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University of Florida and France sign cooperative four-year research agreement

The University of Florida and two biomedical institutes in France have signed a four-year cooperative agreement on biopharmaceutical research that is designed to help bring new therapies to clinical trials.

11 Jul 2006

Roswell Park research aids development of myeloma drug

Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) researchers played a leading role in clinical studies which led to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of a new treatment for patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma - the second most common blood cancer.

11 Jul 2006

Hallucinogen in mushrooms creates mystical/spiritual experiences

Using unusually rigorous scientific conditions and measures, Johns Hopkins researchers have shown that the active agent in "sacred mushrooms" can induce mystical/spiritual experiences descriptively identical to spontaneous ones people have reported for centuries.

11 Jul 2006

Anti-herpes drug reduces need for Caesarean sections in infected women

Giving an anti-viral drug to pregnant women who have a history of genital herpes significantly lowers the rate of Caesarean sections needed to protect the infant from becoming infected with the virus, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

11 Jul 2006

Scientists unravel breast cancer risk gene mystery

The risk of developing breast cancer is doubled in women who inherit a damaged version of a gene called ATM, according to a study published by Cancer Research UK funded scientists and collaborators in Nature Genetics.

10 Jul 2006

New model illustrates brain mechanisms that lead to autistic behaviors

Approximately 1.5 million children and adults in the U.S. have autism and it is estimated to be the fastest growing developmental disability with a 10 - 17 percent increase each year.

10 Jul 2006

A good nights sleep will help the memory

According to new research a good nights sleep has more benefits than just making one feel rested.

10 Jul 2006

Don't smoke and eat fish to keep your sight later in life

New research from Australia and the U.S. into Age-related Macular Degeneration, has found that cigarette smoking increases the risk but eating fish protects against it, and hormone replacement therapy makes no difference whatsoever.

10 Jul 2006

Natural mechanism protecting tissue allografts from rejection

A molecule expressed during pregnancy seems to turn down the immune system, making it more tolerant of welcome visitors such as a fetus or maybe a transplanted heart, researchers say.

10 Jul 2006

New research promising for improving brain cell survival after brain injury

Scientists at Melbourne's Howard Florey Institute have found a protein in the brain that can save neurons from dying after experiencing traumatic brain injury from incidents such as stroke, car accidents and falls.

10 Jul 2006

Functionalized carbon nanotubes are non-cytotoxic and preserve the functionality of primary immune cells

Various types of carbon-based nanomaterials, such as buckyballs and nanotubes, have shown promise as drug delivery tools and imaging agents, but reports of toxicity associated with some of these materials have raised questions about their ultimate utility in clinical oncology.

10 Jul 2006

Proteolytic activity monitored by fluorescence resonance energy transfer through quantum-dot-peptide conjugates

Using a synthetic peptide modeled after the protein that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) uses to enter cells, a multi-institutional research team has created quantum dots that can penetrate the cell membrane and image internal structures in a cell.

10 Jul 2006

Nanoscale metal-organic frameworks as potential multimodal contrast enhancing agents

By combining the properties of inorganic and organic molecules in one material, researchers at the Carolina Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (CCNE) have developed a new class of nanomaterials that can be used to create multifunctional nanoparticles.

10 Jul 2006

Imaging pancreatic cancer with a peptide-nanoparticle conjugate targeted to normal pancreas

Most attempts to develop imaging agents that can better distinguish tumors from healthy tissue focus on finding molecules that are more abundant on malignant cells than on normal cells and using those as cellular targets.

10 Jul 2006

Scientists discover promising new therapeutic target for heart disease

Scientists at the Boston Biomedical Research Institute identified Puma (p53 upregulated modulator of apoptosis) as a potential new target for the therapeutic intervention of heart disease.

10 Jul 2006

Improving your diet may not help you beat stress

New research shows that some dietary interventions may not prove effective in helping tackle stress and poor health.

10 Jul 2006

Importance of T cells in the prevention of autoimmune diseases

Centenary scientist Associate Professor Barbara Fazekas de St. Groth, a leader in inflammatory bowel disease research, has demonstrated for the first time the important role of T cells in the prevention of autoimmune diseases in humans.

9 Jul 2006

Research may pave the way for alternative treatments using cell replacements instead of organ transplants for those with liver failure

University of Edinburgh scientists have identified primitive liver cells -possibly dormant from the earliest developmental stage of a human being - which have the potential to mature into different cells types and help repair a failing liver.

9 Jul 2006

Researchers use proteins to 'switch on' heart tissue repair system

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine are utilizing a protein to "switch on" the ability to repair damaged heart tissue.

9 Jul 2006

Discovery of gene mutation gives hope for Down syndrome and Alzheimer's victims

Researchers in the U.S. have discovered a gene mutation that shrivels brain cells which they suspect is responsible for the mental retardation seen in Down syndrome.

6 Jul 2006