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Tet1 helps erase epigenetic imprints from genome ahead of egg, sperm development

A protein called Tet1 is partly responsible for giving primordial germ cells a clean epigenetic slate before developing into sperm and egg cells, according to a new study by researchers at Boston Children's Hospital.

4 Dec 2013

Researchers discover how PC7 protein affects certain types of cognitive performance

A team of Montr-al researchers at the IRCM led by Dr. Nabil G. Seidah, in collaboration with Dr. William C. Wetsel's team at Duke University in the United States, discovered that the protein PC7 plays a critical role in the brain by affecting certain types of cognitive performance such as anxiety, learning and emotional memory. Their results, recently published in the scientific journals Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and Nature, could have a significant impact on regulating behaviour related to anxiety disorders and trauma.

4 Dec 2013

Diversity essential for brain's ability to localize sounds

The ability to localize the source of sound is important for navigating the world and for listening in noisy environments like restaurants, an action that is particularly difficult for elderly or hearing impaired people.

4 Dec 2013

Wrapping in low molecular weight poly can help stabilize hemoglobin

A UConn research team has found a way to stabilize hemoglobin, the oxygen carrier protein in the blood, a discovery that could lead to the development of stable vaccines and affordable artificial blood substitutes.

4 Dec 2013

Study sheds new light on neuropsychiatric disorders

Trauma can scar people so indelibly that their children are affected. History provides examples of generations traumatized by war and starvation, whose children experience altered physiology.

4 Dec 2013

Genetic mutation linked to excess risk of lethal prostate cancer in obese patients

Obesity is associated with a worse prostate cancer prognosis among men whose tumors contain a specific genetic mutation, suggest results from a new study led by Harvard School of Public Health, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital researchers.

4 Dec 2013

Life Technologies to support LabCentral-based startups conducting genetic and cellular analysis

LabCentral, an innovative, shared laboratory space designed as a launchpad for life-sciences startups, announced that Life Technologies will provide an innovative technology suite of instruments representing the latest platforms developed by the company under an agreement inked last month.

4 Dec 2013

Research: Omega-3 fatty acids in dietary supplements can cross blood brain barrier in Alzheimer's patients

New research from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that omega-3 fatty acids in dietary supplements can cross the blood brain barrier in people with Alzheimer's disease, affecting known markers for both the disease itself and inflammation.

4 Dec 2013

TSRI scientists discover natural mechanism that cells use to protect mitochondria

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered a natural mechanism that cells use to protect mitochondria, the tiny but essential "power plants" that provide chemical energy for cells throughout the body. Damage to mitochondria is thought to be a significant factor in common neurodegenerative disorders, cancer and even the aging process. The TSRI researchers' discovery could lead to new methods for protecting mitochondria from such damage, thereby improving human health.

4 Dec 2013

Better understanding of cancer evolution could help in early detection of cancers

A new appreciation of how cancer cells evolve could help scientists design better screening methods to catch cancer before it advances.

4 Dec 2013

Pyridomycin turns out to be a lethal weapon against TB

Technology has made it possible to synthesize increasingly targeted drugs. But scientists still have much to learn from Mother Nature. Pyridomycin, a substance produced by non-pathogenic soil bacteria, has been found to be a potent antibiotic against a related strain of bacteria that cause tuberculosis.

4 Dec 2013

Finding identifies new mechanism that could contribute to the pathology of ALS

RNA molecules, used by cells to make proteins, are generally thought to be "silent" when stowed in cytoplasmic granules. But a protein mutated in some ALS patients forms granules that permit translation of stored RNAs, according to a study in The Journal of Cell Biology. The finding identifies a new mechanism that could contribute to the pathology of the disease.

4 Dec 2013

New research reveals how high-protein diet reduces muscle loss when dieting

Building upon the discovery that a high-protein diet reduces muscle loss when dieting, a new research report published online in The FASEB Journal now helps explain why. Protein consumption slows the ubiquitin proteasome system, which is primarily responsible for degrading skeletal muscle.

4 Dec 2013

Top cancer research centers to establish new biotechnology company focused on cancer immunotherapy

The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Fred Hutch) and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), along with pediatric partner Seattle Children's Research Institute, have joined forces to launch Juno Therapeutics Inc., a new biotechnology company focused on bringing forward novel immunotherapies for cancer.

4 Dec 2013

Findings could have important implications for personalized treatment of colon cancer

A common observation in oncology is the phenomenon that a patient with a tumor receives a drug and responds very well, but after a few months the cancer comes back and is now resistant to previously administered chemotherapy. What happened? Many mechanisms contribute to explain this effect called "acquired resistance", but today the group Manel Esteller, Director of Epigenetics and Cancer Biology at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, ICREA researcher and Professor of Genetics at the University of Barcelona, describes in the official Journal of the National Cancer Research Center in the United States, The Journal of The National Cancer Institute, the existence of epigenetic differences that explain the lack of response of the tumor recurs.

4 Dec 2013

Research findings pave new ways to treat gastrointestinal disorders

For those living with gastrointestinal disorders, such as ulcers or Crohn's disease, treatment often means quelling uncomfortable symptoms through medications or dietary changes. But what if one day treatment meant doing away with the old gut for a new gut free of inflamed or diseased tissues?

4 Dec 2013

Presence of ERG protein in biopsied prostate tissue increases likelihood of cancer development

Researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College have shown that the presence of a particular protein in biopsied prostate tissue substantially increases the likelihood that cancer will develop in that organ. The discovery will likely help physicians decide how closely to monitor men potentially at risk for the cancer -- among the most confusing and controversial dilemmas in health care.

4 Dec 2013

California scholar receives Wrawemeyer Award for Psychology for proposed somatic marker hypothesis

A California scholar who proposed that emotions play an integral role in human reasoning and decision-making has won the 2014 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Psychology.

4 Dec 2013

A new approach for treating colorectal cancer

Scientists and surgeons at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre have discovered a promising new approach to treating colorectal cancer by disarming the gene that drives self-renewal in stem cells that are the root cause of disease, resistance to treatment and relapse.

4 Dec 2013

CTCs serve as clinical tool to determine patient’s response to chemotherapy

Scientists from Granada have demonstrated, for the first time, that detecting circulating tumour cells (CTCs) in blood and studying the presence of certain genetic markers in them is a technique that allows specialists to predict, with great precision, the response that advanced-cancer patients will have to chemotherapy, as well as the associated secondary effects they may suffer.

4 Dec 2013

Medical Science News

Tet1 helps erase epigenetic imprints from genome ahead of egg, sperm development

Researchers discover how PC7 protein affects certain types of cognitive performance

Diversity essential for brain's ability to localize sounds

Wrapping in low molecular weight poly can help stabilize hemoglobin

Study sheds new light on neuropsychiatric disorders

Genetic mutation linked to excess risk of lethal prostate cancer in obese patients

Life Technologies to support LabCentral-based startups conducting genetic and cellular analysis

Research: Omega-3 fatty acids in dietary supplements can cross blood brain barrier in Alzheimer's patients

TSRI scientists discover natural mechanism that cells use to protect mitochondria

Better understanding of cancer evolution could help in early detection of cancers

Pyridomycin turns out to be a lethal weapon against TB

Finding identifies new mechanism that could contribute to the pathology of ALS

New research reveals how high-protein diet reduces muscle loss when dieting

Top cancer research centers to establish new biotechnology company focused on cancer immunotherapy

Findings could have important implications for personalized treatment of colon cancer

Research findings pave new ways to treat gastrointestinal disorders

Presence of ERG protein in biopsied prostate tissue increases likelihood of cancer development

California scholar receives Wrawemeyer Award for Psychology for proposed somatic marker hypothesis

A new approach for treating colorectal cancer

CTCs serve as clinical tool to determine patient’s response to chemotherapy

Microphysiological systems in drug discovery

Considerations for taking ASO discovery programs into animal models

Neurofilament light as a translational biomarker

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