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Horizon Discovery secures exclusive rights to human isogenic cell models

With the goal of developing new, more effective and personalized cancer treatments, Horizon Discovery, based in Cambridge, England, has secured from Case Western Reserve University exclusive rights to a panel of new human isogenic cell models developed by the laboratory of Zhenghe John Wang, assistant professor of genetics at the university's School of Medicine.

10 Dec 2010

Haitian cholera pathogen closely related to 'El Tor O1' variant from South Asia

Scientists from Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. and Harvard Medical School have successfully employed single molecule, real-time (SMRT™) DNA sequencing technology to rapidly characterize the pathogen responsible for the recent deadly cholera epidemic in Haiti. Published online Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the results provide the first whole genome sequence analysis and most detailed genetic profile to date of the Haitian Vibrio cholerae outbreak strain.

10 Dec 2010

Low phosphate diets may increase dialysis patients' risk of premature death

Doctors often ask kidney disease patients on dialysis to limit the amount of phosphate they consume in their diets, but this does not help prolong their lives, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology.

10 Dec 2010

New molecular tools show promise for cleansing brain of amyloid plaques

New molecular tools developed at the University of Michigan show promise for "cleansing" the brain of amyloid plaques, implicated in Alzheimer's disease.

10 Dec 2010

Researchers target MIC-1 protein to halt growth of melanoma tumors

Halting the growth of melanoma tumors by targeting the MIC-1 protein that promotes blood vessel development in tumors may lead to better treatment of this invasive and deadly cancer, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers in The Foreman Foundation Research Laboratory.

10 Dec 2010

Silencing the TLR4 gene can prevent cardiovascular disease in diabetic patients

Silencing the TLR4 gene can stop the process which may lead to cardiovascular disease in diabetic patients. Researchers demonstrated that TLR4 plays a critical role in hyperglycaemic cardiac apoptosis, and that silencing the gene using specific small interfering RNA can prevent it.

10 Dec 2010

Clearance of plaque-forming substance is impaired in Alzheimer's disease

"Clearance is impaired in Alzheimer's disease," says Randall Bateman, MD, assistant professor of neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

10 Dec 2010

Some key molecular events in immune system contribute to inflammatory bowel disease: Scientists

Scientists at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech have discovered some of the key molecular events in the immune system that contribute to inflammatory bowel disease. The results, which help researchers move one step further in their efforts to develop new drugs to treat inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases, are reported in the November 2010 edition of the journal Mucosal Immunology from the Nature Publishing Group.

10 Dec 2010

VCP gene causes some instances of familial ALS: Researchers

Using a new gene sequencing method, a team of researchers led by scientists from Johns Hopkins and the National Institutes of Health has discovered a gene that appears to cause some instances of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The finding could lead to novel ways to treat the more common form of this fatal neurodegenerative disease, which kills the vast majority of the nearly 6,000 Americans diagnosed with ALS every year.

10 Dec 2010

Hamilton Thorne launches new Stiletto laser for regenerative medicine and stem cell research markets

Hamilton Thorne Ltd., a leading provider of advanced laser systems for the regenerative medicine and stem cell research markets, today announced the launch of its new Stiletto™ laser system. The Stiletto™ laser system has broad applications for research with a variety of cells, allowing the Company to enter new and exciting research markets, including developmental and advanced cell biology.

9 Dec 2010

Scientists determine 500 three-dimensional protein structures from bacterial and protozoan pathogens

Scientists at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have reached a major milestone in the effort to wipe out some of the most lethal diseases on the planet.

9 Dec 2010

Is neuroimaging voodoo, new phrenology, or scientific breakthrough

Neuroimaging-is it voodoo, new phrenology, or scientific breakthrough? See what the experts have to say in this special section on fMRI in Perspectives on Psychological Science.

9 Dec 2010

Dogs help understand primary ciliary dyskinesia

A dog is mankind's best friend : the old saying has once again been borne out through a medical discovery concerning the genetic origins of primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD). In using dogs as a research model in the framework of the European LUPA project, a team from the University of Liège's GIGA-Research Unit has been able to bring to light new mutations in a specific gene responsible for the development of the disease in human beings.

9 Dec 2010

Firefly enzyme offers new medical imaging agent for blood clot detection

The enzyme that makes fireflies glow is lighting up the scientific path toward a long-sought new medical imaging agent to better monitor treatment with heparin, the blood thinner that millions of people take to prevent or treat blood clots, scientists are reporting. Their study appears in the ACS' monthly journal Bioconjugate Chemistry.

9 Dec 2010

Nitric oxide attacks key groups of proteins critical to cell survival

Nitric oxide is a toxic pollutant, but the human body also creates it and uses it to attack invading microbes and parasites. A new study by researchers at UC Davis, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) shows how nitric oxide, attacks an important group of proteins critical to cell survival.

9 Dec 2010

Research sheds new light on dopamine's role in brain's reward system

Researchers have shed new light on dopamine's role in the brain's reward system, which could provide insight into impulse control problems associated with addiction and a number of psychiatric disorders.

9 Dec 2010

EFSA publishes positive opinion on disease risk reduction health claim for oat beta-glucan

A scientific panel of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published its positive opinion on a disease risk reduction health claim dossier for oat beta-glucan on 8. December 2010, following an application from CreaNutrition AG submitted pursuant to Article 14 of the EC regulation on nutrition and health claims.

9 Dec 2010

Results of proteomics study performed utilizing plasma samples from ADNI now available

The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health's Biomarkers Consortium announced today that the results of a proteomics study performed utilizing plasma samples from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative are ready to be shared with scientists worldwide for further analysis.

9 Dec 2010

Excreted antibiotics become potential sources of antibiotic resistant genes

When an antibiotic is consumed, researchers have learned that up to 90 percent passes through a body without metabolizing. This means the drugs can leave the body almost intact through normal bodily functions.

9 Dec 2010

Researchers discover central switch that regulates movement of cancer cells

Researchers at the University of Georgia have discovered a central switch that controls whether cells move or remain stationary. The misregulation of this switch may play a role in the increased movement of tumor cells and in the aggressiveness of tumors themselves.

9 Dec 2010