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New research identifies stem cells that generate three critical classes of nerve cells

New research, published in the journal Development, by Dr. Anthony-Samuel LaMantia, professor of Pharmacology & Physiology and director of the newly formed GW Institute for Neuroscience, and his colleagues have identified the stem cells that generate three critical classes of nerve cells - olfactory receptors, vomeronasal and gonadotropin releasing hormone neurons - that are responsible for enabling animals and humans, to eat, interact socially and reproduce.

22 Jul 2010

Herbal dietary supplements may contain toxic metals

Millions of people are taking herbs and other plant-based dietary supplements to improve their health, but they have precious little information on the actual effectiveness or potential ill effects of these products. That's the topic of an article in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News weekly newsmagazine.

22 Jul 2010

Super hemoglobin allows moles to grow underground

'Super hemoglobin' allows moles to thrive underground. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology have made the first identification of an adaptation in the blood of Eastern moles which allows more efficient transport of carbon dioxide, facilitating the moles' burrowing behavior.

22 Jul 2010

Cultivated cucumber, melon originated in Asia and Australia

Sites of origin and regions of domestication of many of our most important cultivated plants are still unknown. The botanical genus Cucumis, to which both the cucumber (Cucumis sativus) and the honeydew melon (C. melo) belong, was long thought to have originated and diversified in Africa, because many wild species of Cucumis are found there. "A molecular genetic analysis has now shown that the wild populations that gave rise to melons and cucumbers originated in Asia", says LMU botanist Professor Susanne Renner.

22 Jul 2010

Brain neuron activity can signal initiation, termination of behavioural sequences: Study

Rui Costa, Principal Investigator of the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, and Xin Jin, of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, describe in the latest issue of the journal Nature, that the activity of certain neurons in the brain can signal the initiation and termination of behavioural sequences we learn anew. Furthermore, they found that this brain activity is essential for learning and executing novel action sequences, many times compromised in patients suffering from disorders such as Parkinson's or Huntington's.

22 Jul 2010

Valproic acid halts vision loss in patients with retinitis pigmentosa

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School believe they may have found a new treatment for retinitis pigmentosa, a severe neurodegenerative disease of the retina that ultimately results in blindness. One of the more common retinal degenerative diseases, RP is caused by the death of photoreceptor cells and affects 1 in 4,000 people in the United States. RP typically manifests in young adulthood as night blindness or a loss of peripheral vision and in many cases progresses to legal blindness by age 40.

22 Jul 2010

Buffer among metbolism pathways induces cancer suppressing gene mutation: Research

Eighty years ago, the medical establishment believed cancer was caused by a dysfunction of metabolism, but the idea went out of vogue. Now, scientists are again looking at metabolism and its role in cancer and other common diseases. Metabolism is a highly connected network of reactions that are arranged in parallel and interacting pathways. Such parallelism can mask how genes are linked with disease traits and make it difficult to treat conditions.

22 Jul 2010

AB SCIEX and ETH partner to accelerate analysis and improve results for metabolomics

AB SCIEX, a global leader in life science analytical technologies, today announced that it is working with scientists at the ETH Zurich Institute of Molecular Systems Biology as part of the Swiss Systems Biology Program (SystemsX.ch) to accelerate analysis and improve results for metabolomics, which is the scientific study of chemical processes involving metabolites.

21 Jul 2010

Researchers find that increase in leptin may promote colorectal neoplasms

Now, for the first time, a collaborative study of researchers at the Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine at Temple University's College of Science and Technology and the Department of Hematology, Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy have found that an increase in leptin, a cytokine that is normally increased in obese or overweight individuals, may promote colorectal neoplasms by activating colorectal cancer stem cells.

21 Jul 2010

Spindly extensions of bone cells sense mechanical stimulation and signal release of bone-growth factors

A long-standing question in bone biology has been answered: It is the spindly extensions of bone cells that sense mechanical stimulation and signal the release of bone-growth factors, according to research from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

21 Jul 2010

Next generation robot could eliminate 'the doctor'

As physician-guided robots routinely operate on patients at most major hospitals, the next generation robot could eliminate a surprising element from that scenario -- the doctor.

21 Jul 2010

Gene essential for respiration and survival at birth identified

How do mammals prepare themselves in utero for a radical modification to their respiration at the time of birth, when they move abruptly from an aquatic medium to air? CNRS researchers, working in collaboration with teams from the Universities of the Méditerranée, Paris-Sud 11 and Paul Cézanne have identified a gene in the mouse that is essential to respiration and consequently to survival at birth.

21 Jul 2010

INRA Genomic Platform core facility now provides services on Fluidigm's BioMark System for Genetic Analysis

Fluidigm Corporation today announced that the Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées Genomic Platform - Genotoul INRA core facility is now providing a wide range of services on a BioMark™ System for Genetic Analysis to a wide range of French researchers. These services include SNP genotyping, gene expression analysis and digital PCR quantification of DNA libraries for next-generation sequencing. The INRA has been validating the performance of the system on several projects over the past year.

21 Jul 2010

University of Luebeck becomes part of Metaminer Cardiac Partnership

GeneGo, Inc., a leading provider of databases, software and services in systems biology and chemistry, announced today that Dr. Salah Mohamed in Department of Cardio and Thoracic Vascular Surgery at the University of Luebeck and his team will be part of the Metaminer Cardiac Partnership. Dr. Mohamed is published within 6 different reputed Scientific American Journals in connection with Biomarker Discovery work performed for the American Heart Association.

21 Jul 2010

ACS to hold symposium on Deepwater Horizon oil spill

The American Chemical Society (ACS) will hold a special day-long symposium on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on Tuesday, Aug. 24 during its National Meeting & Exposition here. The symposium, which includes almost a dozen experts, will examine topics ranging from the spill's effects on marine life to its effects on the safety of seafood. It will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Room 210C of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, followed by an open-discussion session from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

21 Jul 2010

NT-020 nutrients promote adult neural stem cell growth in aged rats: Researchers

A combination of nutrients called NT-020 promoted adult neural stem cell proliferation in aged rats and boosted their memory performance, reported University of South Florida researchers studying natural therapeutic approaches to promoting the health of neurons in the aging brain.

21 Jul 2010

Researchers block central pathway for prostate cancer progression

Prostate cancer advances when tumors become resistant to hormone therapy, which is the standard treatment for patients, and begin producing their own androgens.

21 Jul 2010

Replacing hydrogen with deuterium increases stability, shelf life of fluorescent probes: Research

By swapping out one specific hydrogen atom for an isotope twice as heavy, researchers have increased the shelf life and detection ability of fluorescent probes that are essential to studying a variety of inflammatory diseases, including cancer and atherosclerosis. The probes detect and measure reactive oxygen species, which play an important role in disease processes.

21 Jul 2010

Affymetrix introduces Axiom Custom Genotyping Arrays

Affymetrix, Inc. today announced that it has launched Axiom™ Custom Genotyping Arrays, the newest addition to the Axiom Genotyping Solution. Researchers can now leverage Affymetrix' Axiom Genomic Database, the world's largest collection of validated common and rare SNPs, to create custom arrays containing 50,000 to as many as 2.6 million SNPs. This inherent flexibility allows researchers to conduct genome-wide association, replication, fine mapping, and candidate gene studies on a single platform.

21 Jul 2010

Harvard Apparatus/ Hugo Sachs Elektronik business collaborates to develop lung regeneration bioreactor

Harvard Bioscience, Inc., a global developer, manufacturer and marketer of a broad range of specialized products used to advance life science research and regenerative medicine, announces that its Harvard Apparatus / Hugo Sachs Elektronik business collaborated with Dr. Harald Ott and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to design and manufacture a novel bioreactor that was used to grow a functional lung. The lung was subsequently transplanted into a rat.

21 Jul 2010

Medical Science News

New research identifies stem cells that generate three critical classes of nerve cells

Herbal dietary supplements may contain toxic metals

Super hemoglobin allows moles to grow underground

Cultivated cucumber, melon originated in Asia and Australia

Brain neuron activity can signal initiation, termination of behavioural sequences: Study

Valproic acid halts vision loss in patients with retinitis pigmentosa

Buffer among metbolism pathways induces cancer suppressing gene mutation: Research

AB SCIEX and ETH partner to accelerate analysis and improve results for metabolomics

Researchers find that increase in leptin may promote colorectal neoplasms

Spindly extensions of bone cells sense mechanical stimulation and signal release of bone-growth factors

Next generation robot could eliminate 'the doctor'

Gene essential for respiration and survival at birth identified

INRA Genomic Platform core facility now provides services on Fluidigm's BioMark System for Genetic Analysis

University of Luebeck becomes part of Metaminer Cardiac Partnership

ACS to hold symposium on Deepwater Horizon oil spill

NT-020 nutrients promote adult neural stem cell growth in aged rats: Researchers

Researchers block central pathway for prostate cancer progression

Replacing hydrogen with deuterium increases stability, shelf life of fluorescent probes: Research

Affymetrix introduces Axiom Custom Genotyping Arrays

Harvard Apparatus/ Hugo Sachs Elektronik business collaborates to develop lung regeneration bioreactor

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

Global and Local Efforts to Take Action Against Hepatitis

Addressing Important Cardiac Biology Questions with Shotgun Top-Down Proteomics

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