University of Rochester Medical Center researchers have pinpointed two genes that are amplified in the worst cases of esophageal cancer, providing data to support a new investigational treatment that targets those same genes.
Body
Researchers at King's College London have used cells found naturally in the body, to re-educate the immune system to prevent rejection of an organ transplant while remaining capable of fighting infections and cancer.
Currently, patients must take immunosuppressant drugs to prevent a new organ from being rejected after transplantation. However, these drugs suppress the entire immune system, leaving the patient susceptible to infections and tumours.
MADISON, Wis. – Certain lichens can break down the infectious proteins responsible for chronic wasting disease (CWD), a troubling neurological disease fatal to wild deer and elk and spreading throughout the United States and Canada, according to U.S. Geological Survey research published today in the journal PLoS ONE.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The beneficial compounds in green tea powders aren't as stable as once thought, according to a Purdue University study that will give industry guidelines on how to better store those powders.
"People drink green tea for health benefits, so they want the catechins to be present," said Lisa Mauer, a professor of food science. "The instant powder beverages are becoming more popular for consumers, and it's important to know how storage can influence nutrition of your products."
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Maintaining the world's threatened animal and plant species may rest with something as simple as knowing how far a bird can fly before it must answer nature's call.
Birds disperse seeds as they travel, but deforestation can mean those seeds might land where they can't sprout and grow, according to a University of Florida researcher who co-wrote a study in last month's issue of Ecology that looks at how tropical birds disperse plant seeds in Brazil's Amazon rainforest.
Doctors who treat children with the most common form of childhood cancer – acute lymphoblastic leukemia – are often baffled at how sometimes the cancer cells survive their best efforts and the most powerful modern cancer drugs.
Over four billion years of evolution, plants and animals grew far more complex than their single-celled ancestors. But a new comparison of proteins shared across species finds that complex organisms, including humans, have accumulated structural weaknesses that may have actually launched the long journey from microbe to man.
How do genes control us? This fundamental question of life still remains elusive despite decades of research. Genes are blueprints for proteins, but it is the proteins that actually carry out vital functions in the body for maintaining life. Diseases such as cancer are not only characterized by altered genes, but also by disturbed protein production. But how is protein production controlled?
New Rochelle, NY, May 18, 2011—Many gene therapy strategies designed to deliver a normal copy of a gene to cells carrying a disease-causing genetic mutation rely on a modified virus to transfer the gene product into affected tissues. One technology platform that is well suited for in vivo delivery of genes is based on adeno-associated viruses (AAV).
DALLAS – May 18, 2011 – How fast can you run a mile?
If you're middle-aged, the answer could provide a strong predictor of your risk of heart attack or stroke over the next decade or more.
In two separate studies, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found that how fast a middle-age person can run a mile can help predict the risk of dying of heart attack or stroke decades later for men and could be an early indicator of cardiovascular disease for women.
CHICAGO --- A man's rising PSA (prostate-specific antigen) level over several years – which had been seen as a possible warning sign of prostate cancer – has recently come under fire as a screening test because it sometimes prompts biopsies that turn out to be normal.
A new study, however, shows nearly 70 percent of men who had rising PSA levels and subsequent normal biopsies were eventually diagnosed with prostate cancer, according to research from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The trend of a PSA level over several years is called PSA velocity.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – As the proliferation of social media in society continues, companies and organizations are taking advantage of online platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to communicate interactively with their customers and the public. With this influx of new technology, many organizations are struggling to find the most effective ways to manage these user interactions to maximize the positive experience for their customers.
The genetic 'wiring' that helps a seed to decide on the perfect time to germinate has been revealed by scientists for the first time.
Plant biologists at The University of Nottingham have also discovered that the same mechanism that controls germination is responsible for another important decision in the life cycle of plants — when to start flowering.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The more than 2.7 million new HIV infections recorded per year leave little doubt that the HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to spread globally. That's why there's the need for safe, inexpensive and effective drugs to successfully block HIV transmission.
A gene-sequencing study of children with autism, described in an advance online publication in Nature Genetics on 15 May, offers a sneak peek at a technique which, combined with other approaches, may explain 40 to 50 percent of the genetic causes of the disorder within just a few years, proposes the study's lead investigator.