Medical Research News

RSS

Scorpion venom may hold key to controlling cystic fibrosis

Researchers have discovered a peptide in scorpion venom that may hold the key to understanding and controlling cystic fibrosis and other secretory diseases.

17 Feb 2008

Oncoproteins double-team and destroy vital tumor-suppressor

Two previously unconnected cancer-promoting proteins team up to ambush a critical tumor suppressor by evicting it from the cell's nucleus and then marking it for death by a protein-shredding mechanism, a team led by scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reports in the Feb. 10 issue of Nature Cell Biology.

17 Feb 2008

Cholesterol-lowering drug used to block staph infections in mince

An international team of researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has blocked staph infections in mice using a drug previously tested in clinical trials as a cholesterol-lowering agent.

17 Feb 2008

Discovery of new cataract gene

The international team of researchers was able to identify the location and defect in the coding region of the gene through analysis of genetic material (DNA) from members of a large Swiss family, the majority of whom suffered from autosomal dominant juvenile cataract.

17 Feb 2008

Understanding how the brain works from computers, and vice versa

Some projects were aimed at understanding how the brain works, using complex computational models. Others were aimed at improving the abilities of computers to perform tasks that our brains do with ease, such as making sense of complex visual images.

17 Feb 2008

Metabolic syndrome linked to climate

Researchers from the University of Chicago have discovered that many of the genetic variations that have enabled human populations to tolerate colder climates may also affect their susceptibility to metabolic syndrome, a cluster of related abnormalities such as obesity, elevated cholesterol levels, heart disease, and diabetes.

17 Feb 2008

Mesothelin appears to play important role in promoting pancreatic cancer growth - clues to new treatments

New understanding of a protein that spurs the growth of pancreatic cancer could lead to a new vaccine against the deadly disease, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston in a report appearing in the current edition of the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.

17 Feb 2008

Fighting the global obesity epidemic

According to Rena Wing, professor of psychiatry and human behavior at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and director of the Weight Control & Diabetes Research Center at The Miriam Hospital, people who are most successful in preventing weight gain, and dieters who lose weight and keep the pounds off, have made major changes in their in diet and exercise routines.

17 Feb 2008

Infertility is a growing problem

Infertility will become more prevalent in generations to come, but interpreting these trends is complicated, say researchers in this week's BMJ.

17 Feb 2008

Identical twins are not genetically identical

This surprising finding is presented by American, Swedish, and Dutch scientists in a study being published today in the prestigious journal American Journal of Human Genetics.

17 Feb 2008

Major milestone in the culturing of human blood stem cells

Patients with leukemia, certain autoimmune diseases and genetic defects such as sickle-cell anemia can be treated with blood stem cells either from a donor's bone marrow or from cord blood - but the supply of effective stem cells often runs short.

17 Feb 2008

Insights into the physics of brain activity

The same rules of physics that govern molecules as they condense from gas to liquid, or freeze from liquid to solid, also apply to the activity patterns of neurons in the human brain.

17 Feb 2008

Looking after the health of older workers will keep them in the work force

According to new research by Australian scientists, in order to keep Australia's older workers in the labour force more will have to be done in future to prevent them developing chronic health conditions.

17 Feb 2008

Potential new strategy for treating lupus

Immune cells that would normally die in healthy people accumulate in bodies of patients who have lupus and contribute to the disease, according to new Saint Louis University research published in the Feb. 15 issue of Immunity.

17 Feb 2008

Researchers explain why Avastin can cause potentially fatal brain inflammation

New research by scientists at Schepens Eye Research Institute may help explain why the anti-cancer drug Avastin, which targets a growth factor responsible for creation of new blood vessels, causes potentially fatal brain inflammation in certain patients.

14 Feb 2008