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UTMB: Mother's exposure to BPA increases risks of asthma in her children

For years, scientists have warned of the possible negative health effects of bisphenol A, a chemical used to make everything from plastic water bottles and food packaging to sunglasses and CDs.

4 Feb 2010

Canadian Institutes of Health Research awards $2.3M for study on integrative biology of inflammatory diseases

A research team led by Dr. John D. Rioux, a researcher at the Montreal Heart Institute (MHI) and professor in the faculty of medicine at the Université de Montréal, has been awarded a grant of more than $2.3 million to finance a major research project on the integrative biology of inflammatory diseases. From among the roughly 70 applications submitted, Dr. Rioux's team is one of six selected by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to receive the Emerging Team Grant - From Genes to Proteins, Cells, Tissues and Patients.

4 Feb 2010

Prolactin reduces the levels of BCL6 protein and prevents aggressive breast cancer

Researchers from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson have found a mechanism by which a hormone responsible for milk production blocks an oncogene that makes breast cancer more aggressive.

4 Feb 2010

Sudden infant death syndrome linked to low serotonin levels

Taking the next step in more than 20 years of research, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have linked sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) with low production of serotonin in the brainstem, based on a comparison of brainstem samples from infants dying of SIDS compared to brainstems of infants dying from other, known causes.

4 Feb 2010

Findings provide potential new targets to combat malaria

Yale University researchers have found more than two dozen scent receptors in malaria-transmitting mosquitoes that detect compounds in human sweat, a finding that may help scientists to develop new ways to combat a disease that kills 1 million people annually.

4 Feb 2010

Researchers discover anomalies that cause lack of motivation in ADHD children

Until now, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was related to alterations in the brain affecting attention and cognitive processes. Researchers at Universitat Aut-noma de Barcelona and the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital for the first time have discovered anomalies in the brain's reward system related to the neural circuits of motivation and gratification.

3 Feb 2010

BRAF drugs may accelerate tumour growth in cancer patients with faulty RAS gene

A team of UK scientists has made the unexpected discovery that drugs which target a well known fault in a protein called BRAF could actually fuel the progression of cancer in some cases. The findings of this study, which was jointly funded by Cancer Research UK, The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and the Wellcome Trust are published in Cell.

3 Feb 2010

New study to investigate preventative programmes for anaemia control in young women

A new study led by LSTM will investigate whether long-term weekly iron and folic acid supplementation can reduce anaemia without increasing the risk of contracting malaria.

3 Feb 2010

Dopamine plays a critical role in behavioral processes

People have typically viewed the benefits that accrue with social status primarily from the perspective of external rewards. A new paper in the February 1st issue of Biological Psychiatry, published by Elsevier suggests that there are internal rewards as well.

3 Feb 2010

Bionanomotors can be used some day to move and manipulate molecules at nanoscale

A group of Marshall University researchers and their colleagues in Japan are conducting research that may lead to new ways to move or position single molecules-a necessary step if man someday hopes to build molecular machines or other devices capable of working at very small scales.

3 Feb 2010

Gene variants protect sexually-abused victims from alcohol dependence, says study

Exposure to severe stress early in life increases the risk of alcohol and drug addiction. Yet surprisingly, some adults sexually abused as children - and therefore at high risk for alcohol problems - carry gene variants that protect them from heavy drinking and its effects, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

3 Feb 2010

Iodoprovidone exhibits safety and efficiency in management of malignant pleural effusion

In the USA each year, 200,000 cancer patients suffer from a malignant pleural effusion - development of excessive fluid (pleural effusion) in the chest. Several litres of such fluid can accumulate, and many patients suffer from significant breathlessness and distress. One in four patients with lung cancer, one in every three with breast cancer and most of the patients with mesothelioma will develop a malignant effusion.

3 Feb 2010

Maximizing quality in clinical trials is emphasized at community workshop

A community workshop sponsored by SNM's Clinical Trials Network (CTN) officially kicked off on Feb. 1, in Albuquerque, N.M., and presented participants with a series of educational sessions on the use of molecular imaging in clinical trials for investigational therapeutic drugs.

3 Feb 2010

New 3D scaffold for stem cell renewal

Medical researchers were shocked to discover that virtually all human embryonic stem cell lines being used in 2005 were contaminated. Animal byproducts used to line Petri dishes had left traces on the human cells. If those cells had been implanted in a human body they likely would have been rejected by the patient's immune system.

3 Feb 2010

Research opens new avenues for understanding genetic basis of type 2 diabetes

Together with colleagues in Barcelona, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have generated a complete map of the areas of the genome that control which genes are "turned on" or "off."

3 Feb 2010

TGen, Horizon Discovery partner in development of novel cancer cell-lines

The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Horizon Discovery today announced plans to develop human disease models for use in TGen's cancer research.

3 Feb 2010

SNM's Nanomedicine and Molecular Imaging Summit examines the use of nanoparticles

SNM's Nanomedicine and Molecular Imaging Summit wrapped up today in Albuquerque, N.M., with in-depth discussion-and a high sense of energy looking ahead.

3 Feb 2010

Nanotope’s bioactive nanofiber system promotes cartilage regeneration

Arrowhead Research Corporation today announced publication in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) of a study using Nanotope’s lead compound for cartilage regeneration. The study’s authors, which include Nanotope co-founder Dr. Samuel Stupp, showed that Nanotope’s bioactive nanofiber system promotes the growth of new cartilage in a rabbit model. The treatment is engineered to repair cartilage defects by working with an animal’s own bone marrow stem cells to stimulate the production of new natural cartilage.

3 Feb 2010

Baker's yeast promising against cancer

A researcher at Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science is investigating the potential use of non-pathogenic baker's yeast as a promising, natural therapy for cancer.

3 Feb 2010

NanoBio awarded sixth U.S. patent covering its novel nanoemulsion technology

NanoBio Corporation announced today that a sixth U.S. patent covering its novel nanoemulsion technology has been awarded. The patent encompasses composition of matter claims for the company’s lead anti-infective and vaccine product candidates.

3 Feb 2010