Medical Research News

RSS

New understanding of colon tumor development

Recent work from the Finnish Academy Center of Excellence on Cancer Biology at the University of Helsinki, Finland, has shed light on the mechanisms of colon tumor development and may help to design better treatment for this disease.

5 May 2008

New weapon against respiratory syncytial virus

University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers have achieved promising results with a potential new weapon against respiratory syncytial virus, the most common cause of infant hospitalization in the United States.

5 May 2008

Epidermal growth factor receptor protects cancer cells from starving

A growth factor receptor found abundantly on the surface of cancer cells and long known to fuel cancer growth also protects tumor cells from starvation by a newly identified mechanism, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the May 5 issue of Cancer Cell.

5 May 2008

Secret to long life in lifestyle not genes

A research on the bone health of one of the oldest persons in the world, who recently died at the age of 114, reveals that there were no genetic modifications which could have contributed to this longevity.

5 May 2008

Fat cell numbers in your teens set you up for life

When it comes to changing your fate as far as fat is concerned the jury is still out on that particular case.

5 May 2008

It's official - there's a rogue fat gene!

Scientists from Oxford and Cambridge say in their second discovery they have found new genetic variants that influence fat mass, weight and risk of obesity and increase the chances of being fat, which may explain why some people are always battling with their weight.

5 May 2008

Stun guns may stimulate the heart

On the eve of the British Columbia inquiry into the death of Robert Dziekanski, a review of scientific data in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) finds that in some cases, stun guns may stimulate the heart in experimental models. This evidence is contrary to current views that stun guns only affect skeletal muscles.

2 May 2008

Researchers report the cloning of a key group of human genes, the protein kinases

Although the human genome has been sequenced, research into mechanism of action of genes has been hampered by the fact that most human genes have not been isolated.

2 May 2008

New funding to deliver targeted research

The Medical Research Council is launching a new funding stream to encourage the development of new therapies, interventions and diagnostic tools, and also of research tools used in their development by adopting problem-led approaches.

2 May 2008

The "pain gap" in American society

A novel study that attempts to paint the most accurate and detailed description yet of how Americans experience pain has found that a significant portion of the population -- 28 percent -- are in pain at any given moment and those with less education and lower income spend more of their time in pain. Those in pain are less likely to work or socialize with others and are more inclined to watch television than the pain-free.

1 May 2008

Stanford researchers synthesize new agents to flush HIV out of hiding

Any hunter will tell you that when your quarry goes into hiding, you have to flush it out to get a good shot at it. Such is the case with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

1 May 2008

Small molecule nutlin-3a activates an important cancer suppressor gene

By activating a cancer suppressor gene, a small molecule called nutlin-3a can block cancer cell division, according to researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health.

1 May 2008

Early treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection may prevent cancer

Based on research using a new mouse model of gastritis and stomach cancer, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) say that prompt treatment of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infections reverses damage to the lining of the stomach that can lead to cancer.

1 May 2008

New drug added to chemo kills off residual breast cancer stem cells

New research says chemotherapy often fails to totally eliminate breast cancer because it does not knock out breast cancer stem cells.

30 Apr 2008

Alzheimer's disease risk differs between the sexes

The risks of developing Alzheimer's disease differ between the sexes, with stroke in men, and depression in women, critical factors, suggests research published ahead of print in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

30 Apr 2008

Turning on cell-cell communication wipes out staph biofilms

University of Iowa researchers have succeeded in wiping out established biofilms of Staphylococcus aureus (staph) by hijacking one of the bacteria's own regulatory systems.

30 Apr 2008

New understanding of how some bacteria survive antibiotic treatment

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered how some bacteria can survive antibiotic treatment by turning on resistance mechanisms when exposed to the drugs.

30 Apr 2008

Researchers create heart and blood cells from reprogrammed skin cells

Stem cell researchers at UCLA were able to grow functioning cardiac cells using mouse skin cells that had been reprogrammed into cells with the same unlimited properties as embryonic stem cells.

30 Apr 2008

Scientists discover the double life of proteins

Scientists at The Australian National University are a step closer to understanding the rare Hartnup disorder after discovering a surprising link between blood pressure regulation and nutrition that could also help to shed light on intestinal and kidney function.

30 Apr 2008

Researchers discover molecular basis of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy

A team of French and German researchers report in the May 2008 print issue of The FASEB Journal that people with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy are missing a protein called c-FLIP, which the body uses to prevent the loss of muscle tissue.

30 Apr 2008