Having to obtain informed consent for the use of left-over human tissue samples could be hampering essential biobank research says a research group on bmj.com today.
Joanna Stjernschantz Forsberg and colleagues at Uppsala University in Sweden, argue that the requirement for informed consent for biobank research is problematic for two main reasons. First, it consumes resources that could be directed towards more research or healthcare, and second, it imposes a risk of selection bias.
A study into the muscle development of several different fish has given insights into the genetic leap that set the scene for the evolution of hind legs in terrestrial animals. This innovation gave rise to the tetrapods—four-legged creatures, and our distant ancestors—that made the first small steps on land some 400 million years ago.
U.S. efforts to bring stability to Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years have focused less on killing insurgents and more on gaining the cooperation of the local population. But does this population-centered approach to counterinsurgency actually work?
A study published today (October 4, 2011) in the Journal of Political Economy finds evidence that it does.
People with narcolepsy are not only excessively sleepy, but they are also prone to gaining weight. In fact, narcoleptic patients will often pack on pounds even as they eat considerably less than your average person.
Now researchers reporting in the October issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, appear to have an answer as to why. It seems a deficiency of the neuropeptide hormone orexin, an ingredient that encourages hunger and wakefulness, may leave them with a lack of energy-burning brown fat.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have restored normal blood sugar metabolism in diabetic mice using a compound the body makes naturally. The finding suggests that it may one day be possible for people to take the compound much like a daily vitamin as a way to treat or even prevent type 2 diabetes.
This naturally occurring compound is called nicotinamide mononucleotide, or NMN, and it plays a vital role in how cells use energy.
(Boston) - Researchers from Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have found that among advanced head and neck cancer (HNC) patients receiving radiation-based treatment (RT), being non-English speaking (NES) was a more significant predictor of treatment outcome than being of non-white race.
Although humans and chimpanzees move quite differently, muscle attachment sites at their thighbones are similar. This result, which has recently been published by anthropologists of Zurich University in the scientific journal Anatomical Record, has major consequences for the interpretation of fossil hominid finds.
Cell-penetrating peptides, such as the HIV TAT peptide, are able to enter cells using a number of mechanisms, from direct entry to endocytosis, a process by which cells internalize molecules by engulfing them.
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Health care providers assess blood and tissue type as well as organ size and health to enhance transplant success. New research indicates that checklist might also need to include the circadian clock.
Chromosomal abnormalities linked to intellectual disability can be traced back to the father, particularly those who are older when the child is conceived, finds research published online in the Journal of Medical Genetics.
Chromosomal abnormalities are caused by copy number variations, or CNVs. These are structural variations resulting in missing, repeated, inverted or misplaced DNA sequences in cells.
There are significant variations in the number and type of organ donations made across all four UK countries, reveals research published online in BMJ Open.
The research team analysed data from NHS Blood & Transplant for all four UK countries for the period 1990 to 2009, and compared data on registration and donation from other European countries.
They looked at rates of donation for kidney, liver, heart, lung and cornea per million of the population to see if there were any differences among the four countries and if these were related to organ type.
Women using hormonal contraception --such as a birth control pill or a shot like Depo-Provera – are at double the risk of acquiring HIV, and HIV-infected women who use hormonal contraception have twice the risk of transmitting the virus to their HIV-uninfected male partners, according to a University of Washington-led study in Africa of nearly 3,800 couples. The study was published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
The immune response to an H5N1 avian influenza vaccine was greatly enhanced in healthy adults if they were first primed with a DNA vaccine expressing a gene for a key H5N1 protein, researchers say. Their report describes results from two clinical studies conducted by researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.
Biologists have described only a few thousand different viruses so far, but a new study reveals a vast world of unseen viral diversity that exists right under our noses. A paper to be published Tuesday, October 4 in the online journal mBio® explores ordinary raw sewage and finds that it is home to thousands of novel, undiscovered viruses, some of which could relate to human health.
INDIANAPOLIS -- Overweight or obese children are at three times greater risk for high blood pressure than children of normal weight, according to researchers from the Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicine.
Their study appears in the November 2011 issue of Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association with advance online publication on Oct. 3.