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Researchers link microRNA - miR 196 - to limb development

A tiny strand of molecules plays a role in how our arms and legs develop and grow - a finding that sheds light on perplexing bits of material once dismissed as genetic "junk," say scientists at the University of Florida and Harvard University.

5 Dec 2005

Researchers move in on novel therapeutics to inhibit melanoma

Northwestern University researchers have developed a novel, three-dimensional model that allows scientists to observe how interacting with the microenvironment of metastatic melanoma cells induces normal skin cells to become similar to aggressive cancer cells that migrate and spread throughout the body.

5 Dec 2005

Researchers detail mechanism of stroke

In the neural train wreck that is stroke, the cutoff of oxygen kills brain cells through a buildup of acid, as well as by overexciting receptors on the surface of brain cells.

5 Dec 2005

Unexpected link between muscular dystrophy and muscle wasting associated with cancer

A new study provides important insight into the mechanisms of a muscle wasting disorder that interferes with treatment for cancer and has a negative impact on patient survival.

5 Dec 2005

CFH Y402H confers similar risk of soft drusen and both forms of advanced AMD

Gene is associated with increased risk of precursor of macular degeneration A variant in a gene called Complement Factor H (CFH) appears to contribute to the increased risk of advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD) largely or entirely through its impact on the development of a precursor of advanced AMD called soft drusen (small yellowish, extracellular deposits of lipid, protein and cellular debris in the back of the eye), according to a multinational team of researchers.

2 Dec 2005

Discovery of genetic mechanism that causes new arteries to grow in response to blocked arteries

Researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center have uncovered part of the genetic mechanism that causes new arteries to grow in response to blocked arteries.

2 Dec 2005

Findings may help in development of new anti-inflammatory compounds

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers studying the enzyme that triggers inflammation have found that it may be a target for a new class of anti-inflammatory drugs to treat arthritis, asthma, multiple sclerosis, lung and colon cancers and Alzheimer's disease.

2 Dec 2005

Disruption of normal gene interaction linked to schizophrenia

Disruption of the normal interaction between the genes PRODH and COMT contributes directly to major symptoms of schizophrenia by upsetting the balance of the brain chemicals glutamate and dopamine, according to a group of investigators that includes a scientist now at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

2 Dec 2005

Schizotypy, creativity and mating success in humans

The more creative a person is, the more sexual partners they are likely to have, according to a pioneering study which could explain the behaviour of notorious womanisers such as poets Lord Byron and Dylan Thomas.

2 Dec 2005

Inhibition of FLT3 signaling targets DCs to ameliorate autoimmune disease

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have found that a gene pathway linked to a deadly form of leukemia may provide a new way to treat autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis.

2 Dec 2005

Bisphenol A (BPA) has been linked to damage in developing brain tissue

The chemical bisphenol A (BPA), widely used in products such as food cans, milk container linings, water pipes and even dental sealants, has now been found to disrupt important effects of estrogen in the developing brain.

2 Dec 2005

Carvedilol, a cardiovascular drug, may improve heart failure and help prevent sudden death

Research shows that Carvedilol, a cardiovascular drug, could be useful in reducing cardiac death in high risk patients with prior myocardial infarction and/or heart failure and also in reducing the incidence and/or preventing the occurrence of atrial fibrillation in a number of clinical situations.

2 Dec 2005

Why we put weight back on

You've successfully dropped those extra pounds only to discover that they creep back on again. Columbia University researchers may have now worked out why.

2 Dec 2005

Artificial mammalian origin of replication

A collaboration of researchers from Harvard Medical School and the University of Virginia, led by Dr. Anindya Dutta, has created an artificial mammalian origin of replication that will facilitate the future study of mammalian DNA replication.

2 Dec 2005

Protein target for Parkinson's disease

Researchers at Johns Hopkins' Institute for Cell Engineering (ICE) have discovered a protein that could be the best new target in the fight against Parkinson's disease since the brain-damaging condition was first tied to loss of the brain chemical dopamine.

2 Dec 2005

Cole Porter was wrong - love only lasts a year!

According to scientists, those who say that true love lasts a lifetime have got it completely wrong and in fact it only lasts a year.

2 Dec 2005

Marijuana damages teenage brains

Researchers say that teenagers who regularly smoke marijuana risk damaging a key brain pathway associated with language development and some predisposed to schizophrenia may contract the illness early.

2 Dec 2005

Elderly as much at risk with old mental health drugs as new ones

Researchers at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston are saying that many of the older drugs designed to treat mental problems such as delirium, agitation and psychosis may be even more hazardous to the elderly than newer medicines that now carry U.S. government warnings.

2 Dec 2005

More men pay for sex in the UK

Researchers at Imperial College London, say that the number of British men paying for sex has doubled during the last decade and the men were more likely to have had a sexually transmitted infection (STI).

2 Dec 2005

Swedish researchers knock out anthrax bacterium

Researchers at Stockholm University have found a substance that quickly knocks out the anthrax bacterium. The bacterium has been used in terrorist attacks in the U.S. and Japan, for example.

30 Nov 2005