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Gene therapy promises relief from chronic pain

Researchers in the U.S. have discovered that chronic pain can be successfully treated with a new gene therapy technique.

22 Jan 2008

Stem cell therapy restores muscle function in mice with muscular dystrophy

Scientists in Texas have been able to restore muscle function in mice with muscular dystrophy by using embryonic stem cells.

21 Jan 2008

New diagnostic technique using bioimpedance spectroscopy to diagnose cervical and skin cancers

A non-invasive diagnostic tool to detect surface cancers quickly and painlessly using technology currently employed by gyms to calculate body composition has been developed by a QUT PhD medical physics researcher.

21 Jan 2008

Minute genetic differences have major consequences

A study led by McGill University researchers has demonstrated that small differences between individuals at the DNA level can lead to dramatic differences in the way genes produce proteins.

21 Jan 2008

Stem-cell transplantation improves muscles in MD animal model

Using embryonic stem cells from mice, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have prompted the growth of healthy - and more importantly, functioning - muscle cells in mice afflicted with a human model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

21 Jan 2008

Stem cell research aims to tackle Parkinson's disease

Scientists in Sweden are developing new ways to grow brain cells in the laboratory that could one day be used to treat patients with Parkinson's disease, an international conference of biologists organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF) was told last week.

21 Jan 2008

Researchers identify a means of controlling a parasite that kills and eats human cells

Researchers from the University of Virginia and the University of Vermont have discovered a means of inhibiting one of the world's most voracious parasites.

21 Jan 2008

Something special about loneliness

New research at the University of Chicago finds evidence for a clever way that people manage to alleviate the pain of loneliness: They create people in their surroundings to keep them company.

21 Jan 2008

Discovery major step forward in treating leukemia

Researchers at the University of East Anglia have discovered for the first time a pathway that makes cancerous leukaemia cells resistant to treatment.

21 Jan 2008

Smoking wipes out protective genes

A University of Rochester scientist discovered that the toxins in cigarette smoke wipe out a gene that plays a vital role in protecting the body from the effects of premature aging.

21 Jan 2008

New method to transfer DNA into a host cell

Genetically engineered products have become indispensable. For example, genetically modified bacteria produce human insulin.

21 Jan 2008

Case researcher in RNA biology makes waves by challenging current thinking

In the January 18th issue of Molecular Cell, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researcher Kristian E. Baker, Ph.D. challenges molecular biology's established body of evidence and widely-accepted model for nonsense-mediated messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) decay.

21 Jan 2008

Sleep plays a critical role in the brain's ability to learn

Most people know it from experience: After so many hours of being awake, your brain feels unable to absorb any more-and several hours of sleep will refresh it.

21 Jan 2008

How anti-TNF compounds work

Powerful drugs used to treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis have a profound, previously unrecognized effect on the immune system, breaking up molecular "training camps" for rogue cells that play an increasingly recognized role in autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

21 Jan 2008

Previously unknown Merkel cell polyomavirus linked to deadly skin cancer

A new strategy to hunt for human viruses described in this week's issue of the journal Science by the husband-and-wife team who found the cause of Kaposi's sarcoma has revealed a previously unknown virus strongly associated with another rare but deadly skin cancer called Merkel cell carcinoma.

18 Jan 2008

Scientists uncover role of cancer stem cell marker: controlling gene expression

Scientists at Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia have made an extraordinary advance in the understanding of the function of a gene previously shown to be part of an 11-gene "signature" that can predict which tumors will be aggressive and likely to spread.

18 Jan 2008