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New journal devoted to gene therapy and human genetics

The Gene Therapy Review was first launched in 2008 as an online source of information on all aspects of gene therapy with sections comprising information on gene therapy research, news, disease targets, patient resources and companies offering services to the gene therapy community. It then further featured a clinical trials database detailing all gene therapy clinical procedures completed to date.

31 Jul 2009

Discovery of genetic link to age-related cataracts

Bing-Cheng Wang, Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine professor of pharmacology and senior staff scientist at MetroHealth Medical Center, and Sudha K. Iyengar, Ph.D. professor of genetic and molecular epidemiology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, have discovered the first gene associated with the formation of age-related cataracts, a leading causes of blindness.

31 Jul 2009

Mortality rates higher in hepatitis C virus carriers

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a blood-borne disease that causes inflammation of the liver and to which there is currently no vaccine available. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 3% of the world's population, approximately 170 million people, are infected with HCV and it is a leading cause of liver cirrhosis, end stage liver disease, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver transplantation.

31 Jul 2009

Summer temperatures increase risk of oligohydramnios - amniotic fluid level deficiency

Pregnant women have a higher incidence of insufficient amniotic fluid levels (oligohydramnios) in the summer months due to dehydration, according to a study conducted by researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU).

31 Jul 2009

High costs in McAllen prompt inquiries into physician ownership, self-referral and a major lobbying campaign

Lobbying efforts by Doctors Hospital at Renaissance, in Edinburg, Texas, have steered hundreds of thousands of dollars to key lawmakers in hopes of blocking reforms that would restrict ownership of hospitals by physicians, the Associated Press/Dallas Morning News reports in a follow up to an article in yesterday's New York Times.

31 Jul 2009

No Senate finance markup of health overhaul before recess

CongressDaily: "After a day of high emotions and partisan bickering, Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus announced Thursday the panel will not mark up a bipartisan healthcare overhaul bill before August recess.

31 Jul 2009

Medicago announces positive results for H1N1 pandemic vaccine candidate

Medicago today announced that it has achieved additional positive results with its vaccine candidate for the Influenza A (H1N1) virus, also known as Swine flu. Results showed that a single dose of 5 micrograms induced a positive immune response against a new emerging strain of this virus in 100% of vaccinated animals.

31 Jul 2009

China-Biotics applies for patents on new probiotic formulations

China-Biotics, Inc. today announced it has submitted applications for four patents to the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China.

31 Jul 2009

New chemical imaging technique could help in the fight against atherosclerosis

A new chemical imaging technique could one day help in the fight against atherosclerosis, suggests research published in the August 2009 edition of the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

31 Jul 2009

Dynamic, 3D pattern formation within protein-based gel

Modern regenerative medicine is on the lookout for implantable materials that can change as the surrounding tissue does, and two Stanford University researchers have made some new gel materials that do just that. Karin Straley and Professor Sarah Heilshorn have developed a method for preparing protein-based implant materials that can evolve with the changing needs of the host biological system. Not only can their new materials change in different ways at different times, they can do so at different places within the implant materials.

31 Jul 2009

‘Cheering-up’ Britain

Today, British psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman (University of Hertfordshire) invites the public to take part in an ambitious five-day experiment that aims to boost the UK's happiness.

31 Jul 2009

Risk factors of disordered eating in overweight youth identified

University of Minnesota Project Eating Among Teens (EAT) researchers have identified factors that may increase overweight adolescents' risk of engaging in extreme weight control behaviors such as self-induced vomiting, the use of diet pills, laxatives, and diuretics, as well as binge eating.

31 Jul 2009

New nano-gene therapy technique could fight late-stage tumors

Tiny particles carrying a killer gene can effectively suppress ovarian tumor growth in mice, according to a team of researchers from MIT and the Lankenau Institute.

31 Jul 2009

Research suggests that zinc activates a key protein on T cells needed to fight infections

Everyone knows that vitamins "from A to zinc" are important for good health. Now, a new research study in the August 2009 print issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology suggests that zinc may be pointing the way to new therapeutic targets for fighting infections.

31 Jul 2009

Virus may play role in causing some cases of squamous cell carcinoma

A virus discovered last year in a rare form of skin cancer has also been found in people with the second most common form of skin cancer among Americans, according to researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute.

31 Jul 2009

Virulence of pandemic H1N1 virus analyzed

Laboratory studies at Kansas State University and the work of a K-State researcher are making headway in the effort to control the pandemic H1N1 virus.

31 Jul 2009

Research shows how resveratrol works as an effective therapy for life-threatening inflammation

Scientists from Scotland and Singapore have unraveled a mystery that has perplexed scientists since red wine was first discovered to have health benefits: how does resveratrol control inflammation?

31 Jul 2009

Surgical treatment of migraine safe and effective

Migraine headaches are a drain - not only on the estimated 30 million Americans who suffer from them, but on the economy, too. Because pain and other symptoms caused by migraine headaches can be quite severe, it is projected that nearly $13 billion is spent every year in headache treatment and loss of time from work, which no one can afford these days.

31 Jul 2009

Malaria: Artemisinin resistance continues developing in western Cambodia

Artemisinin, the "basis of the most effective" malaria treatment recommended by the WHO, took nearly twice as long to clear malaria parasites in patients in western Cambodia than it did in patients in northwestern Thailand, according to a New England Journal of Medicine study, which shows the "drugs are losing their power against the disease in Cambodia," Bloomberg reports (Bennett, 7/30).

30 Jul 2009

New guidelines issued for H1N1 vaccine campaign by Federal Advisory Committee

During a meeting in Atlanta on Wednesday, a "federal advisory committee issued sweeping guidelines … for a vaccination campaign against the pandemic swine flu strain, identifying more than half the U.S. population as targets for the first round of vaccinations," CNN reports (Hellerman, 7/29).

30 Jul 2009