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Compound derived from fruit and vegetables could be used to improve the effects of an established cancer drug

The drug, mitomycin C (MMC), is a well-known anticancer treatment used mainly against solid tumours in the bladder and lower bowel. It is activated by enzymes naturally found in the human body, but its use is limited by severe side effects at higher doses.

5 Oct 2004

Significant progress in development of an animal model of smallpox that closely resembles human disease

Scientists have made significant progress in developing an animal model of smallpox that closely resembles human disease, which will be necessary for testing of future vaccines and potential treatments.

5 Oct 2004

Scientists have shown that the textbook explanation of how enzymes work is wrong

Their discovery may explain why attempts to make artificial enzymes have often been disappointing. Industry must now re-think the rationale for the design of biological catalysts and its approaches to drug design.

5 Oct 2004

Fourth gene found for distal muscular dystrophy

MDA grantees Peter Hedera, a neurologist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., and Nigel Laing, a molecular biologist at the University of Western Australia, were part of a team that identified a fourth gene that, when flawed, leads to distal muscular dystrophy (DD).

4 Oct 2004

South American knife fish may hold one of the keys to our understanding the development of the human brain

Do South American knife fish hold one of the keys to our understanding the development of the human brain? They might, according to Dr. Kent Dunlap, associate professor of biology at Trinity College.

4 Oct 2004

Scientists develop rapid-fire tests for botulinum toxin

Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a pair of rapid-fire tests for botulinum toxin, a feat that could underpin new technologies to thwart bioterrorism and spur the development of agents to blunt the toxic action of the world's most poisonous substance.

29 Sep 2004

DuPont CEO says consumers will increasingly depend on biotechnology

DuPont Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Charles O. Holliday, Jr. today said significant progress has been made in demonstrating the benefits of biotechnology, in its acceptance, and in the advancement of new and exciting products the technology is making possible.

28 Sep 2004

Researchers reduce the toxicity of water-soluble buckyballs by a factor of more than ten million

Researchers at Rice University's Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (CBEN) have demonstrated a simple way to reduce the toxicity of water-soluble buckyballs by a factor of more than ten million.

26 Sep 2004

Replication timing assays may allow much earlier cancer detection

Scientists have discovered a DNA sequence that is involved in controlling the timing of DNA replication. Because alterations in DNA replication timing are associated with cancer, this discovery may lead to improved methods for cancer detection.

26 Sep 2004

Gene responsible for a rare form of dystonia known as rapid-onset dystonia parkinsonism identified

Investigators funded in part by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) have identified the gene responsible for a rare form of dystonia known as rapid-onset dystonia parkinsonism (RDP).

23 Sep 2004

First generation of human retinal cells in the laboratory from human embryonic stem cells

Some of these retinal tissues such as Retinal Pigment Epithelium (RPE) may provide a novel therapeutic strategy for such devastating diseases as macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, and other retinal degenerative diseases.

23 Sep 2004

Breakthrough discovery on why the malaria parasite has become resistant to chloroquine

Scientists at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine have made a major breakthrough in discovering why the malaria parasite Plasmodium Falciparum, deposited in humans by the mosquito, has become resistant to chloroquine

23 Sep 2004

Genes in poppy could hold the key to producing improved pain management pharmaceuticals

"The genes we found behaved differently in Norman compared to standard morphine producing poppies and were consistently associated with the blockage in morphine synthesis and with the accumulation of thebaine and oripavine," Dr Larkin says.

23 Sep 2004

A naturally occurring chemical that may repel yellow fever mosquitoes can now be made in the laboratory

Gaur acid is a natural skin secretion of the gaur, an Asian wild ox. Preliminary evidence suggests that this chemical discourages the landing and feeding of Aedes aegypti, a common mosquito that carries and transmits the yellow fever virus in some parts of the world.

23 Sep 2004

Nanowires could be used to sense thousands of different viruses

Harvard University scientists have found that ultra-thin silicon wires can be used to electrically detect the presence of single viruses, in real time, with near-perfect selectivity.

22 Sep 2004

Zebrafish atlas will help research community to model human disease

An inch-long tropical fish will enjoy improved global exposure thanks to a five-year, $2.7 million grant from the National Center for Research Resources-National Institutes of Health

22 Sep 2004

Amyloid growth can occur independently of oligomers

Improperly folded proteins are normally destroyed. But in a wide range of diseases, including prion (from proteinaceous and infectious) diseases and neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson disease and Alzheimer disease, amyloid fibrils, or plaques--misshapen proteins that aggregate into characteristic ropelike configurations--accumulate in tissue.

22 Sep 2004

Medical Science News

Compound derived from fruit and vegetables could be used to improve the effects of an established cancer drug

Significant progress in development of an animal model of smallpox that closely resembles human disease

Scientists have shown that the textbook explanation of how enzymes work is wrong

Fourth gene found for distal muscular dystrophy

South American knife fish may hold one of the keys to our understanding the development of the human brain

Scientists develop rapid-fire tests for botulinum toxin

DuPont CEO says consumers will increasingly depend on biotechnology

Researchers reduce the toxicity of water-soluble buckyballs by a factor of more than ten million

Replication timing assays may allow much earlier cancer detection

Gene responsible for a rare form of dystonia known as rapid-onset dystonia parkinsonism identified

First generation of human retinal cells in the laboratory from human embryonic stem cells

Breakthrough discovery on why the malaria parasite has become resistant to chloroquine

Genes in poppy could hold the key to producing improved pain management pharmaceuticals

A naturally occurring chemical that may repel yellow fever mosquitoes can now be made in the laboratory

Nanowires could be used to sense thousands of different viruses

Zebrafish atlas will help research community to model human disease

Amyloid growth can occur independently of oligomers

Edible vaccine for HIV AIDS

Scientists have corrected a flaw in cancer cells that lets them evade the normal cell-death process

Scientists decipher genetic code of ancient pathogen that causes the horse disease

Small solutions for big problems in drug discovery and delivery

Professor Nancy Ip: Pioneering New Paths in Neurodegenerative Therapy

Utilizing process Raman in optimizing cultivated meat production

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