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New cardiac genetic testing guidelines for health care professionals

An international panel of experts from The Heart Rhythm Society and the European Heart Rhythm Association issued new guideline recommendations for all health care professionals about cardiovascular genetic testing at the Heart Rhythm Society's 32nd Annual Scientific Sessions.

7 May 2011

Researchers use virtual computer model to understand schizophrenic brains

Computer networks that can't forget fast enough can show symptoms of a kind of virtual schizophrenia, giving researchers further clues to the inner workings of schizophrenic brains, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and Yale University have found.

6 May 2011

Study offers means of activating T cells to fight disease without antigenic triggers

For much of the time our T cells-the white blood cells that act as the police of the immune system-are in what immunologists call a "quiescent state," a sort of standby mode. For years, scientists have wondered if quiescence occurred by default or whether T cells need to work at remaining silent.

6 May 2011

Inhalation therapy might halt and reverse progression of pulmonary arterial hypertension

Patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension struggle with severe symptoms, which include shortness of breath, exhaustion and a lack of vitality. Moreover, the disease, which is more common in women, often claims the patient's life within a few years of its development.

6 May 2011

DiagnoCure to showcase Previstage GCC Colorectal Cancer Staging Test at ASCRS meeting

DiagnoCure, Inc., a life sciences company commercializing high‐value cancer diagnostic tests and delivering laboratory services, today reported that its PrevistageTM GCC Colorectal Cancer Staging Test will be featured at the annual meeting of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons to be held in Vancouver, Canada, from May 15 to 17, 2011, with 3,000 expected attendees.

6 May 2011

H. pylori DNA may help treat severe colitis

DNA from Helicobacter pylori, a common stomach bacteria, minimizes the effects of colitis in mice, according to a new study by University of Michigan Medical School scientists.

6 May 2011

$University of Oregon physicist to design fractal vision devices$

University of Oregon physicist to design fractal vision devices

University of Oregon researcher Richard Taylor is on a quest to grow flowers that will help people who've lost their sight, such as those suffering from macular degeneration, to see again.

6 May 2011

UT Southwestern researcher measures estrogen's effect on breast cancer cells

A UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher has identified the most comprehensive measurement to date of estrogen's effect on breast cancer cells, showing for the first time how immediate and extensive the effect is.

6 May 2011

Six1 transcription factor an essential regulator in development of embryonic lung epithelial stem cells

Scientists at The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles have provided the first evidence that Six1 transcription factor is an essential regulator in the development of embryonic lung epithelial stem cells.

6 May 2011

Novel neurotransmitter could fight against neurological diseases

A team of scientists has discovered that D-aspartic acid is a novel neurotransmitter that could potentially be used in the fight against neurological diseases such as Parkinson's and schizophrenia.

6 May 2011

Scientists use new technologies to identify genetic cause of Kufs disease

Scientists from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and the University of Melbourne have used innovative new technologies to identify the gene responsible for a rare but fatal hereditary brain disorder. The discovery will make it possible to diagnose the disease through a blood test rather than a brain biopsy.

6 May 2011

Research: Certain brain region may play a key role in gambling behavior

When a group of gamblers gather around a roulette table, individual players are likely to have different reasons for betting on certain numbers. Some may play a "lucky" number that has given them positive results in the past-a strategy called reinforcement learning.

6 May 2011

'Bad cholesterol' needed to gain more muscle mass

The so-called "bad cholesterol" - low-density lipoprotein commonly called LDL - may not be so bad after all, shows a Texas A&M University study that casts new light on the cholesterol debate, particularly among adults who exercise.

6 May 2011

Neutralizing antibodies generated by immunization associated with protection against SIV infection

Using a monkey model of AIDS, scientists have identified a vaccine-generated immune-system response that correlates with protection against infection by the monkey version of HIV, called simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). The researchers found that neutralizing antibodies generated by immunization were associated with protection against SIV infection.

6 May 2011

Omeros' PDE7 program expands addiction franchise

Omeros Corporation today announced that its phosphodiesterase 7 inhibitors demonstrated robust efficacy in animal models of nicotine addiction.

6 May 2011

Targeting Aurora A gene could halt rhabdoid tumor growth in children

There are no effective treatments for rhabdoid tumors - aggressive childhood cancers that usually strike children under three years old and affect the brain or kidneys. The disease is extremely rare - fewer than 10 cases are diagnosed each year in the U.S. - but is particularly difficult to treat and almost always fatal.

6 May 2011

Scripps Research receives CIRM grant for new research in stem cell biology and disease origins

Stem cells have huge potential in medicine because they have the ability to change or differentiate into many different cell types potentially providing a source of cells to replace those that have been permanently lost by a patient.

6 May 2011

Researchers solve mysteries of chikungunya's emergence in Asia

What causes a virus to suddenly begin infecting large numbers of people? Scientists have long known that the process they call "viral emergence" involves a wide variety of factors. Some are changes in the environment, either generated by natural causes or human activity. Others are internal, arising from accidental changes - mutations -in the virus' genetic code.

6 May 2011

Short courses of antibiotics safer for children with respiratory infections on ventilators

Short courses of antibiotics appear just as effective as longer ones - and a great deal safer - in treating respiratory infections that might cause pneumonia in children on temporary breathing devices, according to a Johns Hopkins Children's Center study published online May 3 in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

6 May 2011

COIN hosts nanobiotechnology event on nanomedicines and the regulatory path

The Center of Innovation for Nanobiotechnology (COIN) today announced the upcoming NanoBio Executive Roundtable event to be hosted at RTP Foundation in Durham, NC on May 17, 2011. This Roundtable will tackle regulatory issues surrounding nanomedicine commercialization. The “Nanomedicines and the Regulatory Path” Roundtable will kick off with a presentation from Katherine Tyner, Ph.D., a Chemist in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

5 May 2011