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Scientists discover how polyketides form their ringlike shape

Many top-selling drugs used to treat cancer and lower cholesterol are made from organic compounds called polyketides, which are found in nature but historically difficult for chemists to alter and reproduce in large quantities.

2 Apr 2008

Satoris enters collaboration to validate early Alzheimer's test

Satoris, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company focused on developing blood-based tests for Alzheimer ' s disease, will shortly begin a collaborative study with the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (Mayo Clinic) to validate the utility of plasma biomarkers for early detection of mild to moderate Alzheimer ' s disease.

2 Apr 2008

A new way to test for lung cancer

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine have developed a new “clinicogenomic model” to accurately test for lung cancer.

2 Apr 2008

Oligosaccharides may help fight Salmonella and other food poisoning bacteria

Natural sugars found in breast milk that are now included in prebiotic foods may help in the fight against Salmonella and other food poisoning bacteria, scientists heard at the Society for General Microbiology's 162nd meeting being held this week at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

2 Apr 2008

Newly identified gene may prompt pancreas cells to form

Before a pancreas is a pancreas, it?s part of the endoderm, one of three layers of cells in a developing embryo that eventually form its organs.

2 Apr 2008

11 "snips" associated with type 2 diabetes

Mathematicians at Michigan Technological University have developed powerful new tools for winnowing out the genes behind some of humanity's most intractable diseases.

2 Apr 2008

Immune system needs food to function properly

Researchers studying deer mice have discovered evidence to support what mothers everywhere have long suspected: the immune system needs food to function properly.

2 Apr 2008

Families of children with cancer support human tissue research, study finds

Families of children with cancer support research using tissue samples left over after operations, a new study has found.

2 Apr 2008

Racial differences in response to bowel cancer genetic risk factor

Scientists have for the first time discovered that people with the same cancer susceptibility genes respond differently depending on their race.

1 Apr 2008

Exercise delays onset of Huntington’s in mouse model

The simple act of running in an exercise wheel delays the onset of some symptoms of Huntington's disease in a mouse model of the fatal human disorder according to research published in the open-access journal BMC Neuroscience.

1 Apr 2008

New research shows benefits of ultrasound contrast agents outweigh potential risk to heart patients

A Saint Louis University cardiologist called upon the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today to reconsider a strong warning it recently placed on a diagnostic tool, stating that the warning could prevent doctors from detecting life-threatening cardiac events.

1 Apr 2008

New genetic clues to diabetes

An international team that included scientists from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today reported it has identified six more genetic variants involved in type 2 diabetes, boosting to 16 the total number of genetic risk factors associated with increased risk of the disease.

1 Apr 2008

Grhelin hormone that controls hunger and appetite also linked to reduced fertility

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found that in-utero exposure to the hormone grhelin, a molecule that controls appetite and hunger and nutrition, can result in decreased fertility and fewer offspring.

1 Apr 2008

Chloroform provides clue to 150 year old medical puzzle

One of the earliest general anaesthetics to be used by the medical profession, chloroform, has shed light on a mystery that's puzzled doctors for more than 150 years - how such anaesthetics actually work.

1 Apr 2008

Discovery of novel gene responsible for Lou Gehrig's disease

A team of Canadian and French researchers has identified a novel gene responsible for a significant fraction of ALS (sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) cases.

1 Apr 2008

Replacing absent microRNAs could make tumors less invasive, more treatable

One group of small, non-coding RNA molecules could serve as a marker to improve cancer staging and may also be able to convert some advanced tumors to more treatable stages, report a University of Chicago-based research team in the April 1, 2008, issue of the journal Genes & Development.

1 Apr 2008