Pasadena, Calif.—Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have shown that a highly specific intrabody (an antibody fragment that works against a target inside a cell) is capable of stalling the development of Huntington's disease in a variety of mouse models.
"Gene therapy in these models successfully attenuated the symptoms of Huntington's disease and increased life span," notes Paul Patterson, the Anne P. and Benjamin F. Biaggini Professor of Biological Sciences.
PHILADELPHIA, P.A., October 30, 2009 – MedImmune announced today it will present four abstracts at the 47th Annual Meeting of Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) being held here October 29 through November 1, 2009. These abstracts advance the body of data surrounding respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza prevention, highlighting MedImmune's leadership in pediatric health.
Unnoticed by the nearby residents of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, tiny leaf beetles that flit among the maple and willow trees in the area have just provided some of the clearest evidence yet that environmental factors play a major role in the formation of new species.
At Vanderbilt University, graduate student Scott Egan and his adviser Daniel Funk, associate professor of biological sciences, obtained this new evidence from an experimental study published online this week in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
DETROIT – The race of kidney donors may affect the survival rates of transplant recipients according to a study by Henry Ford Hospital.
"We found that transplant between races had better outcomes than transplant across races," says Anita Patel, M.D., transplant nephrologist at Henry Ford Hospital Transplant Institute and lead author of the study.
"It is important to remember that the statistical difference in this observation is greatly outweighed by the life-giving benefits that recipients get from transplantation."
BUFFALO, NY (October 30, 2009) -- A husband and wife team of American paleontologists has discovered a new species of dinosaur that lived 112 million years ago during the early Cretaceous of central Montana.
Rockville, Md. (Oct. 30, 2009) — A collaborative research team from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU), Australian Animal Health Laboratory and National Cancer Institute, a component of the National Institutes of Health, reports a major step forward in the development of an effective therapy against two deadly viruses, Nipah virus and the related Hendra virus. The results of this finding appear Oct.
WHAT: Scientists supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have completed a Phase II clinical study that indicates a vaccine to prevent Group B Streptococcus (GBS) infection is possible. GBS is the most common cause of sepsis and meningitis in newborns in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It can also cause severe illness in pregnant women, the elderly and adults with chronic illnesses.
The 'Red Alert for Women's Hearts' conference, taking place on 5 November 2009, at the European Heart House, Sophia Antipolis, France, will address the subject of Women and CVD. The conference is jointly organised by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and European Heart Network (EHN), as part of Work Package 6 of the EuroHeart project (1).
Heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of death for women worldwide, killing more than 8.6 million, more than the total number who die from cancer, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria combined.
Patients with chronic heart failure who agree to take part in clinical trials have a better prognosis than those who do not, according to a study reported in the November European Journal of Heart Failure.(1) The finding, say the authors, may even call into question the commonplace ethical requirement of most clinical trials that by choosing not to take part in the study a patient will not be disadvantaged.
A research team from the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) has analysed the presence of heavy metals in 12 species of mushroom collected from non-contaminated natural areas, and has found that the levels vary depending on the type of mushroom. The results of the study, which appears this month in the journal Biometals, show that the largest quantities of lead and neodymium are found in chanterelles.
Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC (October 30, 2009) – For pulmonary ailments, certain mediaeval physicians had a useful medical textbook on hand offering detailed information remarkably similar to those a modern doctor might use today. One of the fathers of medicine, the great Persian scholar Avicenna left a wealth of information in his many works.
The Asian continent has nearly four billion people living in 47 different countries, and each of these groups has their own unique set of health issues. But when they come to the United States, they're often lumped into one large demographic: "Asian/Pacific Islander."
Health researchers say this makes it difficult to learn about each group's specific needs, particularly in regard to cancer, one of the leading killers of Asian-Americans.
Pre-dialysis transplant recipients with a high level of kidney function don't benefit from their transplant more than pre-dialysis recipients with low level kidney function, according to a paper being presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 42nd Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in San Diego, CA. The findings indicate that there may be no urgency for kidney disease patients to get a transplant while their kidneys are still somewhat healthy.
Low levels of vitamin D may account for nearly 60 percent of the elevated risk of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in African Americans, according to a report in the December Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). "Our study adds to previous evidence linking vitamin D deficiency to the progression of kidney disease and the need for dialysis," comments Michal L. Melamed, MD, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine (Bronx, NY).
GALVESTON, Texas — Ever since the previously unknown SARS virus emerged from southern China in 2003, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston virologists have focused on finding the source of the pathogen's virulence — its ability to cause disease. In the 2003 epidemic, for example, between 5 and 10 percent of those who fell sick from the SARS virus died, adding up to more than 900 fatalities worldwide.