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Dopamine and Parkinson's

Parkinson's disease and drug addiction are polar opposite diseases, but both depend upon dopamine in the brain. Parkinson's patients don't have enough of it; drug addicts get too much of it. Although the importance of dopamine in these disorders has been well known, the way it works has been a mystery.

10 Aug 2008

Gab2 signalling protein switches off breast cancer and leukaemia

Australian scientists have identified a way to 'switch off' a molecule, a key player in the molecular processes that trigger breast cancer and certain forms of leukaemia.

10 Aug 2008

RNAi used to dramatically suppress HIV infection in an organism

Hopes languished last September when a promising candidate HIV vaccine failed to work. Despite this setback, many researchers still believe immunization is possible, and a new study suggests they're correct-at least at the cellular level.

10 Aug 2008

Research finds a role for the GABA neurotransmitter in maintaining energy balance

Controlling body weight is a complicated process, as any frustrated dieter might attest. But as scientists continue to investigate the brain's intricate neurocircuitry and its role in maintaining energy balance, they are forming a clearer picture of the myriad events that lead to weight gain and weight loss.

10 Aug 2008

COMT gene variation affects fear processing, anxiety

Inborn differences may help explain why trauma gives some people bad memories and others the nightmare of post-traumatic stress. Scientists in Germany and the United States have reported evidence linking genes to anxious behavior. The findings appear in the August issue of Behavioral Neuroscience, published by the American Psychological Association.

10 Aug 2008

First cigarette "buzz", addiction linked to gene

Anyone who has ever tried smoking probably remembers that first cigarette vividly. For some, it brought a wave of nausea or a nasty coughing fit. For others, those first puffs also came with a rush of pleasure or "buzz."

10 Aug 2008

Discovery of obesity genes

A study of 228 women has revealed genetic variants responsible for body shape. Based on work in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, research published in the open access journal BMC Genetics identifies natural variation in the human LAMA5 gene as a key determinant of weight.

10 Aug 2008

Molecular bridge serves as a tether for a cell's nucleus

A cell's nucleus - home of it its most precious contents - is a delicate envelope that, without support, is barely able to withstand the forces that keep it in place. Now, researchers have discovered a network of molecules in the nuclear membrane that provide the nucleus with rigidity and also facilitate a previously undiscovered form of communication between the cell's nucleus and its cytoplasm.

8 Aug 2008

Small changes can make big health solutions

We shouldn't be emphasising expensive high tech vaccines and dazzling miracle drugs at the expense of more low tech ways improve people's health, particularly in the face of climate change, a young health researcher writes.

8 Aug 2008

New understanding on how Chilli peppers increase metabolism and body temperature

Chilli peppers can do more than just make you feel hot, reports a study in the August 1 Journal of Biological Chemistry; the active chemical in peppers can directly induce thermogenesis, the process by which cells convert energy into heat.

6 Aug 2008

Researchers show how new chemotherapy drugs kill cancerous tumors

Dr Stephen Taylor and Karen Gascoigne at the University of Manchester's Faculty of Life Sciences have taken a new systematic approach to studying anti-mitotic drugs, which are used extensively for breast or ovarian cancer in the UK.

From The University of Manchester 6 Aug 2008

Discovery of vital key to cancer

University of Manchester scientists have uncovered the 3D structure of Mps1 - a protein that regulates the number of chromosomes during cell division and thus has an essential role in the prevention of cancer - which will lead to the design of safer and more effective therapies.

From The University of Manchester 6 Aug 2008

Genetic biomarker linked to subcutaneous growth hormone dose-response

The interindividual variability of response to subcutaneously applied protein-based drugs remains poorly understood. However, defining genetic markers that can be associated with biological effects of such drugs may improve the understanding of individual variability of response and even drug resistance.

6 Aug 2008

Recipe for cell reprogramming adds protein

A drug-like molecule called Wnt can be substituted for the cancer gene c-Myc, one of four genes added to adult cells to reprogram them to an embryonic-stem-cell-like state, according to Whitehead researchers.

6 Aug 2008

How short RNAs influence many proteins

During the last decade, microRNAs have emerged somewhat surprisingly as key players in the way genes are regulated. These short snippets of RNA do their work by interacting with messenger RNAs, which act as blueprints for protein creation.

6 Aug 2008

Findings may aid in bone marrow transplants, blood diseases

New research sheds light on the biological events by which stem cells in the bone marrow develop into the broad variety of cells that circulate in the blood. The findings may help improve the success of bone marrow transplants and develop better treatments for life-threatening blood diseases.

5 Aug 2008

Happiness makes you live longer

Happiness does not heal, but happiness protects against falling ill. As a result, happy people live longer. The size of the effect on longevity is comparable to that of smoking or not. This is concluded from an analysis of 30 follow-up studies published in the latest issue of the Journal of Happiness Studies (September 2008).

5 Aug 2008

Scientists identify possible cause of endometriosis

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have identified an enzyme that could be responsible for a condition called endometriosis - the most common cause of pelvic pain in women.

5 Aug 2008

Revolutionary technique that could reduce lifelong drugs for transplant patients shows promising findings

Researchers have developed a ground-breaking procedure that could avoid the need for transplant patients to spend the rest of their lives taking a cocktail of drugs to stop their system from rejecting their new organ, according to a series of papers in the August issue of Transplant International.

5 Aug 2008