Laboratory News and Research

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Tissue engineering to grow bone, ligaments and cartilage

A future in which laboratory-grown organs and stimulated growth of muscle, bones and nerves could play a major role in treating medical conditions was revealed at a recent Tissue Engineering Symposium at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

11 Apr 2005

Faster, more accurate diagnostic test for Sjogren's syndrome

Researchers in Japan are developing a faster, more accurate diagnostic test for Sjögren’s (SHOW-grins) syndrome, an incurable autoimmune disorder characterized by chronically dry eyes and dry mouth.

11 Apr 2005

Research suggests a central role for NMDA receptors in learning and memory

Learning and memory are processes that link experience with behavior and therefore play central roles in our daily experience. That there exists a physical basis for these processes seems at first hard to imagine--except for the fact that physical disruptions in the brain, such as stroke or disease, can make them go wrong.

11 Apr 2005

Ephrins may influence learning

A Burnham Institute study has found that one of the cell's largest families of signaling molecules, called ephrins, which are known to regulate the development of nerve cells, also controls nerve cells' ability to engulf critical chemicals and proteins for learning and memory.

11 Apr 2005

Now revealed that Salk polio vaccine was a team effort

The cure for polio came as a result of the collaboration between Thomas Francis Jr. and Jonas Salk.

10 Apr 2005

Assessing the function of unknown genes is feasible and can be done with a microarray phenotype

Microarrays provide a method of quantifying the expression and order of genes in a particular genome -- acting as a surrogate measure of cell physiology, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears online today in the journal Nature Genetics.

10 Apr 2005

Molecular motors cooperate in moving cellular cargo

Researchers using an extremely fast and accurate imaging technique have shed light on the tiny movements of molecular motors that shuttle material within living cells. The motors cooperate in a delicate choreography of steps, rather than engaging in the brute-force tug of war many scientists had imagined.

7 Apr 2005

Oncolytic viruses may one day help treat brain tumors

New research shows that a virus designed to kill cancer cells can significantly increase the survival of mice with an incurable human brain tumor, even in some animals with advanced disease.

7 Apr 2005

Why different tissues in the human body vary in their susceptibility to "amyloid" diseases

Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute are reporting the results of a recent study that addresses why different tissues in the human body vary in their susceptibility to "amyloid" diseases, which include Alzheimer's disease and a cluster of ailments called the familial amyloidoses.

7 Apr 2005

Stress might actually be beneficial to health

New research has surprisingly shown that stress, generally thought to be bad for the immune system by lowering the body's ability to fight off disease, on a short-term basis might actually be beneficial.

6 Apr 2005

Three additional cases of H5N1 avian influenza in Vietnam

The Ministry of Health in Viet Nam has confirmed three additional cases of human infection with H5N1 avian influenza. The cases concern a 5-year-old boy from the central province of Quang Binh, a 17-year-old girl from the northern province of Nam Dinh, and a 40-year-old woman from the northern province of Quang Ninh. The 17-year-old girl has died.

6 Apr 2005

Kidney transplant can reverse systolic heart failure

Doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center say that contrary to conventional thinking, a kidney transplant can significantly improve the heart function of people on dialysis with a serious form of heart failure.

6 Apr 2005

Heart transplant patients benefit from new technology

New technology for cardiac transplant patients indicates a patient's risk of organ rejection with a simple blood test. News of this revolutionary testing method will be presented today at the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation's (ISHLT) Annual Meeting and Scientific Session in Philadelphia.

6 Apr 2005

DNA packaging linked with cancer

New laboratory findings at the University of Illinois at Chicago suggest that what lies outside cancer cells is at least as important as the genes inside in explaining a tumor's malignancy.

5 Apr 2005

Blue-green algae linked to Alzheimer's disease

An international team of researchers, including scientists from the University of Dundee have announced that cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) found throughout the world may produce a toxin linked to certain types of neurological disease.

5 Apr 2005

Potential therapeutic target for infertility and contraception

The multiple “litter” births of mice, versus the normal singleton pregnancy of humans, is due to defective processing in mice of a common mammalian protein called bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP-15), according to new research from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine.

5 Apr 2005

Important trial in the fight against lung cancer

Two University of Kentucky researchers continue their work with a vaccine to prevent lung cancer recurrences in patients following primary treatment of the disease.

5 Apr 2005

Study suggests that eating onions might help prevent bone loss and osteoporosis

Besides adding flavor to food, onions also may be good for your bones. Researchers at the University of Bern in Switzerland have identified a compound in the popular vegetable that appears to decrease bone loss in laboratory studies using rat bone cells.

5 Apr 2005

Promising new therapy that prompts the immune system to aid in the fight against melanoma tumors

Melanoma is a particularly deadly form of skin cancer very resistant to treatment. Researchers at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute and the University of South Florida are testing a promising new therapy that prompts the immune system to aid in the fight against melanoma tumors.

5 Apr 2005