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Study investigates trade-off between sperm quality and immunity

A new study shows the production of sperm is more biologically taxing than previously thought, and expending energy on it has significant health implications.

31 Jan 2012

Lycopene can kill prostate cancer cells

A nutrient in cooked tomatoes has been shown in laboratory studies to slow the growth of or even kill prostate cancer cells.

31 Jan 2012

HSP40/70 linked to hepatitis C infection

Researchers from UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a cell-permeable peptide that inhibits a hepatitis C virus protein and blocks viral replication, which can lead to liver cancer and cirrhosis.

31 Jan 2012

Study pinpoints genetic factors behind increased ALL risk in Hispanic children

Hispanic children are more likely than those from other racial and ethnic backgrounds to be diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and are more likely to die of their disease. Work led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists has pinpointed genetic factors behind the grim statistics.

31 Jan 2012

ISCB honors CMU professor with Overton Prize

The International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) has awarded its Overton Prize for outstanding accomplishment to Ziv Bar-Joseph, associate professor in Carnegie Mellon University's Lane Center for Computational Biology and Machine Learning Department.

31 Jan 2012

GRANITE program to aid in development of new TB fighting methods

A Rutgers-Camden professor is using his expertise in computer science to aid in the development of new methods to fight tuberculosis.

31 Jan 2012

Engineers discover electrical property in arteries

The heart's inner workings are mysterious, perhaps even more so with a new finding. Engineers at the University of Washington have discovered an electrical property in arteries not seen before in mammalian tissues.

31 Jan 2012

Pannexin1 protein may play an important role in mechanics of tumors

By studying tumor cell behavior in a novel "scaffold-free" 3-D system, researchers have determined that the protein Pannexin1 may play an important biomechanical role in binding tissues together, an effect that is lost in cancerous cells.

31 Jan 2012

MT2 gene mutations may increase risk of diabetes

Researchers in Lille and Paris demonstrated that mutations in the melatonin receptor gene (melatonin or the "hormone of darkness" induces sleep) lead to an almost sevenfold increase in the risk of developing diabetes.

31 Jan 2012

Researchers decipher genetic material of 48 pediatric glioblastomas

Glioblastomas grow extremely aggressively into healthy brain tissue and, moreover, are highly resistant to radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Therefore, they are regarded as the most malignant type of brain tumor. Currently available treatment methods are frequently not very effective against this type of cancer. Glioblastoma can affect people of all ages, but is less common in children than in adults.

31 Jan 2012

Research advances understanding of hypoxic response

A new family of proteins which regulate the human body's 'hypoxic response' to low levels of oxygen has been discovered by scientists at Barts Cancer Institute at Queen Mary, University of London and The University of Nottingham.

30 Jan 2012

Newly discovered molecular pathway may explain how AML develops

Researchers at UC Santa Barbara have discovered a molecular pathway that may explain how a particularly deadly form of cancer develops. The discovery may lead to new cancer therapies that reprogram cells instead of killing them. The findings are published in a recent paper in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

30 Jan 2012

Researchers identify two genetic mutations responsible for brain cancer in children

An international research team led by the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI MUHC) has made a major genetic breakthrough that could change the way pediatric cancers are treated in the future.

30 Jan 2012

Gilenya prevents and reverses symptoms of ventricular hypertrophy

A drug used to treat multiple sclerosis may also be effective at preventing and reversing the leading cause of heart attack, a new study has found.

30 Jan 2012

Circadian's VGX-100 human antibody improves corneal graft survival

Circadian Technologies Limited announced today the publication of data in the scientific journal, Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (IOVS), showing that VEGF-C expression is markedly up-regulated in corneal graft rejection.

30 Jan 2012

Milk boosts brain and mental performance

Pouring at least one glass of milk each day could not only boost your intake of much-needed key nutrients, but it could also positively impact your brain and mental performance, according to a recent study in the International Dairy Journal.

30 Jan 2012

USPTO allows Precision's claims relating to methods of cleaving DNA

Precision BioSciences, Inc., a leader in the field of genome engineering, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has issued a Notice of Allowance for U.S. Patent Application 13/245,607 ("the '607 Application").

30 Jan 2012

Modern ultrasound for male contraception

The ideal male contraceptive would be inexpensive, reliable, and reversible. It would need to be long acting but have few side effects. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology used commercially available therapeutic ultrasound equipment to reduce sperm counts of male rats to levels which would result in infertility in humans.

30 Jan 2012

Leprosy pathogen exploits micro-RNAs to weaken immune response

A team of UCLA scientists has found that the pathogen that causes leprosy has a remarkable ability to avoid the human immune system by inhibiting the antimicrobial responses important to our defenses.

30 Jan 2012

Study investigates how bacteria change their disguise to evade vaccines

Genetics has provided surprising insights into why vaccines used in both the UK and US to combat serious childhood infections can eventually fail. The study, published today in Nature Genetics, which investigates how bacteria change their disguise to evade the vaccines, has implications for how future vaccines can be made more effective.

30 Jan 2012