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A potential new procedure for treating obesity

Lining the upper portion of the small intestine with an impermeable sleeve led to both weight loss and restoration of normal glucose metabolism in an animal model of obesity-induced diabetes.

24 Nov 2008

Scientists discover that blocking a neuropeptide receptor decreases nicotine addiction

The study was published in an online Early Edition issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , the week of November 24.

24 Nov 2008

Foxm1 gene mutation may cause immature lungs in newborns

Scientists have identified a gene critical to lung maturation in newborns and the production of surfactant, which lines lung tissues and prevents the lungs from collapsing.

24 Nov 2008

Scientists present 'moving' theory behind bacterial decision-making

Biochemists at North Carolina State University have answered a fundamental question of how important bacterial proteins make life-and-death decisions that allow them to function, a finding that could provide a new target for drugs to disrupt bacterial decision-making processes and related diseases.

24 Nov 2008

Discovery of novel approach to suppress prostate cancer progression

Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) have found that inactivating a specific biomarker for aggressive prostate cancer blocks the development of prostate cancer in animal models.

24 Nov 2008

Pancreatic duct cells identified as new source of insulin-producing cells

Researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center have shown that insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells can form after birth or after injury from progenitor cells within the pancreas that were not beta cells, a finding that contradicts a widely-cited earlier study that had concluded this is not possible.

24 Nov 2008

Discovery of new species of bacterium that causes leprosy

A new species of bacterium that causes leprosy has been identified through intensive genetic analysis of a pair of lethal infections, a research team reports in the December issue of the American Journal of Clinical Pathology.

24 Nov 2008

Discovery of novel drug target for chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and the Moores UCSD Cancer Center have discovered what could be a novel drug target for an often difficult-to-treat form of leukemia.

24 Nov 2008

Study looks at endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair

Minimally invasive endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR) has been praised by many vascular surgeons and patients due to its benefits: shorter operating time, reduced hospital stays, faster recovery and less scarring.

24 Nov 2008

Prion switching in response to environmental stress

If you have had a hard day at work, you may change your eating habits, perhaps favoring comfort food, but you don't suddenly develop the ability to eat the plate and cutlery.

24 Nov 2008

Strong link between antidepressants fluoxetine and paroxetine and heart anomalies in pregnancy

Women who took the antidepressant fluoxetine during the first three months of pregnancy gave birth to four times as many babies with heart problems as women who did not and the levels were three times higher in women taking paroxetine.

24 Nov 2008

Potassium loss caused by diuretics may explain higher risk of adult diabetes

Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that a drop in blood potassium levels caused by diuretics commonly prescribed for high blood pressure could be the reason why people on those drugs are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes.

24 Nov 2008

Scientists create new soap free emulsion polymerization process

Research chemists at the University of Warwick have devised an elegant process which simply and cheaply covers small particles of polymer with a layer of silica-based nanoparticles.

24 Nov 2008

Brookhaven scientists receive patent for improved cancer therapy device

Four physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have been awarded U.S. Patent No. 7,432,516 B2 for the design of a "medical synchrotron" capable of delivering precision doses of proton radiation to cancerous tumors with minimal damage to surrounding healthy tissue.

24 Nov 2008