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Bacteriophage combinations show therapeutic potential in reducing C. difficile infections

A new University of Leicester study has confirmed the therapeutic potential of bacteriophage combinations to treat highly infectious bacteria C. difficile infections (CDI) while retaining a healthy gut.

6 Jun 2016

Improved research tool may open door to effective HIV vaccine designs

Vaccines are usually medicine's best defense against the world's deadliest microbes. However, HIV is so mutable that it has so far effectively evaded both the human immune system and scientists' attempts to make an effective vaccine to protect against it.

6 Jun 2016

Research shows IFITM3 protein can block Zika virus from infecting human, mouse cells

Eight weeks after receiving their first samples of Zika virus, scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have shown that a very small protein we all have in our bodies, interferon-induced protein 3 (IFITM3), can dramatically reduce the ability of Zika virus to infect human and mouse cells.

6 Jun 2016

Study offers more insights into how sensory experiences shape brain development

Most people encounter most things by sensing them in multiple ways. As we hear the words people speak, we also see their lips move. We smell, see and hear the onions as we chop them -- and we feel them with teary eyes.

6 Jun 2016

New study finds alternative approaches to target proteins sustaining cancer, Alzheimer's disease

Drugs to treat cancer and Alzheimer's disease usually target the active sites of specific protein molecules sustaining the disease. Traditional drug design views proteins as rigid 3-D objects with active sites consisting of surface-accessible "pockets" with a specific, well-defined structure.

6 Jun 2016

Rare DNA alteration may increase rsk of multiple sclerosis

Scientists at the University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health have proven that multiple sclerosis (MS) can be caused by a single genetic mutation - a rare alteration in DNA that makes it very likely a person will develop the more devastating form of the neurological disease.

6 Jun 2016

Intellectually challenging job linked to better memory, cognitive functioning

Working in a more intellectually challenging job is associated with better memory and other aspects of cognitive functioning, reports a study in the June Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

6 Jun 2016

Study finds link between stress hormone and stage of schizophrenia

JCU Associate Professor Zoltan Sarnyai said it was the first meta-analysis study to compare the level of cortisol in a waking patient's body with the stage of schizophrenia they are suffering.

6 Jun 2016

Early social deprivation may lower DNA methylation within stress-related genes

New research suggests that early severe social deprivation may impact DNA modifications that affect the expression of stress-related genes. These nongenetic (or epigenetic) modifications occur when molecules called methyl groups are added to components of DNA.

6 Jun 2016

Experts highlight need for change in neuroscience training

Call them the Brain Generation -- the tens of thousands of college and graduate students working toward degrees in neuroscience, and the high school students who want to join them someday.

6 Jun 2016

Gene dysregulation makes immune therapies less effective against metastatic melanoma

Patients who don't respond to treatments that use their own immune cells to destroy tumors, called tumor infiltrating lymphocytes, share changes in mechanisms that switch genes on or off in those cells, according to study results presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology on June 4 in Chicago.

6 Jun 2016

Gene alterations in WNT pathway may increase CRC risk in younger patients

While increased screening continues to drive down overall colorectal cancer rates, the rate of colorectal cancer in patients under age 50 is increasing, and the disease is commonly more aggressive in these young patients.

6 Jun 2016

Misuse of anabolic steroids may increase heart problems in ARVC patients

Research has already shown that taking anabolic steroids is associated with high blood pressure and an increased risk of developing heart conditions such as left ventricular hypertrophy.

6 Jun 2016

Researchers prove existence of olfactory receptor in pigment-producing skin cells

Researchers at Ruhr-Universität Bochum were the first ones to prove the existence of an olfactory receptor in pigment-producing cells in human skin, the so-called melanocytes. The team headed by Prof Dr Dr Dr habil. Hanns Hatt demonstrated that the violet-like scent Beta-Ionone can activate the receptor.

4 Jun 2016

New understanding of established link between glucose and improved self-control

In the age of the 'sugar tax', good news about glucose is hard to come by. But an Australian scientist has just proposed a new understanding of the established link between the sweet stuff and improved self-control.

4 Jun 2016

Study provides insight to gene shuffling process

Use of a new technique developed at the Babraham Institute has allowed researchers to take an in-depth look at the gene shuffling process that is responsible for our body's ability to recognise a vast range of foreign agents such as disease-causing microorganisms.

4 Jun 2016

New research pinpoints specific lncRNA that regulates neural development

Compared to other mammals, humans have the largest cerebral cortex. A sheet of brain cells that folds in on itself multiple times in order to fit inside the skull, the cortex is the seat of higher functions. It is what enables us to process everything we see and hear and think.

4 Jun 2016

Mice study provides new insights into links between sensory stimuli and behavior

Many types of sensory information enter the brain at a structure called the primary sensory cortex, where they are processed by different layers of cells in ways that ultimately influence an animal's perception and behavioral response.

4 Jun 2016

UZH scientists identify new class of protein compounds to treat HER2-positive breast cancer

In Switzerland alone, more than 5,700 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, and almost 1,400 of those affected die of the disease. In many very invasive forms of breast cancer, the cells have too much of the receptor HER2 on their surface.

3 Jun 2016

New treatment shows promise against hard-to-treat eye cancer

Eye cancer took the life of author and neurologist Oliver Sacks last year, bringing attention to the rare and deadly disease. Scientists have tried to develop precision treatments against cancers like this one, but the mutations that cause them have proven difficult to block with drugs.

3 Jun 2016