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New technique can help develop HIV vaccines

Researchers have traced in detail how certain powerful HIV neutralizing antibodies evolve, a finding that generates vital clues to guide the design of a preventive HIV vaccine, according to a study appearing in Science Express this week.

12 Aug 2011

Study tracks development of chimp brain and makes comparison to humans

In both chimpanzees and humans, portions of the brain that are critical for complex cognitive functions, including decision-making, self-awareness and creativity, are immature at birth. But there are important differences, too. Baby chimpanzees don't show the same dramatic increase in the volume of prefrontal white matter in the brain that human infants do.

12 Aug 2011

Researchers to develop new prostate cancer therapy

Prostate cancer that has become resistant to hormone treatment and that does not respond to radiation or chemotherapy requires new methods of treatment. By attacking stem cell-like cells in prostate cancer, researchers at Lund University are working on a project to develop a new treatment option.

12 Aug 2011

Research team reports first genetic sequencing of urothelial carcinoma

In an article published online this week in Nature Genetics, a University of Colorado Cancer Center team in partnership with universities in China and Denmark reports the first genetic sequencing of urothelial (transitional) carcinoma, the most prevalent type of bladder cancer.

12 Aug 2011

Insight into how molecular motor proteins save energy

The transport system inside living cells is a well-oiled machine with tiny protein motors hauling chromosomes, neurotransmitters and other vital cargo around the cell. These molecular motors are responsible for a variety of critical transport jobs, but they are not always on the go. They can put themselves into "energy save mode" to conserve cellular fuel and, as a consequence, control what gets moved around the cell, and when.

12 Aug 2011

G-CSF therapy does not induce chromosomal instability in healthy stem cell donors

According to a study published in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), researchers have reported that administration of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), a drug that releases stem cells from the bone marrow into the blood, is unlikely to put healthy stem cell donors at risk for later development of abnormalities involving loss or gains of chromosomes that have been linked to hematologic disorders such as myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia.

12 Aug 2011

MYCN amplification can serve as a favorable prognostic indicator for neuroblastoma

Neuroblastoma, a malignant tumor that primarily affects infants and young children, is a leading cause of death for children with cancer. When amplification of the MYCN oncogene is found in the tumor, it usually indicates an aggressive tumor with rapid progression of the disease and a poor outcome. Thus MYCN amplification has come to be used as a prognostic indicator.

12 Aug 2011

New measurement technologies provide scientists more complete look at neurological activity

In 1991, Carl Lewis was both the fastest man on earth and a profound long jumper, perhaps the greatest track-and-field star of all time in the prime of his career. On June 14th of that year, however, Carl Lewis was human. Leroy Burrell blazed through the 100-meters, besting him by a razor-thin margin of three-hundredths of a second. In the time it takes the shutter to capture a single frame of video, Lewis's three-year-old world record was gone.

12 Aug 2011

NSAIDs like ibuprofen slow the spread of breast cancers

Published online on Aug. 7, 2011, the journal Nature Medicine reports that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs including ibuprofen reduce the severity of postpartum breast cancers in animal models.

12 Aug 2011

La Jolla Institute's new RNAi Center to focus on genetics behind myriad diseases

A major Center that will propel scientific efforts to pinpoint the specific genes involved in causing immune diseases, cancer and other diseases will be opened today at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology.

12 Aug 2011

Female sex hormone oestrogen could fight against cardiovascular disease

The sex hormone oestrogen could help protect women from cardiovascular disease by keeping the body's immune system in check, new research from Queen Mary, University of London has revealed.

12 Aug 2011

Medical College of Wisconsin to establish National Center for Systems Biology

The Medical College of Wisconsin has received a five-year, $13 million grant to establish a National Center for Systems Biology.

12 Aug 2011

Researchers discover key reason why pyrazinamide shortens duration of TB therapy

Pyrazinamide has been used in combination with other drugs as a first-line treatment for people with tuberculosis (TB) since the 1950s, but exactly how the drug works has not been well understood.

12 Aug 2011

NPL scientists mimick the ways viruses infect human cells and deliver genetic material

Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) have mimicked the ways viruses infect human cells and deliver their genetic material. The research hopes to apply the approach to gene therapy - a therapeutic strategy to correct defective genes such as those that cause cancer.

12 Aug 2011

Study links low vitamin D with early menstruation in young girls

A study links low vitamin D in young girls with early menstruation, which is a risk factor for a host of health problems for teen girls as well as women later in life.

12 Aug 2011

Single engineered protein blocks two related angiogenic receptors

Cancer needs blood. In fact, some cancer medications work solely to slow or prevent cancer cells from creating new capillaries, choking off their much-needed blood and nutrient supply to halt the growth of tumors.

12 Aug 2011

New model for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

By isolating cells from patients' spinal tissue within a few days after death, researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed a new model of the paralyzing disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

12 Aug 2011

Scientists identify new therapeutic target for ADHD, other neuropsychiatric disorders

A biochemical pathway long associated with diarrhea and intestinal function may provide a new therapeutic target for treating ADHD other neuropsychiatric disorders, according to a team of scientists from China and the United States reporting Aug. 11 in Science.

12 Aug 2011

Hi-tech tattoo that acts as heart, brain and muscle monitor

Researchers have designed a wireless electronic monitoring device so thin it can be applied to the skin like a temporary tattoo. It could one day be used to monitor heart, brain and muscle activity of patients without their even noticing.

12 Aug 2011

SIGMAR1 gene mutation associated with development of juvenile ALS

Researchers from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have identified a mutation on the SIGMAR1 gene associated with the development of juvenile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

12 Aug 2011