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Drugs we release into the environment significantly affect plant growth, study reveals

The drugs we release into the environment are likely to have a significant impact on plant growth, a new study has revealed.

6 Dec 2014

Scientists suspect role of mini-chromosomes in cancers, diseases caused by gene mutations

Cancers are due to genetic aberrations in certain cells that gain the ability to divide indefinitely. This proliferation of sick cells generates tumors, which gradually invade healthy tissue. Therefore, current therapies essentially seek to destroy cancer cells to stop their proliferation. Through high-throughput genetic sequencing of glioblastoma cells, one of the most deadly brain tumors, a team of geneticists from the University of Geneva's (UNIGE) Faculty of Medicine discovered that some of these mutations are caused by supplemental extrachromosomal DNA fragments, called double minutes, which enable cancer cells to better adapt to their environment and therefore better resist to treatments meant to destroy them.

6 Dec 2014

Comb-shaped polymers efficiently protect proteins in vivo

An enzyme that usually triggers strong allergic reactions now circulates in the veins of a group of mice without alerting the immune system. As INRS Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications Research Centre Professor Marc A. Gauthier explains in an article published in the journal Nature Communications, a polymer was used to camouflage the enzyme before it was injected into the rodents. This was achieved by coating the enzyme to avoid an immune response in a manner that does not compromise its activity.

6 Dec 2014

Study suggests Golgi as potential drug target for Alzheimer's treatment

Alzheimer's disease (AD) progresses inside the brain in a rising storm of cellular chaos as deposits of the toxic protein, amyloid-beta (Aβ), overwhelm neurons. An apparent side effect of accumulating Aβ in neurons is the fragmentation of the Golgi apparatus, the part of the cell involved in packaging and sorting protein cargo including the precursor of Aβ. But is the destruction the Golgi a kind of collateral damage from the Aβ storm or is the loss of Golgi function itself part of the driving force behind Alzheimer's? This was the question for Yanzhuang Wang, Gunjan Joshi, and colleagues at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, as they set out to uncover the mechanism damaging the Golgi, using a transgenic mouse and tissue culture models of AD to look at what was going on.

6 Dec 2014

Genetics may play major role in Lou Gehrig's disease, study reveals

Genetics may play a larger role in causing Lou Gehrig's disease than previously believed, potentially accounting for more than one-third of all cases, according to one of the most comprehensive genetic studies to date of patients who suffer from the condition also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

6 Dec 2014

Research findings may lead to new ways to thwart drug resistance

Penicillin, the wonder drug discovered in 1928, works in ways that are still mysterious almost a century later. One of the oldest and most widely used antibiotics, it attacks enzymes that build the bacterial cell wall, a mesh that surrounds the bacterial membrane and gives the cells their integrity and shape. Once that wall is breached, bacteria die -- allowing us to recover from infection.

6 Dec 2014

Study sheds new light on well-known mechanism required for immune response

A new study published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America sheds new light on a well-known mechanism required for the immune response. Researchers at the IRCM, led by Tarik Möröy, PhD, identified a protein that controls the activity of the p53 tumour suppressor protein known as the "guardian of the genome".

6 Dec 2014

Researchers suggest new strategy to control cellular identity and fate

A team of scientists that included researchers from UCLA has discovered a novel mechanism of RNA regulation in embryonic stem cells. The findings are strong evidence that a specific chemical modification, or "tag," on RNA plays a key role in determining the ability of embryonic stem cells to adopt different cellular identities.

6 Dec 2014

Researchers identify important neural mechanism responsible for certain chronic pain disorders

Pain typically has a clear cause-but not always. When a person touches something hot or bumps into a sharp object, it's no surprise that it hurts. But for people with certain chronic pain disorders, including fibromyalgia and phantom limb pain, a gentle caress can result in agony.

6 Dec 2014

University of Miami researcher reveals association between 'salience processing' and brain disorders

How does the brain determine what matters? According to a new scientific article, a brain structure called the insula is essential for selecting things out of the environment that are "salient" for an individual, and dysfunction of this system is linked to brain disorders such as autism, psychosis and dementia.

5 Dec 2014

Cellular Research announces commercial availability of Precise targeted RNASeq assays

Cellular Research today announced the commercial launch of its Precise targeted RNASeq assays. The company also announced the commercial availability of application-focused panels for the Precise assays, including panels designed for oncology, induced pluripotent stem cells and immunology.

5 Dec 2014

Abstinence-induced changes in the brain could help predict relapse in smokers

Quitting smoking sets off a series of changes in the brain that Penn Medicine researchers say may better identify smokers who will start smoking again—a prediction that goes above and beyond today's clinical or behavioral tools for assessing relapse risk.

5 Dec 2014

Researchers discover essential role of intestinal immune system in controlling energy metabolism

A group of UCL researchers (Louvain Drug Research Institute) identified an unsuspected mechanism impacting the development of obesity and diabetes type 2 after following a diet with a high dose of fat nutrition.

5 Dec 2014

Most parents interested in newborn genomic testing, study reveals

A study published this week in Genetics in Medicine is the first to explore new parents' attitudes toward newborn genomic testing. The findings suggest that if newborn genomic testing becomes available, there would be robust interest among new parents, regardless of their demographic background.

5 Dec 2014

Growth genes seem different in Hunger Winter children

Individuals conceived in the severe Dutch Famine, also called the Hunger Winter, may have adjusted to this horrendous period of World War II by making adaptations to how active their DNA is. Genes involved in growth and development were differentially regulated, according to researchers at the Leiden University Medical Center, Harvard University, and Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

5 Dec 2014

Hormone leptin increases blood pressure that occurs with weight gain

Leptin, a hormone that regulates the amount of fat stored in the body, also drives the increase in blood pressure that occurs with weight gain, according to researchers from Monash University and the University of Cambridge.

5 Dec 2014

Scientists seek to improve stem cell transplant outcomes using DNA sequencing, mathematical modeling

Is the human immune system similar to the weather, a seemingly random yet dynamical system that can be modeled based on past conditions to predict future states? Scientists at VCU Massey Cancer Center's award-winning Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) Program believe it is, and they recently published several studies that support the possibility of using next-generation DNA sequencing and mathematical modeling to not only understand the variability observed in clinical outcomes of stem cell transplantation, but also to provide a theoretical framework to make transplantation a possibility for more patients who do not have a related donor.

5 Dec 2014

Medical Science News

Drugs we release into the environment significantly affect plant growth, study reveals

Scientists suspect role of mini-chromosomes in cancers, diseases caused by gene mutations

Comb-shaped polymers efficiently protect proteins in vivo

Study suggests Golgi as potential drug target for Alzheimer's treatment

Genetics may play major role in Lou Gehrig's disease, study reveals

Research findings may lead to new ways to thwart drug resistance

Study sheds new light on well-known mechanism required for immune response

Researchers suggest new strategy to control cellular identity and fate

Researchers identify important neural mechanism responsible for certain chronic pain disorders

University of Miami researcher reveals association between 'salience processing' and brain disorders

Cellular Research announces commercial availability of Precise targeted RNASeq assays

Abstinence-induced changes in the brain could help predict relapse in smokers

Researchers discover essential role of intestinal immune system in controlling energy metabolism

Most parents interested in newborn genomic testing, study reveals

Growth genes seem different in Hunger Winter children

Hormone leptin increases blood pressure that occurs with weight gain

Scientists seek to improve stem cell transplant outcomes using DNA sequencing, mathematical modeling

Scientists uphold mouse model of human disease, but pinpoint vital differences in gene expression

Research to Prevent Blindness, IRRF partner to advance knowledge about AMD

TSRI scientists identify 'mechanoreceptor' protein that mediates sense of touch in mammals

Real-time Raman monitoring for pharmaceutical hot melt extrusion

Synthetic Psychedelics: A Growing Public Health Concern

How the Vutara VXL simplifies single-molecule imaging

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