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Article outlines role of transcriptional mutagenesis in tumor development

DNA provides the instruction manual for all life forms. Occasionally, instructions are not carried out properly, and bad messages are sent leading to the creation of mutant proteins and possible tumor development.

5 Mar 2011

Study: Overweight adolescents may have high risk of less bone mass

Overweight adolescents already struggling with risk factors such as insulin resistance may need to add weak bones to their list of health concerns, researchers report.

5 Mar 2011

Study: BMP can improve dental implant success

Using a bone-creating protein to augment the maxillary sinus could improve dental implant success, according to Georgia Health Sciences University researchers.

5 Mar 2011

Brain enzyme can restore even old, fading memories, say researchers

Even long after it is formed, a memory in rats can be enhanced or erased by increasing or decreasing the activity of a brain enzyme, say researchers supported, in part, by the National Institutes of Health.

4 Mar 2011

Scientist discovers new mechanism for regulation of gene expression

Dr. David Levin, Professor of Molecular & Cell Biology at Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine and Professor of Microbiology at Boston University School of Medicine discovered recently a novel, evolutionarily conserved mechanism for the regulation of gene expression.

4 Mar 2011

Sangamo's preclinical ZFN-gene modification studies for HIV/AIDS treatment presented at CROI

Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. announced that data from its programs to develop ZFN-based therapeutic approaches for the treatment of HIV/AIDS were discussed in four oral presentations at the 18th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, held in Boston from February 27 to March 2, 2011.

4 Mar 2011

Researchers transform human embryonic stem cell into neuron that dies early in Alzheimer's disease

Northwestern Medicine researchers for the first time have transformed a human embryonic stem cell into a critical type of neuron that dies early in Alzheimer's disease and is a major cause of memory loss.

4 Mar 2011

New promising detection technology identifies cancer cells early

Yesterday's Wall Street Journal (March 1) published a lead article on page D1 entitled "Researchers Create Better Ways To Spot Cancer Cells", which described the research by Dr. Edward R. Flynn, of Senior Scientific LLC. The article was authored by Shirley S. Wang.

4 Mar 2011

Apple polyphenols prolong average lifespan of fruit flies

Scientists are reporting the first evidence that consumption of a healthful antioxidant substance in apples extends the average lifespan of test animals, and does so by 10 percent. The new results, obtained with fruit flies - stand-ins for humans in hundreds of research projects each year - bolster similar findings on apple antioxidants in other animal tests. The study appears in ACS's Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

4 Mar 2011

SERS nanosubstrates revolutionize medical diagnostics

Gold-coated substrates of gallium nitride with specifically formed surface, developed by researchers from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Institute of High Pressure Physics of the PAS display worldwide unique properties. Thanks to these new substrates, an extremely sensitive SERS analytical technique, capable of detecting even single molecules, after decades of waiting in specialized laboratories has finally got a chance to widespread and revolutionize medical diagnostics.

4 Mar 2011

New study finds liver instead of the brain as source of Alzheimer’s plaques

Unexpected results from a Scripps Research Institute and ModGene, LLC study could completely alter scientists' ideas about Alzheimer's disease—pointing to the liver instead of the brain as the source of the "amyloid" that deposits as brain plaques associated with this devastating condition. The findings could offer a relatively simple approach for Alzheimer's prevention and treatment.

4 Mar 2011

Triptolide isolated from Chinese medicinal plant blocks gene control machinery in cells

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have discovered that a natural product isolated from a traditional Chinese medicinal plant commonly known as thunder god vine, or lei gong teng, and used for hundreds of years to treat many conditions including rheumatoid arthritis works by blocking gene control machinery in the cell. The report, published as a cover story of the March issue of Nature Chemical Biology, suggests that the natural product could be a starting point for developing new anticancer drugs.

4 Mar 2011

New computer-controlled system to create cell assembly line

Borrowing a page from modern manufacturing, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have built a microscopic assembly line that mass produces synthetic cell-like compartments.

4 Mar 2011

Researchers demonstrate potential neurochemical mechanism of weight loss

An interdisciplinary group of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania has, for the first time, identified the neurological and cellular signaling mechanisms that contribute to satiety - the sensation of feeling full - and the subsequent body-weight loss produced by drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes. More comprehensive knowledge of these mechanisms could form the basis for anti-obesity medications.

4 Mar 2011

Lactate plays critical role in formation of long-term memory

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that lactate, a type of energy fuel in the brain, plays a critical role in the formation of long-term memory. These findings have important implications for common illnesses like Alzheimer's disease, other neurodegenerative disorders, aging-related memory impairment and diabetes. The research is published in the March 4th issue of the journal Cell.

4 Mar 2011

Enhancing function of protein CNT1 increases effectiveness of cancer-killing drugs in pancreatic tumors

New University of Georgia research has identified a protein that can be modified to improve the effectiveness of one of the most common drugs used to treat pancreatic cancer.

4 Mar 2011

Executioner enzyme may short circuit second form of cell death

An enzyme viewed as an executioner, because it can push cells to commit suicide, may actually short circuit a second form of cell death, researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have discovered.

4 Mar 2011

Talecris granted EU orphan drug designation for Plasmin (human) to treat acute peripheral arterial occlusion

Talecris Biotherapeutics, Inc. (TLCR) announced today that it has been granted orphan drug designation by the European Commission for the development of Plasmin (human) to treat acute peripheral arterial occlusion (aPAO). Talecris is currently investigating Plasmin in a phase II clinical trial designed to assess its ability to treat aPAO, a condition in which arterial blood flow to the extremities, usually the legs, is blocked by a clot.

4 Mar 2011

Efficiency of brain function depends on family's genetic makeup

How well our brain functions is largely based on our family's genetic makeup, according to a University of Melbourne led study.

4 Mar 2011

DNA methylation patterns can accurately detect early bowel cancer

Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered for the first time that DNA methylation patterns - a key process in cell development - could accurately detect early bowel cancer, according to research published in Gut, today.

3 Mar 2011