Medical Science News

RSS

Tasmanian devil Cedric could save his species

Tasmanian devils, the world's largest marsupial carnivores, are a species facing extinction because of an ugly disfiguring cancer, known as devil facial tumour disease or DFTD.

1 Apr 2008

Femtogram-level chemical measurements now possible

Finding a simple and convenient technique that combines nanoscale structural measurements and chemical identification has been an elusive goal.

31 Mar 2008

Researchers examine human embryonic stem cell genome

Stem cell researchers from UCLA used a high resolution technique to examine the genome, or total DNA content, of a pair of human embryonic stem cell lines and found that while both lines could form neurons, the lines had differences in the numbers of certain genes that could control such things as individual traits and disease susceptibility.

31 Mar 2008

International team of scientists discover clue to delay of life on Earth

Scientists from around the world have reconstructed changes in Earth's ancient ocean chemistry during a broad sweep of geological time, from about 2.5 to 0.5 billion years ago.

28 Mar 2008

Beetle genome opens the door to developmental research

The whole DNA sequence of the red flour beetle, familiar to many as an unwelcome visitor to the kitchen flour jar, has been published in Nature .

28 Mar 2008

New method of filming blood-vessel cells

A new method of filming blood-vessel cells that move in accordance with targeted signals has been developed by researchers at Uppsala University in collaboration with researchers at the University of California.

28 Mar 2008

New nanoparticles for targeting tumors

As a wide variety of nanoparticles continue to demonstrate their ability to improve the delivery of imaging agents and drugs to tumors, nanoparticle researchers have turned their attention to the challenge of systematically determining how a given nanoparticle’s physical and chemical characteristics affect its ability to target tumors. Such data could provide drug developers with guidelines to help them select the most effective type of nanoparticle for a given therapeutic or imaging application.

28 Mar 2008

Anticancer siRNA therapy advances, thanks to nanoparticles

Small pieces of nucleic acid, known as siRNAs (short interfering RNAs), can turn off the production of specific proteins, a property that makes them one of the more promising new classes of anticancer drugs in development. Indeed, at least two siRNA-based anticancer therapies, both delivered to tumors in nanoparticles, have begun human clinical trials. Now, three new reports highlight the progress that researchers are making in developing broadly applicable, nanoparticle-enabled siRNA anticancer therapeutics.

28 Mar 2008

Astrotechnology brings nanoparticle probes into sharper focus

While pondering the challenges of distinguishing one nanosize probe image from another in a mass of hundreds or thousands of nanoprobes, two investigators at Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology made an interesting observation. The tiny, clustered dots of light looked a lot like a starry sky on a clear night.

27 Mar 2008

First comprehensive database of microorganisms known to live in the mouth

Scientists know more today than ever before about the microbes that inhabit our mouths.

26 Mar 2008

Wistar Institute shares cell lines

Cell lines developed by scientists at The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia have recently been made available to researchers around the globe through the catalog collection at the Coriell Institute for Medical Research of Camden, N.J.

26 Mar 2008

New horizons in the creation of synthetic enzymes

Mankind triumphed in a recent "competition" against nature when scientists succeeded in creating a new type of enzyme for a reaction for which no naturally occurring enzyme has evolved.

26 Mar 2008

Luna discovers nanomedicine prototype aids in the growth of new hair follicles

Scientists at Luna's nanoWorks Division in Danville, VA, have been developing a portfolio of new candidates based on antioxidant nanomaterials which could lead to a platform technology for treating a wide range of diseases. “One of our new nanomedicine prototypes, after only two weeks of treatment, was found to increase the number of hair follicles fourfold in mice which are born genetically hairless,” said Robert Lenk, President of Luna's nanoWorks Division.

26 Mar 2008

Discovery about fertilization points way to possible malaria vaccine

International investigations of an organism that one UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher calls a “silly little green scum” have led to key insights into the basic mechanisms of reproduction.

26 Mar 2008

Birth of an enzyme

Mankind triumphed in a recent 'competition' against nature when scientists succeeded in creating a new type of enzyme for a reaction for which no naturally occurring enzyme has evolved.

25 Mar 2008

Deadly genetic disease prevented before birth in zebrafish with genetic patch

By injecting a customized "genetic patch" into early stage fish embryos, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis were able to correct a genetic mutation so the embryos developed normally.

24 Mar 2008

Natural biomedicines from the ocean

With the number of terrestrial sources that yield novel treatments for human disease decreasing year by year, the oceans have been tapped as a promising resource for discovering new natural biomedicines.

20 Mar 2008

$New way to predict fracturing in statues and bones$