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Scientists establish a goal of creating vaccine gene chip to speed up vaccine testing

Testing the efficacy of vaccines in clinical trials takes years, even decades. Yet challenging infections like HIV, malaria and dengue are striking today. To speed up vaccine testing, scientists at the Emory Vaccine Center have established a goal of creating a "vaccine gene chip."

17 Dec 2013

Research findings point to possible new strategy for treating ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a devastating illness that gradually robs sufferers of muscle strength and eventually causes a lethal, full-body paralysis. The only drug available to treat the disease extends life spans by a meager three months on average.

17 Dec 2013

WSU researchers discover how Nipah virus employs burglary-ring-like teamwork to infiltrate human cell

A team of scientists from Washington State University has discovered how one of the planet's most deadly known viruses employs burglary-ring-like teamwork to infiltrate the human cell.

17 Dec 2013

New regulation for cancer-causing protein may help develop targeted therapies

Researchers with the Cincinnati Cancer Center (CCC) and the University of Cincinnati (UC) Cancer Institute have discovered a new regulation for the cancer-causing protein KRas which may help with the development of targeted therapies for patients with a KRas mutation.

17 Dec 2013

U-M researchers report novel approach for treating tinnitus in humans

For tens of millions of Americans, there's no such thing as the sound of silence. Instead, even in a quiet room, they hear a constant ringing, buzzing, hissing, humming or other noise in their ears that isn't real. Called tinnitus, it can be debilitating and life-altering.

17 Dec 2013

Researchers treat osteogeneis imperfecta babies in utero by injecting bone-forming stem cells

Osteogeneis imperfecta (OI) is a congenital bone disease that causes stunted growth and repeated, painful fracturing. Ultrasound scans can reveal fractures already in the fetus, and now an international team of researchers from Sweden, Singapore and Taiwan have treated two babies in utero by injecting bone-forming stem cells.

17 Dec 2013

Researchers discover that unresponsive patients' brains may recognize photographs of their family, friends

Patients in a vegetative state are awake, breathe on their own, and seem to go in and out of sleep. But they do not respond to what is happening around them and exhibit no signs of conscious awareness. With communication impossible, friends and family are left wondering if the patients even know they are there.

17 Dec 2013

Scientists continue work to end chemotherapy pain

With this year's $600,000 grant from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and $1.5 million grant from the NIH, a Saint Louis University investigator is continuing her work to end chemotherapy pain. Noted pain researcher Daniela Salvemini, Ph.D., is using the funding to capitalize on her recent finding published in Pain, a breakthrough that helps scientists understand a molecular pathway by which pain occurs with certain anti-cancer drugs.

17 Dec 2013

Research finds reduced allergy risk among children raised with dogs from birth

Children's risk for developing allergies and asthma is reduced when they are exposed in early infancy to a dog in the household, and now researchers have discovered a reason why.

17 Dec 2013

Researchers construct "golden trap" capable of capturing molecules

The method's high sensitivity lies in the customized environment for the substance of interest. Dresden's Adrian Keller and his colleagues have constructed a type of "golden trap" capable of capturing the molecules and thereby enabling their detection.

16 Dec 2013

Dermatologist offers 5 grooming essentials for men to make skin healthy and glow

If you're short on holiday gift ideas for men this season, consider a grooming product. Contrary to popular belief, a growing number of men are requesting recommendations for skincare products, says Natalie Semchyshyn, M.D., assistant professor of dermatology at Saint Louis University.

16 Dec 2013

Moderate consumption of alcohol can improve immune response to vaccination

It's the time of year when many of us celebrate the holidays with festive foods and drinks, including alcohol. No better time then to ask if it is true, as is widely held, that moderate consumption of alcohol is beneficial to health.

16 Dec 2013

Experimental drug that targets macrophages decreases cancer's growth

An experimental drug that targets macrophages, a type of immune cells, in the microenvironment surrounding the lethal brain tumor glioblastoma multiforme decreased the cancer's growth and extended survival of laboratory mice with the cancer, scientists will report on Tuesday Dec. 17, at the American Society for Cell Biology annual meeting in New Orleans.

16 Dec 2013

NTU researchers find way to block invasion of Malaria parasite in blood cells

Scientists from Singapore's Nanyang Technological University have discovered a key process during the invasion of the blood cell by the Malaria parasite, and more importantly, found a way to block this invasion.

16 Dec 2013

Findings could point the way to new vaccines to prevent Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The lung lesions in an individual infected with tuberculosis are surprisingly variable and independent of each other, despite whether the patient has clinically active or latent disease, according to a new animal study led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The findings, published online today in Nature Medicine, could point the way to new vaccines to prevent the hard-to-treat infection.

16 Dec 2013

Research suggests new way of treating asthma in obese people

Research conducted at Boston Children's Hospital indicates that obesity might cause asthma via factors in the immune system and suggests a new way of treating asthma in obese people—who often respond poorly to standard asthma medications. The study, conducted in a mouse model of asthma and in human lung fluid, was published online Dec. 15 by Nature Medicine.

16 Dec 2013

Study could lead towards a personalised medicine for chemoresistant lymphomata

To date, tests have only been carried out on cells, but a piece of research conducted by the Department of Genetics at the UPV/EHU's Faculty of Medicine in collaboration with MD Anderson and the CNIO is opening up the door for the treatment of lymphoma types that have a lower survival rate. The study of the molecular characteristics of the tumours would enable molecules that are altered in a specific way to be identified and turned into new therapeutic targets that would improve the prognosis of patients with chemoresistant lymphomata.

16 Dec 2013

Cancer cells that fuse with macrophages play key role in the spread of cancer

Cancer cells that spontaneously fuse with macrophages, the immune system's healthy scavenger cells, play a key role in the metastasis, or spread of the cancer to other areas of the body, according to research to be presented Sunday, Dec. 15, at the American Society for Cell Biology annual meeting in New Orleans.

16 Dec 2013

New approach for combating seasonal flu

Reducing glucose metabolism dials down influenza viral infection in laboratory cell cultures, providing an entirely new approach for combating seasonal flu, according to research that will be presented on Sunday, Dec. 15, at the American Society for Cell Biology annual meeting in New Orleans.

15 Dec 2013