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Different digestive tract bacteria helps infants digest milk more effectively than adults

Infants are more efficient at digesting and utilizing nutritional components of milk than adults due to a difference in the strains of bacteria that dominate their digestive tracts. Researchers from the University of California, Davis, and Utah State University report on genomic analysis of these strains in the November 2010 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology identifying the genes that are most likely responsible for this difference.

23 Nov 2010

Transparent develops new medium for Cell-able array kit to maintain metabolite activity

Transparent Inc. announced that it has developed a more advanced medium for Cell-able, a human hepatocyte array kit that has the potential to reduce drug development costs and time-to-market for pharmaceutical companies. Transparent first introduced Cell-able in the United States a year ago.

22 Nov 2010

State roundup: Calif. stem cell research; Mass. prisons change HIV medicine procedure; Native Americans' high suicide rates

When millionaire Silicon Valley real estate developer Bob Klein launched his ballot drive to create a $3-billion state fund for stem-cell research in 2004, he pitched it as a way of taking politics out of science and focusing on cures.

22 Nov 2010

FDA grants ACT clearance for Phase I/II clinical trial of hESC derived retinal cells in patients with SMD

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the Company's Investigational New Drug (IND) application to immediately initiate a Phase I/II multicenter clinical trial using retinal cells derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to treat patients with Stargardt's Macular Dystrophy (SMD), one of the most common forms of juvenile macular degeneration in the world. The decision removes the clinical hold that the FDA had placed on the trial.

22 Nov 2010

Variation at gene locus associated with greater reproductive success

Since 1871, when Charles Darwin wrote The Descent of Man, it has been widely accepted that "Variability is the necessary basis for the action of selection." Variability is associated with the ability to adapt, which is clearly beneficial at a species level. But there is increasing evidence that genetic variability may also give rise to advantages at the level of the individual.

22 Nov 2010

Researchers develop three-dimensional cancer cell from normal human tissue in culture dish

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have successfully transformed normal human tissue into three-dimensional cancers in a tissue culture dish for the first time. Watching how the cells behave as they divide and invade surrounding tissue will help physicians better understand how human cancers act in the body. The new technique also provides a way to quickly and cheaply test anti-cancer drugs without requiring laboratory animals.

22 Nov 2010

Racial and socioeconomic disparities exist in kidney transplantation

Research shows that people with low incomes are more likely to develop kidney failure and less likely to receive a living donor kidney transplant than people of other socioeconomic classes.

22 Nov 2010

Study finds common gene variant in African Americans increases risk of kidney disease

In African Americans with kidney disease related to hypertension (high blood pressure), a common gene variant is associated with a sharply increased risk of progressive kidney disease, according to a study presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 43rd Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition. End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) associated with hypertension occurs in the African American population at a rate 13.1 times greater than that of their white counterparts.

22 Nov 2010

Research indicates possible danger of cancerous tissue development by using stem cells

Research work carried out at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem arouses a cautionary warning in the growing field of the development of stem cells as a means for future treatment of patients through replacement of diseased or damaged tissues by using the patient's own stem cells. The research indicates a possible danger of cancerous tissue development in the use of such cells.

22 Nov 2010

SHARP study shows cholesterol-lowering effective for patients with kidney disease

Around a quarter of all heart attacks, strokes, and operations to open blocked arteries could be avoided in people with chronic kidney disease by using the combination of ezetimibe and simvastatin to lower blood cholesterol levels. That's the conclusion from the world's largest ever randomized trial in kidney disease.

22 Nov 2010

Researchers discover common genetic variants influence early puberty, body fat

Researchers at King's College London's Department of Twin Research have discovered, as part of a large international consortium, 30 new genes that control the age of sexual maturation in women, the Journal Nature Genetics publishes today.

22 Nov 2010

Researchers reconstitute first step of break repair in cancerous cells

What prompts normal cells to transform themselves into cancerous cells. Researchers from Texas institutions, including the UT Health Science Center San Antonio, have identified factors in the very first step of the process and reconstituted this first step in the test tube. The latter accomplishment was reported Sunday [Nov. 21] in the top-tier journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.

22 Nov 2010

Inexpensive intervention helps patients with hypertension-associated kidney disease

In patients with kidney disease, the Western diet produces an acidic environment in the body that has numerous negative effects and worsens with age as kidney function declines.

21 Nov 2010

Presence of albumin in urine predicts cognitive decline: Study

A new study has found that low amounts of albumin in the urine, at levels not traditionally considered clinically significant, strongly predict faster cognitive decline in older women.

21 Nov 2010

German researchers use binocular rivalry to interpret mechanism of brain functions

Researchers around Andreas Bartels at the Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neurosciences (CIN) and the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, Germany used this phenomenon to decipher a key mechanism of the brain functions that contributes to conscious visual perception.

20 Nov 2010

CSU invents artificial body parts that look, feel, behave, and bleed like real skin, muscles and vessels

In the last 50 years, modern medicine has made astounding advances in surgery, yet many of today's veterinary and human medicine students still hone basic surgical and suturing skills on carpet pads and pig's feet before transitioning to a live patient. An invention by Colorado State University veterinarians provides students with artificial body parts that look, feel, behave, and even bleed just like real skin, muscles and vessels.

20 Nov 2010

K.U.Leuven researchers receive ERC Advanced Grants

K.U.Leuven researchers Peter Carmeliet and Bart De Strooper have both been awarded Advanced Grants from the European Research Council. ERC Advanced Grants are the most prestigious European research grants, spanning a period of 5 years. Peter Carmeliet of the VIB Vesalius Research Centre, K.U.Leuven, will receive approximately 2.5 million euro for research focused on stopping the energy supply into blood vessels.

20 Nov 2010

Genetic differences impact winter vitamin D status

Vitamin D is somewhat of an unusual "vitamin," because it can be made in the body from sunlight and most foods do not contain vitamin D unless added by fortification. Synthesis of vitamin D in the body requires exposure to ultraviolet light and can be influenced by genetics, skin color, and sun exposure.

20 Nov 2010

Scientists discover Notch pathway may play a role in alcohol's protective effects

Many studies support the assertion that moderate drinking is beneficial when it comes to cardiovascular health, and for the first time scientists have discovered that a well-known molecule, called Notch, may be behind alcohol's protective effects. Down the road, this finding could help scientists create a new treatment for heart disease that mimics the beneficial influence of modest alcohol consumption.

20 Nov 2010

Study sheds light on poorly understood aspect of interaction of HIV with natural killer cells

Natural killer cells are major weapons in the body's immune system. They keep the body healthy by knocking off tumors and cells infected with viruses, bombarding them with tiny lethal pellets. But natural killer cells are powerless against HIV, a fact that has bedeviled science for over 20 years.

20 Nov 2010

Medical Science News

Different digestive tract bacteria helps infants digest milk more effectively than adults

Transparent develops new medium for Cell-able array kit to maintain metabolite activity

State roundup: Calif. stem cell research; Mass. prisons change HIV medicine procedure; Native Americans' high suicide rates

FDA grants ACT clearance for Phase I/II clinical trial of hESC derived retinal cells in patients with SMD

Variation at gene locus associated with greater reproductive success

Researchers develop three-dimensional cancer cell from normal human tissue in culture dish

Racial and socioeconomic disparities exist in kidney transplantation

Study finds common gene variant in African Americans increases risk of kidney disease

Research indicates possible danger of cancerous tissue development by using stem cells

SHARP study shows cholesterol-lowering effective for patients with kidney disease

Researchers discover common genetic variants influence early puberty, body fat

Researchers reconstitute first step of break repair in cancerous cells

Inexpensive intervention helps patients with hypertension-associated kidney disease

Presence of albumin in urine predicts cognitive decline: Study

German researchers use binocular rivalry to interpret mechanism of brain functions

CSU invents artificial body parts that look, feel, behave, and bleed like real skin, muscles and vessels

K.U.Leuven researchers receive ERC Advanced Grants

Genetic differences impact winter vitamin D status

Scientists discover Notch pathway may play a role in alcohol's protective effects

Study sheds light on poorly understood aspect of interaction of HIV with natural killer cells

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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