HOUSTON - While Fanconi anemia (FA) is a rare and dangerous disease, new laboratory research at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center shows it may lead researchers toward clues in more common diseases, including highly hereditary types of breast cancer.
In a study published in the Sept. 11 issue of the journal Molecular Cell, scientists report thatrecruitment of proteins to DNA damage sites is controlled by replication in both FA and BRCAcancer proteins.
When it comes to assessing risk for type 2 diabetes, not only do waistlines matter to women, but so does the size of their fat cells. This new discovery by a team of Swedish researchers was just published online in the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) and helps explain why some women of normal weight develop type 2 diabetes, despite not having any known risk factors.
U.S. colleges with the biggest student drinking problems have so far failed to turn the tide, according to a new study.
The research, published in the September issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, found that at 18 heavy-drinking U.S. campuses, students' alcohol habits showed little change over a dozen years. In 1993, 58 percent of students reported binge drinking in the past two weeks; in 2005, 56 percent said the same. And although 28 percent of students in 1993 said they frequently binged, that figure was 32 percent in 2005.
Montreal, September 10, 2009 – Unlike animals and humans, plants can't run and hide when exposed to stressful environmental conditions. So how do plants survive? A new Université de Montréal study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has found a key mechanism that enables plants to keep dangerous gene alterations in check to ensure their continued existence.
For many of the types of fish we buy in stores or order in restaurants, the chance that an individual dies from fishing is several times higher than dying of natural causes. This may seem obvious to most (they had to get to our table somehow), but what may not be apparent is that the relentless pursuit of consumer-friendly fish product is having a massive impact on fish populations around the world. By repeatedly choosing only the biggest fish, or only those found in certain habitats, the fisheries industry may be permanently altering the genetic composition of fish populations.
In the week that the University of Leicester celebrates the 25th anniversary of the discovery of DNA fingerprinting (Thursday September 10) new findings from the world-renowned University of Leicester Department of Genetics reveal for the first time that the male and female do truly communicate –at least at the fundamental genetic level.
The research counters scientific theory that the X and Y chromosomes - that define the sexes - did not communicate at all.
MONTREAL, CN (September 10, 2009) − One of the most intriguing developments in recent medical science is the discovery of the human chemical endothelin (ET). Since its detection in 1988, over 22,000 scholarly articles (about 3 per day) have been published on the subject, a new class of drugs has been developed, and 25 Phase I, II and III clinical trails are now underway. As the scientific and medical communities involved in ET move towards 25 years of understanding the protein, which future developments hold potential? At what risk? Do medicinal compounds look promising?
MONTREAL, CN (September 10, 2009) − Agonizing physical pain, known as vaso-occlusive pain, can afflict children who have sickle cell disease (SCD). In some cases infants as young as two months of age suffer vaso-occlusive pain so severe that opiate medications and hospitalizations are their only relief. Researchers believe vaso-occlusion is caused by a blockage of the blood vessels that occurs when sickle shaped red cells attempt to pass through the round blood vessels. How vaso-occulsion leads to pain, and its impact on males and females are still unknown.
MONTREAL, CN (September 10, 2009) — Recent research to block the effects of endothelin, a powerful substance that constricts blood vessels and stimulates cell growth, has led to successful treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension and provides hope for treating other chronic diseases. The usefulness of the new drugs to treat congestive heart failure is much less clear, said Professor Matthias Barton, M.D. of the Department of Medicine at the University of Zurich School of Medicine.
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– Researchers at UC Santa Barbara have developed a new way to deliver drugs into cancer cells by exposing them briefly to a non-harmful laser. Their results are published in a recent article in ACS Nano, a journal of the American Chemical Society.
TUCSON, Ariz. – Researchers from The University of Arizona Colleges of Pharmacy and Medicine are teaming up to try to invent a novel non-invasive lung test for cystic fibrosis sufferers.
Eric Snyder, PhD, assistant professor at the UA College of Pharmacy, is the principal investigator on the study, "Quantification of Exhaled Condensate Using Bronchoalveolar Lavage in Cystic Fibrosis." Dr. Snyder will work with UA College of Medicine faculty members Cori Daines, MD, and Wayne Morgan, MD, on the project.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Approximately one-fifth of Americans follow health news very closely, according to the Pew Research Center. To identify how the demand for health stories is met, University of Missouri researchers surveyed national health journalists about their development of story ideas and use of expert sources and public relations materials. The researchers found that health journalists determine what information is newsworthy by examining the work of their peers and the issues raised by their colleagues and audiences.
Pandemic swine flu can infect cells deeper in the lungs than seasonal flu can, according to a new study published today in Nature Biotechnology. The researchers, from Imperial College London, say this may explain why people infected with the pandemic strain of swine-origin H1N1 influenza are more likely to suffer more severe symptoms than those infected with the seasonal strain of H1N1. They also suggest that scientists should monitor the current pandemic H1N1 influenza virus for changes in the way it infects cells that could make infections more serious.
New research points to huge inequalities in both national prevention policies and levels of cardiovascular mortality seen across the EU
Research that highlights striking differences across different countries in Europe both in terms of national prevention policies and cardiovascular mortality is being presented today (September 10, 2009) by the EuroHeart mapping project at a major European Conference 'Combating heart disease and stroke: Planning for a Healthier Europe' (www.euroheart2009.eu).
A rare opportunity has allowed a team of biologists to evaluate corals and the essential, photosynthetic algae that live inside their cells before, during, and after a period in 2005 when global warming caused sea-surface temperatures in the Caribbean Ocean to rise. The team, led by Penn State Assistant Professor of Biology Todd LaJeunesse, found that a rare species of algae that is tolerant of stressful environmental conditions proliferated in corals as the more-sensitive algae were being expelled from corals.