Disease Research
The Importance of Genomics for Cancer Research
March 14, 2013 10:20 am | by Ruth Burton, PhD, Product Manager Genomic Solutions, Oxford Gene Technology | Articles | CommentsDespite significant advances, cancer remains one of the predominant causes of mortality in the modern world, and as such has remained a top research priority. It is a complex and continually evolving genetic disease and, as such, requires sophisticated tools for study.
Radiation for Breast Cancer Can Harm Hearts
March 13, 2013 5:24 pm | by MARILYNN MARCHIONE - AP Chief Medical Writer - Associated Press | News | CommentsWomen treated with radiation for breast cancer are more likely to develop heart problems later, even with the lower doses used today, troubling new research suggests. The risk comes from any amount of radiation, starts five years after treatment and lasts for decades, doctors found.
Imaging Drug Finds Cancerous Lymph Nodes
March 13, 2013 1:45 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Food and Drug Administration has approved a new imaging drug, Lymphoseek, from Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc., to help doctors locate lymph nodes in patients with breast cancer and skin cancer.
Bacteria Tricked to Deliver Safer Vaccine
March 13, 2013 10:26 am | News | CommentsVaccines that employ weakened but live pathogens to trigger immune responses have inherent safety issues but researchers have developed a new trick to circumvent the problem— using bacteria’s own cellular mistakes to deliver a safe vaccine.
B Cells Regulate Obesity-associated Inflammation, Type 2 Diabetes
March 13, 2013 9:48 am | News | CommentsNew research reveals that B cells regulate obesity-associated inflammation and type 2 diabetes through two specific mechanisms.
Bitter Melon Juice Kills Pancreatic Cancer Cells
March 13, 2013 9:31 am | News | CommentsA new study shows that bitter melon juice restricts the ability of pancreatic cancer cells to metabolize glucose, thus cutting the cells’ energy source and eventually killing them.
FDA Adds Heart Risk Warning to Zithromax
March 12, 2013 5:27 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Food and Drug Administration is warning doctors and patients that a widely used antibiotic from Pfizer can cause rare but deadly heart rhythms in some patients. The agency said Tuesday that it is adding new warnings to the label of Zithromax, which is commonly used to treat bronchitis, pneumonia and other infections.
Single Concussion May Cause Lasting Brain Damage
March 12, 2013 12:37 pm | News | CommentsA single concussion may cause lasting structural damage to the brain, according to a new study.
Evolution in the Antibody Factory
March 12, 2013 11:06 am | News | CommentsImmune system B cells play a crucial role in the defence of pathogens: When they detect such an intruder, they produce antibodies that help to combat the enemy. They concurrently and continuously improve these molecules to more precisely recognize the pathogens.
Irregular Heartbeat Symptoms, Care Differ by Gender
March 12, 2013 10:20 am | News | CommentsWomen with atrial fibrilation have more symptoms and lower quality of life than men with the same heart condition, according to an analysis of patients in a large national registry.
Neural ‘Synchrony’ Key to Brain Perception
March 12, 2013 10:11 am | News | CommentsDespite many remarkable discoveries in the field of neuroscience during the past several decades, researchers have not been able to fully crack the brain’s “neural code.” Now, biomedical engineering professor Garrett Stanley has presented detailed research progress toward “reading and writing the neural code.”
Explaining Childhood Chronic Pain
March 11, 2013 4:31 pm | by Harvard Medical School | News | CommentsExplaining children's chronic pain
Biomarkers Help Screen for Malignant Kidney Cancer
March 11, 2013 11:20 am | News | CommentsA new immunoassay that tests for the presence of three biomarkers appears to be a valid screening method for the early detection of malignant kidney cancer, according to new data.
DNA Strand Length Can Predict Patient Life Expectancy
March 11, 2013 10:17 am | News | CommentsCan the length of strands of DNA in patients with heart disease predict their life expectancy? Researchers who studied the DNA of more that 3,500 patients with heart disease, say yes it can.
Even Ancient Mummies Had Clogged Arteries
March 10, 2013 8:50 pm | by MARIA CHENG - AP Medical Writer - Associated Press | News | CommentsEven without modern-day temptations like fast food or cigarettes, people had clogged arteries some 4,000 years ago, according to the biggest-ever study of mummies searching for the condition. Researchers say that suggests heart disease may be more a natural part of human aging rather than being directly tied to contemporary risk factors like smoking, eating fatty foods, and not exercising.
HIV Destroyed by Toxic Bee Venom
March 8, 2013 10:39 am | News | CommentsNanoparticles carrying a toxin found in bee venom can destroy human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) while leaving surrounding cells unharmed, researchers have shown.
Possible fMRI Inaccuracies Uncovered
March 8, 2013 10:11 am | News | CommentsResearchers found that traditional methods of fMRI analysis systematically skew which regions of the brain appear to be activating, potentially invalidating hundreds of papers that use the technique.
Cancer-Promoting Protein Doubles as Cell Suppressant
March 8, 2013 9:58 am | News | CommentsSome cellular proteins have multiple, and occasionally opposing, functions. Researchers demonstrated that the oncogenic protein SRSF1 can also trigger a stop in cell growth and prevent cancerous proliferation by stabilizing p53, the powerful tumor-suppressor protein.
Origin of Aggressive Ovarian Cancer Revealed
March 8, 2013 9:45 am | News | CommentsResearchers have discovered a likely origin of epithelial ovarian cancer (ovarian carcinoma), the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States.
Neuropeptide is Key to Happiness
March 7, 2013 10:40 am | News | CommentsWhat makes us happy? Family? Money? Love? How about a peptide? The neurochemical changes underlying human emotions and social behavior are largely unknown.
New Clues to Causes of Peripheral Nerve Damage
March 7, 2013 10:32 am | News | CommentsAnyone whose hand or foot has “fallen asleep” has an idea of the numbness and tingling often experienced by people with peripheral nerve damage. The condition also can cause a range of other symptoms, including unrelenting pain, stinging, burning, itching and sensitivity to touch.
Making an Old Brain Young Again
March 7, 2013 10:19 am | News | CommentsThe flip of a single molecular switch helps create the mature neuronal connections that allow the brain to bridge the gap between adolescent impressionability and adult stability. Now, researchers have reversed the process, recreating a youthful brain that facilitated both learning and healing in the adult mouse.
Study Connects Molecular Dots of Taste to Brain
March 7, 2013 9:59 am | News | CommentsSaying that the sense of taste is complicated is an understatement, that it is little understood, even more so. Exactly how cells transmit taste information to the brain for three out of the five primary taste types was pretty much a mystery, until now.
Preventing Stress-Based Drug Relapse a Possibility
March 7, 2013 9:55 am | News | CommentsIn a new study, scientists identified specific key steps in the chain of events that causes stress-related drug relapse. They identified the exact region of the brain where the events take place in rat models and showed that by blocking a step, they could prevent stress-related relapse.
Autoimmunity Linked to Salt Consumption
March 6, 2013 11:25 am | by Harvard Medical School | News | CommentsNew work from the Broad Institute’s Klarman Cell Observatory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard University, MIT, and Yale University expands the understanding of how one type of immune cell—known as a T helper 17 or Th17 cell—develops, and how its growth influences the development of immune responses.
