamphetamine increases production of protein that promotes the spread of the HIV-1 virus in infected drug users

Researchers at the University at Buffalo have presented the first evidence that the addictive drug methamphetamine, or meth, also commonly known as "speed" or "crystal," increases production of a docking protein that promotes the spread of the HIV-1 virus in infected users.

4 Aug 2006

High blood pressure induces low fat metabolism in heart muscle

Hearts of non-diabetics with muscle thickening due to high blood pressure have an energy metabolism skewed in the opposite direction -- away from the use of fat for energy.

4 Aug 2006

Researchers determine structure of an important smallpox virus enzyme and how it binds to DNA

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have determined the structure of an important smallpox virus enzyme and how it binds to DNA.

4 Aug 2006

How the body controls brain temperature: the temperature shielding effect of cerebral blood flow

Attempts to cool the brain to reduce injury from stroke and other head trauma may face a significant obstacle: current cooling devices can't penetrate very deeply into the brain.

4 Aug 2006

Transgenic goat's milk could help tackle children's intestinal disease

Milk produced by transgenic goats, which carry the gene for an antibacterial enzyme found in human breast milk, altered the intestinal bacteria in young goats and pigs that were fed the milk.

4 Aug 2006

New method to predict dementia risk

A team of researchers have developed a new method to predict dementia risk that could help to identify individuals who might benefit from intensive lifestyle consultations and drug interventions.

3 Aug 2006

Research ethics requirements compromising quality of health research

Current research ethics requirements are compromising the scientific quality of health research, warn senior doctors in this week's British Medical Journal.

3 Aug 2006

Genomic expansion and diversification in a African sleeping sickness parasite allow it to evade host detection

A team of scientists headed by Dr. Sara Melville at the University of Cambridge has shown that the parasite known to cause African sleeping sickness has evolved an unusual chromosomal structure as a result of environmental adaptation.

3 Aug 2006

BRIT1 gene plays a pivotal role in DNA damage detection and repair

A single gene plays a pivotal role launching two DNA damage detection and repair pathways in the human genome, suggesting that it functions as a previously unidentified tumor suppressor gene.

3 Aug 2006

Sleep apnea raises risk of ischemic stroke in elderly

Elderly people with severe sleep apnea have more than two times the risk of ischemic stroke than elderly people with no or mild apnea, according to research reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

3 Aug 2006

Structural alterations in breast stromal and epithelial DNA

Researchers have uncovered a pattern of DNA damage in connective tissues in the human breast that could shed light on the early stages of breast cancer.

3 Aug 2006

Better understanding of intravenous immunoglobulin

For years, researchers have struggled to understand how IVIG worked. It's ability to treat autoimmune diseases seemed to bean apparent contradiction.

3 Aug 2006

Diethanolamine found in shampoos may inhibit brain development

An ingredient found in many shampoos and other personal care products appears to interfere with normal brain development in baby mice when applied to the skin of pregnant mice, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers have discovered

3 Aug 2006