Medical Science News

RSS

Tweaking gene in satellite cells may increase lifespan of people with muscular dystrophy

Researchers have long questioned why patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) tend to manage well through childhood and adolescence, yet succumb to their disease in early adulthood, or why elderly people who lose muscle strength following bed rest find it difficult or impossible to regain.

18 Apr 2011

Scientists identify networks of genes critical in embryonic-heart development

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have identified networks of genes that play an important role in embryonic-heart development, advancing knowledge of how healthy hearts develop-and offering clues about how to combat a common birth defect known as congenital heart disease.

18 Apr 2011

First ever genome scan for womb cancer reveals genetic region that reduces risk of the disease

Scientists have carried out the first ever genome scan for womb cancer and discovered a genetic region that reduces risk of the disease, according to a study published in Nature Genetics.

18 Apr 2011

Novel lifestyle program may slow loss of brain cells due to aging and also grow new cells

In March, more than 80 residents at Emeritus at Ocoee, an assisted living and memory care community in Central Florida, began a new and highly promising research-based Brain Health Lifestyle Program which was designed to not only slow the loss of brain cells due to aging, but also grow new cells.

18 Apr 2011

Ahram Biosystems launches portable Palm PCR thermocycler system

Ahram Biosystems, Inc., a leading innovator of new life science tools, today announced the launch of the Palm PCR system, an innovative portable PCR device that delivers high performance nucleic acid amplification in a small handheld format.

18 Apr 2011

Intellectual disability may have genetic origin, but is not hereditary

Mutations in a group of genes associated with brain activity frequently cause intellectual disability, according to a study led by scientists affiliated with the University of Montreal and the research centre at the Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine. Intellectual disability is a severe handicap that affects between one and two percent of children worldwide. It can often be attributed to genetic causes, but the specific genes involved were mostly unknown.

18 Apr 2011

Idera's gene-silencing oligonucleotide studies published in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the online publication in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry of its studies of a novel class of compounds, which we refer to as gene-silencing oligonucleotides.

18 Apr 2011

Study: Borna disease virus does not contain exact copies of genomic RNAs

Like bacteria, viruses have their own genome. The ends or termini of a viral RNA are especially interesting for virologists because they play an important role in reproduction and in the reaction of the innate immune system to the virus.

18 Apr 2011

Parents may chose predictive genetic tests for their children

Parents offered genetic testing to predict their risks of common, adult-onset health conditions say they would also test their children. That is the finding of a new study published in the May issue of Pediatrics.

18 Apr 2011

Scientists develop new compound for multiple sclerosis treatment

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have developed the first of a new class of highly selective compounds that effectively suppresses the severity of multiple sclerosis in animal models.

18 Apr 2011

Scientists create hollow nanofiber spheres for tissue repair

For the first time, scientists have made star-shaped, biodegradable polymers that can self-assemble into hollow, nanofiber spheres, and when the spheres are injected with cells into wounds, these spheres biodegrade, but the cells live on to form new tissue.

18 Apr 2011

Researchers discover strategy that promotes new blood vessel formation

Researchers at The University of Western Ontario have discovered a strategy for stimulating the formation of highly functional new blood vessels in tissues that are starved of oxygen. Dr. Geoffrey Pickering and Matthew Frontini at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry developed a strategy in which a biological factor, called fibroblast growth factor 9, is delivered at the same time that the body is making its own effort at forming new blood vessels in vulnerable or damaged tissue.

18 Apr 2011

Scientist discovers new molecular mechanism underlying asthma, COPD

Michael Croft, Ph.D., a researcher at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology, has discovered a molecule's previously unknown role as a major trigger for airway remodeling, which impairs lung function, making the molecule a promising therapeutic target for chronic asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and several other lung conditions.

18 Apr 2011

Person's inability to understand sarcasm and lies can be a warning sign of dementia

By asking a group of older adults to analyze videos of other people conversing -- some talking truthfully, some insincerely -- a group of scientists at the University of California, San Francisco has determined which areas of the brain govern a person's ability to detect sarcasm and lies.

16 Apr 2011

WHO will assist Indian officials in exploring threat of NDM-1 in water supply

The WHO has said it will assist government officials evaluating whether the presence of bacteria containing the NDM-1 gene in the water supply in New Delhi poses health risks, Agence France-Presse reports. The announcement comes after the Lancet last week published a report that bacteria carrying NDM-1, a gene that enables resistance to a variety of antibiotics, "was found in 51 out of 171 New Delhi samples taken from water pools and two out of 50 tap water samples," the news service writes.

16 Apr 2011

Team of researchers study development of mesoderm

During the development of an embryo, a large number of different, specialised cell-types arise from the fertilised egg. The genetic information is identical in all cells of an organism. Different properties of cells arise because the activity of genes is controlled and regulated by so called transcription factors. By switching genes on or off, the body makes muscle cells, bone cells, liver cells and many more.

16 Apr 2011

Scientists discover new clues about mechanism behind losartan drug's protective effects

The Johns Hopkins researchers who first showed that the commonly used blood pressure drug losartan may help prevent life-threatening aneurysms of the aorta in patients with Marfan syndrome have now discovered new clues about the precise mechanism behind the drug's protective effects.

16 Apr 2011

Policy paper intendeds to start debate about nature of informed consent in DNA-related research

Healthy people who contribute DNA samples for medical research see their relationship with researchers as sharing a trade secret, rather than participation in traditional medical research, according to a new study.

16 Apr 2011

Neural dysfunction underlying impulsive choice increases with AD severity: Study

Researchers already know that alcohol dependence is strongly associated with impaired impulse control or, more precisely, the inability to choose large, delayed rewards rather than smaller but more immediate rewards.

16 Apr 2011

NVP-BEZ235 inhibits growth of ovarian cancer cells, increases survival: Study

An experimental drug that blocks two points of a crucial cancer cell signaling pathway inhibits the growth of ovarian cancer cells and significantly increases survival in an ovarian cancer mouse model, a study at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has found.

16 Apr 2011

Medical Science News

Tweaking gene in satellite cells may increase lifespan of people with muscular dystrophy

Scientists identify networks of genes critical in embryonic-heart development

First ever genome scan for womb cancer reveals genetic region that reduces risk of the disease

Novel lifestyle program may slow loss of brain cells due to aging and also grow new cells

Ahram Biosystems launches portable Palm PCR thermocycler system

Intellectual disability may have genetic origin, but is not hereditary

Idera's gene-silencing oligonucleotide studies published in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry

Study: Borna disease virus does not contain exact copies of genomic RNAs

Parents may chose predictive genetic tests for their children

Scientists develop new compound for multiple sclerosis treatment

Scientists create hollow nanofiber spheres for tissue repair

Researchers discover strategy that promotes new blood vessel formation

Scientist discovers new molecular mechanism underlying asthma, COPD

Person's inability to understand sarcasm and lies can be a warning sign of dementia

WHO will assist Indian officials in exploring threat of NDM-1 in water supply

Team of researchers study development of mesoderm

Scientists discover new clues about mechanism behind losartan drug's protective effects

Policy paper intendeds to start debate about nature of informed consent in DNA-related research

Neural dysfunction underlying impulsive choice increases with AD severity: Study

NVP-BEZ235 inhibits growth of ovarian cancer cells, increases survival: Study

Real-time Raman monitoring for pharmaceutical hot melt extrusion

Synthetic Psychedelics: A Growing Public Health Concern

How the Vutara VXL simplifies single-molecule imaging

Latest News