Immunology News and Research

Latest Immunology News and Research

Circadian rhythms and genetics

New research from Colorado State University shows that the function of all genes in mammals is based on circadian -- or daily -- rhythms. The study, publishing in PLoS Computational Biology on June 15, refutes the current theory that only 10 percent to 15 percent of all genes were affected by nature's clock.

18 Jun 2007

Researchers identify potential role for retinoic acid in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases

An important finding, which could eventually lead to a new therapeutic approach for treating autoimmune and inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, colitis, psoriasis and others, was announced by researchers at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology (LIAI).

17 Jun 2007

Herpes virus hijacks DNA repair process

Scientists probing the details of viral infection have discovered an intriguing surprise: in mice, herpes viruses hijack their host cells' tools for fixing DNA damage and use those tools to enhance their own reproduction.

17 Jun 2007

Drug resistance of parasite which causes river blindness could lead to breakouts of the disease

Development of drug resistance in the parasite which causes river blindness could lead to breakouts of the disease in communities where it has been brought under control, conclude authors of an article in The Lancet.

17 Jun 2007

Impaired anti-inflammatory response plays role in pathology of type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is classified as a metabolic disorder, but a growing number of researchers are beginning to think of it also as a disease of the innate immune system. Inflammation, a key component of the early immune response, is chronically elevated in people with type 2 diabetes.

17 Jun 2007

What makes people susceptible to rheumatoid arthritis?

Peter K. Gregersen, MD, stares at x-rays of hands, searching out the telltale signs of inflamed joints and wrists from his research subjects with rheumatoid arthritis. With these clinical features at his side, he turns to the basic building blocks of life , the human genome , to figure out what makes these people susceptible to the disabling inflammatory condition.

14 Jun 2007

Asthma and allergic shock

Asthma, even a mild form, is the single most important factor that increases the risk of death from anaphylaxis (allergic shock), says a new report from Harvard Medical School, What To Do About Allergies .

14 Jun 2007

Cholera vaccine in a grain of rice

Japanese scientists have come up with a new strain of rice that carries a vaccine for cholera; they say the breakthrough will provide a cheaper and easier way of distributing the standard injection-based vaccine.

12 Jun 2007

New drug-delivery system using nanomaterials

Researchers at UCLA have successfully manipulated nanomaterials to create a new drug-delivery system that promises to solve the challenge of the poor water solubility of today's most promising anticancer drugs and thereby increase their effectiveness.

8 Jun 2007

NIAID to tackle drug resistant TB

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has released its NIAID Research Agenda for Multidrug-Resistant (MDR) and Extensively Drug-Resistant (XDR) Tuberculosis (TB).

8 Jun 2007

Insights into a key strategy cancer cells use to survive and thrive

The discovery of how some abnormal cells can avoid a biochemical program of self-destruction by increasing their energy level and repairing the damage, is giving investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital insights into a key strategy cancer cells use to survive and thrive.

3 Jun 2007

New animal model for Lassa fever

Scientists at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research have developed a new tool in the battle against a potential biological weapon, Lassa fever, which kills several thousand people each year and leaves thousands more with disabilities such as deafness and liver damage.

1 Jun 2007