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Researchers find bariatric surgery reduces cardiovascular disease risk

Significant weight loss not only improves daily life of morbidly obese woman but also decreases the risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, many people can not lose weight or can not maintain weight loss without help. Bariatric surgery is emerging as a valuable procedure to help morbidly obese individuals lose weight, as studies have shown; it can improve many health profiles and lower mortality. Now, researchers have found another positive impact of significant weight loss after bariatric surgery, it can significantly improve the lipoprotein profiles of women within a year following surgery.

17 Sep 2010

Researchers decode key DNA in evolution of aging, development and fertility

UC Irvine researchers have deciphered how lowly fruit flies bred to rapidly develop and reproduce actually evolve over time. The findings, reported in the Sept. 15 online issue of Nature, contradict the long-held belief that sexual beings evolve the same way simpler organisms do and could fundamentally alter the direction of genetic research for new pharmaceuticals and other products.

17 Sep 2010

Common Alzheimer's disease drug enhances learning of new skills

Research on a drug commonly prescribed to Alzheimer's disease patients is helping neuroscientists at the University of California, Berkeley, better understand perceptual learning in healthy adults.

17 Sep 2010

Researchers reveal Prozac reactions to increase serotonin level

The response time to antidepressants, such as Prozac, is around three weeks. The adaptation mechanisms of the neurons to antidepressants has, until now, remained enigmatic. In particular, the researchers have revealed, for the first time, a sequence of reactions caused by Prozac at the neuron level, which contributes to an increase in the amounts of serotonin, a chemical "messenger" essential to the brain, and deficient in depressive individuals.

17 Sep 2010

Scientists discover new drug target to improve radiation effectiveness for treating cancer

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered a new drug target that could improve the effectiveness of radiation for hard-to-treat cancers.

17 Sep 2010

New anti-pathogenic drugs render MRSA harmless without killing bacteria

Menachem Shoham, PhD, associate professor and researcher in the department of biochemistry at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, has identified new anti-pathogenic drugs that, without killing the bacteria, render Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) harmless by preventing the production of toxins that cause disease.

17 Sep 2010

Fat-derived stem cells can aid breast reconstruction after mastectomy

Fat-derived stem cells can be safely used to aid reconstruction of breast tissue after mastectomy as long as there is no evidence of active cancer, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

17 Sep 2010

Survey reveals 72% of people over age of 65 do not feel old

There is a sharp contrast between people's positive attitudes towards growing old and their preparedness according to the results of a new international survey, Bupa Health Pulse 2010, published today by Bupa Health Dialog.

17 Sep 2010

Researchers discover chronic stress accelerates breast cancer progression

Chronic stress acts as a sort of fertilizer that feeds breast cancer progression, significantly accelerating the spread of disease in animal models, researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have found.

17 Sep 2010

Scripps Research Institute receives grant to develop DNA sequencing technology

Scripps Research Institute Professor Reza Ghadiri, Ph.D., has been awarded a four-year, $5.1 million grant as part of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) initiative to spur the development of the next generation of DNA sequencing technologies, which could enable biomedical researchers and health care workers to routinely sequence a person's DNA.

17 Sep 2010

Pall launches GeneDisc Rapid Microbiology System for advanced microbial quality monitoring

Pall Corporation, a global leader in filtration, separation and purification, today announced the introduction of the GeneDisc® Rapid Microbiology System for advanced microbial quality monitoring. This system represents Pall's latest quality assurance innovation for the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry.

From Pall Corporation 17 Sep 2010

Researcher discover enzyme for brain tumor malignancy

Tom Wurdinger, a Dutch researcher who is connected to Harvard (Boston) and the VUmc Cancer Center in Amsterdam, has discovered the enzyme playing a very important role in the return of malign brain tumor after surgery and radiation. By making this enzyme inactive, the cancer cell can become disorganized and blow itself up.

17 Sep 2010

Scientists discover simple molecular test to block GOAT enzyme

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have designed a new molecular test that will allow researchers to look for potential drugs targeting a human metabolic enzyme believed to stimulate the appetite and play a role in diabetes.

17 Sep 2010

Research on BMP6 protein suggests potential therapeutic target for Alzheimer's disease

Elevated levels of a growth protein in the brains of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients is linked to impaired neurogenesis, the process by which new neurons are generated, say researchers at the University of California, San Diego in today's edition of The Journal of Neuroscience.

17 Sep 2010

Scientists discover protein to regulate blood stem cells’ activity for leukemia treatment

A discovery made by Dr. Tarik Möröy, President and Scientific Director and Director of the IRCM, and his team was recently published in Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology. The researchers found that a protein can regulate certain characteristics of blood stem cells, which could lead to a better treatment for leukemia patients.

17 Sep 2010

Devil genome sequenced: Hope for endangered Tasmanian Devils

Tasmanian Devil Salem died at age seven but made a difference to her endangered species. Only 50 micrograms of her tissue was taken and processed by Australian genetic scientist Elizabeth Murchison, using new US technology, to produce the first devil genome sequence. As a result, the fight against devil facial tumor disease now has a draft DNA reference map. This was presented at a genetic conference in Hobart yesterday.

16 Sep 2010

Researchers identify role of bile acid in lifespan extension

The human quest for longer life may be one step closer, thanks to research from Concordia University. Published in the journal Aging, a new study is the first to identify the role of a bile acid, called lithocholic acid (LCA), in extending the lifespan of normally aging yeast. The findings may have significant implications for human longevity and health, as yeast share some common elements with people.

16 Sep 2010

NHLBI selects NuGEN to provide automated reagent solutions for expression profiling

NuGEN Technologies, the provider of innovative RNA and DNA amplification and sample preparation technologies for genomic analysis, today announced it has been selected by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to provide automated reagent solutions for expression profiling of approximately 6,000 blood samples from the Framingham Heart Study.

16 Sep 2010

Researchers to contribute to brain circuit mapping in Human Connectome Project

Thirty-three researchers at nine institutions will contribute to the Human Connectome Project (http://www.humanconnectome.org/consortia). Using powerful, custom-built brain scanners, a supercomputer, new brain analysis techniques and other state-of-the-art resources, they will trace the anatomical 'wires' that interconnect thousands of different regions of the human brain's gray matter.

16 Sep 2010

Researchers to conduct gene analysis for ankylosing spondylitis

A new study designed to test suspected links between genes and two immune disorders could open the door to better ways to diagnose and treat the conditions that affect a combined total of approximately 2.5 million people in the United States, report scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

16 Sep 2010