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Archived blood from infant heel stick tests could lead to discoveries about diseases that have roots in perinatal period

Van Andel Institute (VAI) researchers are the first to apply a new technology to measure on a large scale the presence of genes in blood spots - the blood drawn from newborn infants to screen for health-threatening conditions.

16 Dec 2008

Does faith help literacy?

New research at Goldsmiths will set about answering that question by looking at how faith impacts upon becoming literate, in particular when families move to a new country and need to learn a new language.

16 Dec 2008

Pigs and dogs can bridge gap between mice and humans in developing new therapies

Human and veterinary medicine could receive a big boost through use of larger animals, especially pigs and dogs, in research, with Europe at the forefront.

16 Dec 2008

Voriconazole effective in combating fungal infections

The effectiveness of voriconazole in combating fungal infections has been confirmed by a new study to be featured in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, published by Elsevier.

16 Dec 2008

Natural product from red seaweed brings new antiviral spray

Marinomed Biotechnologie GmbH has been awarded the top prize in the Mercur 2008 innovation awards. This award to Marinomed honours the discovery of antiviral properties in a natural product and the rapid development of the discovery into a nasal spray for treating the common cold.

16 Dec 2008

Low income men diagnosed more often with advanced prostate cancer

Coincident with the widespread adoption of PSA screening, the proportion of American men diagnosed with organ-confined, low risk prostate cancer has increased significantly during the last two decades. In a study scheduled for publication in the February 2009 issue of The Journal of Urology, researchers report that for low-income men, the opposite is true, with more men undiagnosed until their cancers had reached more advanced stages.

16 Dec 2008

Top public health award for Sydney researcher

Australia's leading national public health award, the Sidney Sax Public Health Medal, has been awarded to Sydney University's Professor of Public Health and long-time tobacco campaigner and researcher, Professor Simon Chapman.

16 Dec 2008

Exercising at work - who's it good for?

Exercising at work is supposed to make you more 'productive', although there is very little research to support this. A new study seeks to answer whether people perform better in their jobs on days they exercise.

16 Dec 2008

New technique to view labeled tumor cells in 'real' time

A breakthrough technique that allows scientists to view individually-labeled tumor cells as they move about in real time in a live mouse may enable scientists to develop microenvironment-specific drugs against cancer, researchers report at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) 48th Annual Meeting, Dec. 13-17, 2008 in San Francisco.

15 Dec 2008

USA's largest ever prostate cancer screening program shows high compliance and consistent results

Just under five per cent of the men who took part in the prostate cancer element of the USA's largest ever cancer screening trial were diagnosed with the disease and the majority of those were picked up by screening programmes, according to research published in the December issue of the urology journal BJU International .

15 Dec 2008

Unmarried dads' involvement with child secured during pregnancy

The best chance of "reeling-in" an unmarried father and building the foundations for a stable family life are the critical months of pregnancy, says new research from the University of Maryland.

15 Dec 2008

'Gross' messaging increases hand washing behavior

Research conducted by University of Denver (DU) Associate Professor Renée Botta suggests that it takes "gross" messaging to get undergraduate students to wash their hands more frequently after going to the bathroom.

15 Dec 2008

UC Davis team refines cancer treatments to reduce potential nerve damage

While radiation treatments deliver precise doses of high-energy X-rays to stop cancer cells from spreading or to shrink tumors, oncologists have become increasingly concerned about inadvertent exposures during head and neck cancer treatments to nerves responsible for upper body mobility.

15 Dec 2008

Tracking the molecular pathway to mixed-lineage leukemia

Infants and adults with the blood cancer mixed-lineage leukemia (MLL) typically have a poor prognosis, and most infants die before their first birthdays.

15 Dec 2008

New bone and tissue regeneration technique

Using stem cell lines not typically combined, researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have designed a new way to "grow" bone and other tissues.

15 Dec 2008

Study to identify best rehabilitation therapies for patients with traumatic brain injuries

Rush University Medical Center and 10 other healthcare facilities in the U.S. and Canada have been awarded a $4.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to identify which rehabilitation therapies, or combination of therapies, can best help victims of traumatic brain injuries.

15 Dec 2008

Researchers stop ovarian cancer cell cycle in its tracks

Ovarian cancer cells are "addicted" to a family of proteins produced by the notorious oncogene, MYC, and blocking these Myc proteins halts cell proliferation in the deadliest cancer of the female reproductive system, according to a presentation by University of California, Berkeley scientists at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) 48th Annual Meeting, Dec. 13-17, 2008 in San Francisco.

15 Dec 2008

Researchers simplify creation induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells

Bryce Carey, an MIT graduate student working in the lab of Whitehead Member Rudolf Jaenisch, spearheaded the effort by joining in tandem the four reprogramming genes through the use of bits of DNA that code for polymers known as 2A peptides. Working with others in the lab, he then manufactured a so-called polycistronic virus capable of expressing all four reprogramming genes once it is inserted into the genomes of mature mouse and human cells.

15 Dec 2008

Shared survival mechanism explains why 'good' nerve cells last and 'bad' cancer cells flourish

Cancer cells and nervous system neurons may not look or act alike, but both use strikingly similar ways to survive, according to new research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.

15 Dec 2008

Discovery of link between inflamed gums and heart disease

The next person who reminds you to floss might be your cardiologist instead of your dentist. Scientists have known for some time that a protein associated with inflammation (called C-reactive protein) is elevated in people who are at risk for heart disease.

15 Dec 2008