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Cannabis compounds trigger immune cells that promote cancer growth

An international team of immunologists studying the effects of cannabis have discovered how smoking marijuana can trigger a suppression of the body's immune functions. The research, published in the European Journal of Immunology, reveals why cannabis users are more susceptible to certain types of cancers and infections.

25 Nov 2010

Embryonic stem cell research has not made good on taxpayer investment

In 2004 Robert Klein, chairman of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), helped pass Proposition 71, establishing the CIRM with a state taxpayer-funded $3 billion budget for ten years. The measure was passed with promises of affordable cures for virtually all diseases, cures specifically from embryonic stem cells and cloning, as well as tremendous financial payback for the citizens of California. The Los Angeles Times recently noted that Klein plans to seek up to $3 billion more from state taxpayers for his stem cell fiefdom.

25 Nov 2010

Tension-dependent stabilization helps chromosome separation machinery

Scientists have discovered an amazingly simple way that cells stabilize their machinery for forcing apart chromosomes. Their findings are reported Nov. 25 in Nature.

25 Nov 2010

Brain sees same face as male or female depending on field of view

Neuroscientists at MIT and Harvard have made the surprising discovery that the brain sees some faces as male when they appear in one area of a person's field of view, but female when they appear in a different location.

25 Nov 2010

Response to PLX4032 drug short lived in BRAF-mutated metastatic melanoma patients

Researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have found that melanoma patients whose cancers are caused by mutation of the BRAF gene become resistant to a promising targeted treatment through another genetic mutation or the overexpression of a cell surface protein, both driving survival of the cancer and accounting for relapse.

25 Nov 2010

Scientists reveal long-standing mystery about HIV infection

Scientists at Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology have solved a long-standing mystery about HIV infection-namely how HIV promotes the death of CD4 T cells.

25 Nov 2010

Researchers discover cells’ response to sour tastes

This Thanksgiving, when you bite into the cranberry sauce and the tartness smacks your tongue as hard as that snide comment from your sister, consider the power of sour. Neurobiology researchers at the University of Southern California have made a surprising discovery about how some cells respond to sour tastes.

25 Nov 2010

Chronic high fat cholesterol diet may lead to Alzheimer's disease

Research from the Laboratory of Psychiatry and Experimental Alzheimers Research at the Medical University Innsbruck (Austria) demonstrated that chronic high fat cholesterol diet in rats exhibited pathologies similar to Alzheimer's disease. The results were published in Molecular Cellular Neuroscience with lead author Dr. Christian Humpel. The study was co-authored by PhD students, Celine Ullrich and Michael Pirchl, from the same Laboratory.

24 Nov 2010

Discovery may lead to new generation of drugs to minimize heart attack risk

An international team led by researchers from the Universities of Leicester and Cambridge has announced a breakthrough in identifying people at risk of developing potentially fatal blood clots that can lead to heart attack.

24 Nov 2010

Diabetes drug may counteract against Alzheimer's disease: Research

Metformin, a drug used in type 2-diabetes might have the potential to also act against Alzheimer's disease. This has been shown in a study from scientists of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), the University of Dundee and the Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics.

24 Nov 2010

Elsevier to host 9th Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium

Elsevier, the leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced that the 9th Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium has been confirmed, taking place in Kyoto, Japan on 4-8 September 2011.

24 Nov 2010

Cord Blood America shares web site post on Thanksgiving Day

On this day before Thanksgiving, a day when our entire nation gives thanks for its blessing, Cord Blood America, Inc., the umbilical cord blood stem cell preservation company focused on bringing the life saving potential of stem cells to families nationwide and internationally, would like to share with its investors a post from its web site by Dr. Geoffrey O'Neill, CBAI Vice President, Operations.

24 Nov 2010

Plant-derived bioscavenger protects against pesticide and nerve agent organophosphate poisoning

The brain is forever chattering to itself, via electrical impulses sent along its hard-wired neuronal "Ethernet." These e-messages are translated into chemical transmissions, allowing communication across the narrow cleft separating one neuron from another or between neurons and their target cells. Of the many kinds of molecules involved in this lively chemical symposium, acetylcholine is among the most critical, performing a host of functions in the central and peripheral nervous system.

24 Nov 2010

Ziconotide could promote suicidal tendencies in vulnerable patients: Research

The active agent ziconotide, the synthetic toxin of the cone snail (Conus magus), was acclaimed a safe alternative to morphine when it was introduced six years ago. Now it is increasingly suspected of causing patients to commit suicide.

24 Nov 2010

Study finds solution for debate about mutation testing to prevent children with cystic fibrosis

Testing for genetic mutations beyond those medically recommended is unlikely to prevent the birth of children with classic cystic fibrosis and may detect mutations causing only mild disease, according to a study published online in Genetics in Medicine, the official publication of the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG).

From Quest Diagnostics 24 Nov 2010

Blocking miR-375 microRNA in ERalha-positive breast cancer cells slows down cancer cell growth

Two thirds of breast cancers are ERalpha-positive, i.e., many estrogen receptors of the ERalpha- type are found in their cells. "These molecules can interact with the estrogen hormone and, thus, even lead to cancer," explains Dr. Joerg Hoheisel; molecular biologist at DKFZ. "The connection between the levels of the estrogen receptor alpha and the occurrence of breast cancer has been known for some time now.

24 Nov 2010

Bacterial study confirms TLR2 signaling vital for activating human airway epithelial cells

Researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have demonstrated that commensal species of the genus Neisseriae are low inducers of human airway epithelial cell responses as compared to the pathogenic species.

24 Nov 2010

NIH expands genetic and clinical research database to provide access to digital study images

The National Institutes of Health has expanded a genetic and clinical research database to give researchers access to the first digital study images.

24 Nov 2010

Software that simulates blood flow receives George Bell Prize for world's fastest supercomputing application

Researchers at New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences have received the George Bell Prize, given to the world's fastest supercomputing application, for creating software that simulates blood flow. The award, which includes a cash prize of $10,000 and is given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), is shared with researchers at Georgia Tech and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

24 Nov 2010

DFG announces establishment of eleven new Collaborative Research Centres

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) will establish eleven new Collaborative Research Centres (CRC) as of 1 January 2011. This decision was made recently by the responsible Grants Committee at its autumn meeting in Bonn. The new CRCs will receive a total of - 94.4 million (including a 20 percent programme allowance for indirect project costs) for an initial funding period of four years.

24 Nov 2010