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Scientists coax tumor cells to grow into 3-D spheres

A team of scientists has developed a way to coax tumor cells in the lab to grow into 3-D spheres. Their discovery takes advantage of an earlier technique of producing spherical cavities in a common polymer and promises more accurate tests of new cancer therapies.

10 Jun 2011

Progressive strength training counteracts muscular atrophy in old age

People lose 30% of their muscle strength between the ages of 50 and 70 years. However, maintaining muscle strength in old age is enormously important in order to maintain mobility and to be able to lead an independent life and manage everyday tasks independently.

10 Jun 2011

Life Technologies enters exclusive agreement for TAL Effector Technology license

Life Technologies Corporation has signed an exclusive license agreement for novel technology that enables synthetic biologists to effectively program and control the genetic circuitry in engineered pathways and organisms.

10 Jun 2011

Adaptation of fat cell membranes to obesity may play a key role in early stages of inflammatory disorders

The mechanisms by which obesity leads towards metabolic co-morbidities, such as diabetes mellitus, are poorly understood and of great public health interest. A study led by Matej Orešič from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland suggests that adaptation of fat cell membranes to obesity may play a key role in the early stages of inflammatory disorders.

10 Jun 2011

Study links mutations in essential genes with orphan diseases

Mutations in genes essential to survival are behind so-called orphan diseases, explaining in part why these diseases are rare and often deadly, according to a study appearing in The American Journal of Human Genetics.

10 Jun 2011

Promising new strategy for treating human type 2 diabetes

In a mouse study, scientists at Mayo Clinic Florida have demonstrated the feasibility of a promising new strategy for treating human type 2 diabetes, which affects more than 200 million people worldwide.

10 Jun 2011

Boys, girls with ADHD may differ from each other in their vulnerability to substance use problems

According to a recent Finnish study, boys and girls with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may differ from each other in their vulnerability to substance use problems. Inattentiveness and hyperactivity may be more predictive of alcohol use disorders and maladaptive patterns of alcohol and illicit drug use among girls than boys.

10 Jun 2011

Research provides better understanding of interplay between genomes of malaria parasites, humans

For tens of thousands of years, the genomes of malaria parasites and humans have been at war with one another. Now, University of Pennsylvania geneticists, in collaboration with an international team of scientists, have developed a new picture of one way that the human genome has fought back.

10 Jun 2011

Sulforaphane-rich foods safe and effective for preventing cancer

Sulforaphane, one of the primary phytochemicals in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables that helps them prevent cancer, has been shown for the first time to selectively target and kill cancer cells while leaving normal prostate cells healthy and unaffected.

10 Jun 2011

Scientists to develop new tissue engineering technology for patients with osteoarthritis

Medical scientists now have "clear" evidence that the damaged cartilage tissue in osteoarthritis and other painful joint disorders can be encouraged to regrow and regenerate, and are developing tissue engineering technology that could help millions of patients with those disorders.

10 Jun 2011

Antimullerian hormone test can help indicate number of eggs, pregnancy in women

Given how much patients invest in in vitro fertilization (IVF), both financially and emotionally, tools to inform couples about what they might expect during their treatment can be welcome. A study by researchers at Brown University and Women & Infants Hospital shows that as the IVF cycle is beginning, a blood test for levels of a hormone called AMH, or antimullerian hormone, can help predict the number of eggs that will be harvested.

10 Jun 2011

ST2 biomarker can help indicate prognosis in ambulatory cardiovascular patients

The novel cardiac biomarker ST2 was highlighted in a presentation at last month's 2011 Heart Failure Congress of the European Society of Cardiology in Gothenburg, Sweden. As this study and others have demonstrated, a patient's ST2 level can help a physician better predict prognosis in ambulatory, chronic heart failure patients, which can allow physicians to more appropriately tailor care.

10 Jun 2011

Platelet-derived growth factor-BB restores function in rats with Parkinson's disease

Few treatments for Parkinson's disease (PD) restore function for extended periods. In a new study published today in the inaugural issue of the Journal of Parkinson's Disease, an international group of researchers report that platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) restored function in rodents and shows promise as a clinical candidate drug for treatment of PD.

10 Jun 2011

Neuroscientists uncover the source of visual system's 'false alarms'

On rare occasion, the light-sensing photoreceptor cells in the eye misfire and signal to the brain as if they have captured photons, when in reality they haven't. For years this phenomenon remained a mystery. Reporting in the June 10 issue of Science, neuroscientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have discovered that a light-capturing pigment molecule in photoreceptors can be triggered by heat, as well, giving rise to these false alarms.

10 Jun 2011

Simple urine test could detect early stage cancers

Cancers of the gut, stomach and pancreas could be detected much sooner with a simple urine test, research suggests.

10 Jun 2011

Scientists uncover new role for key cancer protein

Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have uncovered a new role for a key cancer protein, a finding that could pave the way for more-effective radiation treatment of a variety of tumors.

10 Jun 2011

Mothers' B vitamin intake protects children against intestinal tumors

Mice born to mothers who are fed a diet supplemented with B vitamins are less likely to develop intestinal tumors, report scientists at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University.

10 Jun 2011

Scripps Research receives $2.2M NIH grant to develop novel therapeutics for substance abuse

The Scripps Research Institute has been awarded a $2.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop novel therapeutics for the treatment of addiction to multiple substances in a national effort with the University of Kansas.

10 Jun 2011

LGL to host third annual pharmacogenetic conference on 8-9th November 2011

London Genetics Limited, an expert in the use of pharmacogenetics in clinical drug discovery and development, is pleased to announce that its third annual pharmacogenetic conference will feature top-level presentations from players in all parts of the healthcare chain.

10 Jun 2011

Non-alcoholic wheat beer has positive effect on athletes' health

Many amateur athletes have long suspected what research scientists for the Department of Preventative and Rehabilitative Sports Medicine of the Technische Universitaet Muenchen at Klinikum rechts der Isar have now made official: Documented proof, gathered during the world's largest study of marathons, "Be-MaGIC", that the consumption of non-alcoholic weissbier, or wheat beer, has a positive effect on athletes' health.

10 Jun 2011