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Study finds structure-function impairments in people addicted to cocaine

The more gray matter you have in the decision-making, thought-processing part of your brain, the better your ability to evaluate rewards and consequences. That may seem like an obvious conclusion, but a new study conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory is the first to show this link between structure and function in healthy people - and the impairment of both structure and function in people addicted to cocaine.

30 Nov 2011

PTC, Roche announce licensing agreement for SMA programme

Roche, PTC Therapeutics, Inc. and the SMA Foundation, announced today a licensing agreement for PTC's Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) programme.

30 Nov 2011

Study explores critical role of 14-3-3σ in halting breast cancer progression

New research out of McGill University's Goodman Cancer Research Centre provides compelling new evidence that a gene known as 14-3-3σ plays a critical role in halting breast cancer initiation and progression.

30 Nov 2011

Cases of two AIDS patients renew hope of AIDS cure for many scientists, New York Times reports

The New York Times profiles two AIDS patients whose cases "suggest to many scientists that curing AIDS may be achievable," according to the newspaper. "One man, the so-called Berlin patient, apparently has cleared his HIV infection, albeit by arduous bone marrow transplants," and the other, "a 50-year-old man in Trenton, N.J., underwent a far less difficult gene therapy procedure. While he was not cured, his body was able to briefly control the virus after he stopped taking the usual antiviral drugs, something that is highly unusual," the newspaper writes.

29 Nov 2011

Nanomedicine breakthrough by IBN and IBM named a ‘world changer’

A nanoparticle that can destroy drug-resistant bacteria developed by the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), and the IBM Almaden Research Center, has recently been named one of 10 world changing ideas by Scientific American in its Technology Special Report ('World Changing Ideas – 10 New Technologies That Will Make a Difference', December 2011).

29 Nov 2011

Herbicide atrazine linked to reproductive dysfunction

An international team of researchers has reviewed the evidence linking exposure to atrazine - an herbicide widely used in the U.S. and more than 60 other nations - to reproductive problems in animals. The team found consistent patterns of reproductive dysfunction in amphibians, fish, reptiles and mammals exposed to the chemical.

29 Nov 2011

We unconsciously make use of recent experiences during estimation processes

During estimation processes we unconsciously make use of recent experiences. Scientists from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit-t (LMU) in Munich and the Bernstein Center Munich asked test subjects to estimate distances in a virtual reality environment.

29 Nov 2011

Crucial part of nervous system linked to increased risk of death from heart failure

A team of neuroscientists and anaesthetists, who have been using pioneering techniques to study how the brain regulates the heart, has identified a crucial part of the nervous system whose malfunction may account for an increased risk of death from heart failure.

29 Nov 2011

Largest survey on genetic, epigenetic stability of stem cells

An international study, published today in the prestigious journal Nature Biotechnology, reveals more about human pluripotent stem cells and their genetic stability and has important implications for the development of therapies using these cells.

29 Nov 2011

Counterparts of memory cells ward off microbial foes

The immune system possesses a type of cell that can be activated by tissues within the body to remind the immune system not to attack our own molecules, cells and organs, UCSF researchers have discovered.

29 Nov 2011

New glycoconjugate vaccine prototype more effective than traditional vaccines

Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) researchers have created a vaccine that is more potent than traditional vaccines available today. The glycoconjugate vaccine prototype is 100 times more effective than traditional glycoconjugate vaccines. Their work is published in the December 2011 issue of Nature Medicine.

29 Nov 2011

UIC recruiting volunteers for study on effectiveness of vitamin D in addition to asthma medication

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago are recruiting volunteers with asthma for a study of whether taking vitamin D can make asthma medication more effective.

29 Nov 2011

Blood stem cells engineered to create cancer-killing T-cells

Researchers from UCLA's cancer and stem cell centers have demonstrated for the first time that blood stem cells can be engineered to create cancer-killing T-cells that seek out and attack a human melanoma. The researchers believe this approach could be useful in 40 percent of Caucasians with this malignancy.

29 Nov 2011

Growth hormone replacement increases bone formation in abdominally obese women

In a new study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), growth hormone replacement for six months was found to increase bone formation in abdominally obese women.

29 Nov 2011

Seizure drug slows spread of uveal melanoma

A drug commonly used to treat seizures appears to make eye tumors less likely to grow if they spread to other parts of the body, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

29 Nov 2011

Study reveals underlying molecular mechanism contributing to development of lymphomagenesis

Researchers from the NYU Cancer Institute, an NCI-designated cancer center at NYU Langone Medical Center, have discovered a new potential therapeutic target for Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL), the most aggressive and common type of lymphoma in adults.

29 Nov 2011

More neural connecting pathways in the language network than originally thought

While it has long been recognized that certain areas in the brain's left hemisphere enable us to understand and produce language, scientists are still figuring out exactly how those areas divvy up the highly complex processes necessary to comprehend and produce language.

29 Nov 2011

Fungi and bacteria help one another stay mobile

Bacteria and fungi are remarkably mobile. Now researchers at Tel Aviv University have discovered that the two organisms enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship to aid them in that movement - and their survival.

29 Nov 2011

Scientists identify cellular protein that plays central role in formation of new blood vessels

Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have identified a cellular protein that plays a central role in the formation of new blood vessels.

29 Nov 2011

Scientists seek to prove beta oscillations of the cortex

Before she could seek to convince the world that her computer model of a key brain circuit explains a fundamental, 80-year-old mystery of neuroscience with potential relevance to Parkinson's disease, Stephanie Jones sought to convince Christopher Moore.

29 Nov 2011