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Research shows promising results and points out new priorities for adult malnutrition in developing countries

While a great deal of research has been conducted on child and adult malnutrition in developing countries, there are only a handful of studies on adolescent malnutrition.

26 Jul 2006

Irradiation preserves T-Cell responses in bacterial vaccine

Findings could result in more potent vaccines that are relatively inexpensive to produce, easy to store, and that can be transported without refrigeration.

25 Jul 2006

How does the immune system isolate and destroy intruders?

Dendritic cells are the body's "watchdogs". They recognize and then degrade pathogens, isolating characteristic fragments that are recognized by the immune system thus triggering targeted responses.

25 Jul 2006

Major genetic breakthrough in understanding of Wolbachia infection

Scientists have made a major breakthrough in understanding the genetics of the insect parasite that is being targeted by researchers as a way of preventing the spread of malaria.

25 Jul 2006

Gas bubbles used to block oxygen flow to tumors and deliver drugs

The process of blocking blood flow to a tumor is called embolization, and using gas bubbles is a new technique in embolotherapy.

25 Jul 2006

Discovery could help identify genes that cause human heart defects

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a group of fruit fly gene mutations responsible for "broken hearts" in the embryonic stages of development, a discovery that could help identify genes that cause human heart defects.

25 Jul 2006

3D computer simulation to aid treatment of collapsed lungs

The treatment of premature babies and adults who suffer from Respiratory Distress Syndrome could be boosted by new research at The University of Manchester, as published in the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering.

From The University of Manchester 25 Jul 2006

Belfer Foundation funds new translational cancer institute

The Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Foundation has pledged $8 million to create the Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Institute of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

25 Jul 2006

Birch bark compound may be potent prostate cancer fighter

A compound found in the bark of the white birch tree - betulonic acid, a derivative of betulinol - may finally have been rendered a water-soluble, bio-available drug, and is already showing the potential to be a possible agent against prostate cancer - in cell culture and in an animal model.

25 Jul 2006

Basal tumours may originate from breast stem cells that have undergone genetic mishaps

Findings support previous speculation that breast stem cells, or very early descendents, are the cells from which basal tumours arise.

24 Jul 2006

Which came first, nucleic acids or proteins?

Which came first, nucleic acids or proteins? This question is molecular biology's version of the "chicken-or-the-egg" riddle.

24 Jul 2006

Usefulness of BMI is suspect

For years doctors have used the body mass index (BMI), a ratio of height and weight, to characterize the clinical weight status of their patients.

24 Jul 2006

Scientists slow vision loss with vitamin E, alpha-lipoic acid and other antioxidant chemicals

Scientists at Johns Hopkins have successfully blocked the advance of retinal degeneration in mice with a form of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) by treating them with vitamin E, alpha-lipoic acid and other antioxidant chemicals.

24 Jul 2006

Serotonin reciprocally regulates melanocortin neurons to modulate food intake

Some of the most important weight-loss drugs work by enhancing the effect of the brain chemical serotonin.

24 Jul 2006

Increasing deaths from opioid analgesics in the United States

Trends analysis of drug poisoning deaths has helped explain a national epidemic of overdose deaths in the USA that began in the 1990s, concludes Leonard Paulozzi and colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

24 Jul 2006

Genetic key to treating deadly fungal infections

University of Minnesota researchers have discovered how a prevalent fungal pathogen that causes 10,000 deaths per year in the United States overcomes the effects of antifungal drugs by duplicating a section of one of its chromosomes.

24 Jul 2006

New training technique is proving successful in helping excessive drinkers curb their alcohol abuse

Researchers funded by the Economic and Social Research Council have experimentally tested a computer-based training programme which helps abusive drinkers pay less attention to alcohol, feel more in control of their drinking and drink less.

24 Jul 2006

Healthcare providers react more positively to men than women who reveal they're gay

Men and people over 40 are much more likely to report positive experiences when they tell healthcare providers they are not heterosexual, according research in the latest UK-based Journal of Advanced Nursing.

24 Jul 2006

Researchers identify earliest neuron in the embryonic human cerebral cortex

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine and the University of Oxford have identified the very first neurons in what develops into the cerebral cortex, the part of the brain that makes humans human.

24 Jul 2006

Research simplifies diagnosis of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease

Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease is the most common hereditary disorder of the peripheral nervous system, leading to a weakening of the muscles in the lower legs, feet and hands as the nerves that run from the spinal cord to the muscles die off.

24 Jul 2006