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Isolated microalgal strain produces significant amounts of DGLA that helps reduce risk for heart attacks

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers have isolated a microalgal strain which produces large amounts of a polyunsaturated fatty acid that could reduce blood pressure, chronic inflammation and blood cholesterol level, reducing the risk for heart attacks.

4 May 2010

Alnylam Biotherapeutics presents new data on RNAi technologies at Cell Culture Engineering XII

Alnylam Biotherapeutics, a division of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today the presentation of new data at the Cell Culture Engineering XII conference held in Alberta, Canada from April 25 - 30, 2010. Alnylam Biotherapeutics was formed by Alnylam to develop RNAi technologies for application in manufacturing processes for biotherapeutic products, including recombinant proteins and monoclonal antibodies.

4 May 2010

Immune system responds aggressively when looking at sick people

Just seeing someone who looks sick is enough to make your immune system work harder, according to a new study in which volunteers looked at pictures of sick people. This may help fight off pathogens, says Mark Schaller from the University of British Columbia who conducted the research. "It seems like it's probably good for the immune system to be responding especially aggressively at times when it looks like you are likely to be coming into contact with something that might make you sick."

4 May 2010

Short sleep linked to premature death, long sleep to serious illnesses

Research carried out by the University of Warwick in collaboration with the Federico II University Medical School in Naples, Italy, has found that people who sleep for less than six hours each night were 12% more likely to die prematurely than those who get the recommended 6-8 hours.

4 May 2010

Novel biomarker test predicts risk of disease progression in patients with Crohn's disease

Prometheus Laboratories Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical and diagnostic company, announced new findings supporting a novel, algorithm-based biomarker test that helps clinicians effectively predict the risk of developing aggressive disease in patients with Crohn's disease.

4 May 2010

USPTO rejects WARF's stem cell patent claims

In what two consumer groups today praised as a victory for open scientific inquiry, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has rejected a controversial patent on human embryonic stem cells held by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF).

4 May 2010

NIH awards $3.4M grant for preclinical development of novel Staphylococcus aureus vaccine

GlycoVaxyn AG, a leader in the development of innovative bioconjugate vaccines, and Professor Jean Lee, principal investigator at the Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, announced today that they have received a USD 3.4 million NIH grant to finance preclinical development of a novel Staphylococcus aureus vaccine. S. aureus is a major cause of hospital-based infections.

4 May 2010

Deficiency of frataxin protein causes Friedreich's ataxia

The defective gene responsible for Friedreich's ataxia was identified over 20 years ago, but so far our ideas of how this gene causes the disease have been merely speculative. It was assumed that, as a result of the mutation, the gene could no longer be transcribed because this stretch of DNA was inaccessible. FMI Group Leader Marc Bühler and his team have now carried out experiments demonstrating that this is not the case and revealing what actually happens in Friedreich's ataxia.

4 May 2010

Brain changes indicative of Fragile X syndrome take place early

Brain changes associated with the most common cause of mental retardation can be seen in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of children as young as one to three years old, according to a study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Stanford University.

4 May 2010

DOE Argonne National Laboratory to upgrade to Advanced Photon Source

Advances in energy conservation, better materials for frontier technologies and new economic engines, and breakthroughs in understanding diseases: These are just a few of the potential discoveries, both basic and applied, to be enabled by an upgrade to the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory. DOE today announced formal approval for conceptual design of the APS upgrade, the first in a series of major milestones that the project must meet under DOE's project management regimen.

4 May 2010

UCSF transgenic mouse model first to display earliest signs of Parkinson's disease

UCSF researchers have created the first transgenic mouse to display the earliest signs of Parkinson's disease using the genetic mutation that is known to accompany human forms of the disease.

4 May 2010

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation induces remission in patients with treatment-resistant depression

Daily transcranial magnetic stimulation—an intervention that uses magnetic currents to activate certain brain areas—appears to help induce remission in patients with treatment-resistant depression, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

4 May 2010

New light-activated Photochemical Tissue Bonding technology helps treat battlefield injuries

Airmen's traumatic battlefield injuries may be more effectively treated by using a new light-activated technology developed as a result of research managed by Air Force Office of Scientific Research and supported by funds from the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

4 May 2010

Johns Hopkins researchers identify a key protein that triggers sarcoidosis

Lung researchers at Johns Hopkins have identified a possible protein trigger responsible for sarcoidosis, a potentially fatal inflammatory disease marked by tiny clumps of inflammatory cells that each year leave deep, grainy scars on the lungs, lymph nodes, skin and almost all major organs in hundreds of thousands of Americans.

4 May 2010

Tart cherries reduce osteoarthritis pain

Arthritis affects about one-quarter of Americans and has been called "the coming epidemic" by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 67 million adults are expected to be afflicted by 2030. May is National Arthritis Month and experts like registered dietitian Dave Grotto want Americans to take a food-first approach to managing arthritis pain.

4 May 2010

BioMarker Strategies receives $1M NCI grant funding to develop SnapPath live tumor cell testing system

BioMarker Strategies announced today that the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has approved the first $1 million in Phase II funding for the company's Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) contract to develop the SnapPath™ live tumor cell testing system. The company is developing the SnapPath™ system to better enable drug companies to stratify patients in clinical trials, as well as assist oncologists in determining the most effective targeted drug treatment for their cancer patients.

4 May 2010

Neural stem cell transplantation promising for Batten disease

Neuronal Ceroid Liposfuscinosis (NCL), often referred to as Batten disease, is a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disorder that afflicts infants and young children. NCL is caused by a deficiency of a lysosomal enzyme, and is a relatively rare disease, affecting an estimated 2 to 4 of every 100,000 babies born in the U.S. Although NCLs are classified as rare diseases, they often affect more than one child in families that carry the defective gene, and tragically, are always fatal.

4 May 2010

Study reveals how human brain adapts to complex situations

Scientists have long known that the brain's frontal cortex supports concrete rule learning. Less clear is how the brain processes more complex and unfamiliar knowledge. In a paper published today (Wednesday, April 28, 2010) in the journal Neuron, a team of researchers at Brown University and the University of California-Berkeley tested whether the frontal lobe has the ability to process more abstract knowledge and how this ability could help navigate new situations and stimuli.

4 May 2010

Hormone-like inner ear signaling system protects against noise-induced hearing loss

An in vivo study shows for the first time that there is a stress-response system within the cochlea that mirrors the signaling pathways of the body's fight or flight response. Researchers have identified a hormone-like signaling system of the inner ear that sets baseline hearing sensitivity and helps protect against noise-induced hearing loss.

4 May 2010

JGH researchers identify 13 new genes associated with osteoporosis, bone weakness

A team of international researchers has identified 20 genes associated with osteoporosis and bone weakness, including 13 genes never previously associated with the disease. Osteoporosis is a highly heritable trait, but this marks the largest international effort to conclusively identify genes linked to the often-devastating bone disorder.

4 May 2010

Medical Science News

Isolated microalgal strain produces significant amounts of DGLA that helps reduce risk for heart attacks

Alnylam Biotherapeutics presents new data on RNAi technologies at Cell Culture Engineering XII

Immune system responds aggressively when looking at sick people

Short sleep linked to premature death, long sleep to serious illnesses

Novel biomarker test predicts risk of disease progression in patients with Crohn's disease

USPTO rejects WARF's stem cell patent claims

NIH awards $3.4M grant for preclinical development of novel Staphylococcus aureus vaccine

Deficiency of frataxin protein causes Friedreich's ataxia

Brain changes indicative of Fragile X syndrome take place early

DOE Argonne National Laboratory to upgrade to Advanced Photon Source

UCSF transgenic mouse model first to display earliest signs of Parkinson's disease

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation induces remission in patients with treatment-resistant depression

New light-activated Photochemical Tissue Bonding technology helps treat battlefield injuries

Johns Hopkins researchers identify a key protein that triggers sarcoidosis

Tart cherries reduce osteoarthritis pain

BioMarker Strategies receives $1M NCI grant funding to develop SnapPath live tumor cell testing system

Neural stem cell transplantation promising for Batten disease

Study reveals how human brain adapts to complex situations

Hormone-like inner ear signaling system protects against noise-induced hearing loss

JGH researchers identify 13 new genes associated with osteoporosis, bone weakness

The future of automation: Machine learning–driven hepatocyte and organoid counting

From street to lab: Advancing controlled substance testing with handheld Raman and FTIR

Reimagining light scattering for biotherapeutics

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