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X-chromosome related microRNA may impact immunity and cancer

As anyone familiar with the phrase 'man-flu' will know women consider themselves to be the more robust side of the species when it comes to health and illness. Now new research, published in BioEssays, seems to support the idea. The research focuses on the role of MicroRNAs encoded on the X chromosome to explain why women have stronger immune systems to men and are less likely to develop cancer.

28 Sep 2011

Researchers validate two parasite enzymes as potential anti-malarial drug targets

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Monash University, and Virginia Tech have used a set of novel inhibitors to analyze how the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, uses enzymes to chew up human hemoglobin from host red blood cells as a food source.

28 Sep 2011

UCSF neuroscientist wins PECASE award for research into addiction

Linda Wilbrecht, PhD, a neuroscientist at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), is one of 94 researchers named today by President Obama as a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).

28 Sep 2011

We may be learning while we sleep

People may be learning while they're sleeping - an unconscious form of memory that is still not well understood, according to a study by Michigan State University researchers.

28 Sep 2011

Organic tomato juice contains more phenolic components than conventional crop juice

Organic tomato juice contains more phenolic components than juice from conventionally grown crops, according to a new study published in the journal Food Chemistry directed by Rosa M. Lamuela, a lecturer from the Department of Nutrition and Bromatology of the University of Barcelona (UB) and researcher for the Nutrition and Food Safety Research Institute (INSA) and the Spanish Biomedical Research Centre-Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition.

28 Sep 2011

New method for quickly identifying individual viruses

A new method for quickly identifying individual viruses and recognising how they bind to host cells may become a vital tool in the early control of winter vomiting disease and other virus-based diseases. In the west, this means saving money and reducing stress on health-care systems. In developing countries, this means saving lives.

28 Sep 2011

Asians struggling with alcoholism may benefit from naltrexone

New UCLA psychology research indicates that Asians who are struggling with alcoholism may benefit especially from naltrexone, one of three medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of alcoholism.

28 Sep 2011

Scientists identify proteasome phosphatase that appears to regulate removal of damaged proteins

A study by scientists at the University of California, San Diego and UC Irvine has identified an enzyme called a proteasome phosphatase that appears to regulate removal of damaged proteins from a cell. The understanding of how this process works could have important implications for numerous diseases, including cancer and Parkinson's disease.

28 Sep 2011

CCG announces new version of protein structure database and visualization system

Chemical Computing Group (CCG) today announces a new version of its structure database and visualization system, PSILO, featuring new analytical tools and enhanced search capabilities.

27 Sep 2011

USPTO issues patent to Precision BioSciences' engineered meganucleases

Precision BioSciences, Inc., today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has issued U.S. Pat. No. 8,021,867. The '867 patent is owned by Duke University and exclusively licensed to Precision BioSciences.

27 Sep 2011

Close link between SF3B1 mutation and specific feature of myelodysplastic syndromes

Geneticists have discovered that a gene involved in the modification of ribonucleic acid (RNA) is mutated in a significant proportion of people with a collection of blood cancers called myelodysplastic syndromes.

27 Sep 2011

Lead compound activates infection-fighting REDD1 protein and kills flu strain

A compound tested by UT Southwestern Medical Center investigators destroys several viruses, including the deadly Spanish flu that killed an estimated 30 million people in the worldwide pandemic of 1918.

27 Sep 2011

UCLA researchers sequence complete genomes of 17 strains of mice

For decades, laboratory mice have been widely used in research aimed at understanding which genes are involved in various illnesses. But actual variations in past gene sequences of mice were unknown. While researchers were able to determine that a variant affecting disease was in a certain region, they couldn't pinpoint the exact set of variants in that region.

27 Sep 2011

Scientists uncover how methylation changes can influence blood stem cell's fate

Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and the University of Southern California (USC) have uncovered intriguing new evidence helping to explain one of the ways in which a stem cell's fate can be determined.

27 Sep 2011

Researchers identify frequent SF3B1 gene mutation in myelodysplasia

A genomic study of chronic blood cancer - a precursor to leukaemia - has discovered gene mutations that could enable diagnosis using only a blood test, avoiding the need for an invasive and painful bone marrow biopsy.

27 Sep 2011

Asuragen announces data from Signature LTx v2.0 clinical study on leukemia

Asuragen, Inc. announced today that data from a study evaluating its Signature LTx v2.0, a CE-marked IVD test, for the multiplex detection of fusion transcripts associated with ALL, AML and CML leukemia, will be presented at the upcoming Planet XMAP Europe being held September 28 - 29, 2011 in Vienna, Austria.

27 Sep 2011

Weill Cornell receives NIH's T-R01 Award for spina bifida research

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a five-year, $5.5 million Transformative Research Project (T-R01) Award to fund research into risk factors for spina bifida and related congenital defects in which an area of the affected baby's spine or brain is not fully enclosed.

27 Sep 2011

Researchers modify HIV in a way that makes it no longer able to suppress immune system

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have modified HIV in a way that makes it no longer able to suppress the immune system. Their work, they say in a report published online September 19 in the journal Blood, could remove a major hurdle in HIV vaccine development and lead to new treatments.

27 Sep 2011

Potato consumption leads to higher overall diet quality

A frequently expressed concern in the ongoing public health debate is that fresh fruits and vegetables, particularly those that are nutrient dense, are not affordable to the average consumer. Research presented today at the American Dietetic Association's (ADA) Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo (FNCE) demonstrates that potatoes are one of the best nutritional values in the produce department, providing significantly better nutritional value per dollar than most other raw vegetables.

27 Sep 2011

Prenatal exercise improves brain plasticity and prevents Alzheimer's in offspring

If you are pregnant, here's another reason to work out: you will reduce the chances of your new baby developing neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's, later in life.

27 Sep 2011