Researchers at Uppsala University has succeeded in extracting long DNA fragments from dried, pressed plant material collected in the 1700s by Linnaeus' apprentice Adam Afzelius. It is hoped that the study, led by Associate Professor Katarina Andreasen, will shed light on whether plants growing today at Linnaeus' Hammarby estate outside Uppsala reflect the species cultivated by Linnaeus himself.
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Stanford, CA — Researchers led by Dr. Soheil Dadras at the Stanford University Medical Center have developed a novel methodology to extract microRNAs from cancer tissues. The related report by Ma et al, "Profiling and discovery of novel miRNAs from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded melanoma and nodal specimens," appears in the September 2009 issue of the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics.
Small interfering RNA (siRNA), a type of genetic material, can block potentially harmful activity in cells, such as tumor cell growth. But delivering siRNA successfully to specific cells without adversely affecting other cells has been challenging.
A University of Leicester-led study may have uncovered the reason why Beta-blockers are less effective at preventing stroke in older people with high blood pressure, when compared to other drugs for high blood pressure.
The research, carried out by Bryan Williams, Professor of Medicine at the University of Leicester, and his colleague Dr. Peter Lacy, has been published in the prestigious Journal of the American College of Cardiology and has been cited on the MDLinx.com site as currently the world's number one leading finding in its field.
After two years of research over five degraded landscapes in the National Park of Sierra Nevada (Granada), scientists have established for the first time that field mice base their diet on holm oak and pine seeds, causing a deterioration of the habitats and an extension of scrubland in the forests.
A toxic cocktail of ultrafine particles is lurking inside road tunnels in concentration levels so high they have the potential to harm drivers and passengers, a new study has found.
The study, which has been published in Atmospheric Environment, measured ultrafine particle concentration levels outside a vehicle travelling through the M5 East tunnel in Sydney.
Though most Americans are familiar with completing a questionnaire about their family health history when visiting health care providers, an independent panel was convened by the National Institutes of Health this week to critically assess exactly what we know and what we need to learn about how this process relates to improving health. The conference focused on the use of family history in the primary care setting for common diseases such as diabetes, stroke, cancer, and heart disease.
A new study by researchers at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics found that thigh muscle strength does not predict the occurrence of knee osteoarthritis (OA) uncovered in x-rays, but does predict incidence of painful or stiff knee OA. Women with the strongest quadriceps muscles appeared to be protected against the development of knee OA symptoms. Details of this study appear in the September issue of Arthritis Care & Research, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology.
Shell beads newly unearthed from four sites in Morocco confirm early humans were consistently wearing and potentially trading symbolic jewellery as early as 80,000 years ago. These beads add significantly to similar finds dating back as far as 110,000 in Algeria, Morocco, Israel and South Africa, confirming these as the oldest form of personal ornaments. This crucial step towards modern culture is reported this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS).
Osteoarthritis (OA) and degenerative disc disease (DDD) are common, chronic musculoskeletal disorders. Both diseases cause joint pain, loss of function, and decreased quality of life for the more than 27 million OA and 59 million DDD suffers in the US. According to a 2003 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, arthritis such as OA costs the U.S. economy nearly $128 billion per year in medical care and indirect expenses including lost wages and productivity.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health examined records of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients from the national Veterans Health Administration (VHA) system to determine the prevalence of rheumatoid vasculitis (RV) in this population. The study found a downward trend in the number of RA patients who go on to develop RV, with a significant drop of 53% among inpatients and 31% among outpatients between 2000 and 2001.
Scientists in Switzerland have discovered a way to block the growth of human colon cancer cells, preventing the disease from reaching advanced stages and the development of liver metastases. The research, published today in EMBO Molecular Medicine, shows that blocking the so-called Hedgehog-GLI pathway can prevent the growth of tumours, metastatic lesions and cancer stem cells, the cells thought to lie at the root of cancer growth.
Finding economical and practical solutions for conserving endangered carnivores is a continuous challenge for conservationists. In a study published by the peer reviewed open access journal, PLoS ONE, on August 27th, a team of Brazilian researchers define global conservation priorities that encompass socioeconomic and life-history factors for endangered carnivores.
A team of South Korean scientists have succeeded in engineering the bacterium E. coli to produce the industrial chemical putrescine. The research, published in the journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering, provides a renewable alternative to the production of this important chemical which is traditionally created using fossil fuels.
The genes that may contribute to drug resistance in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) can be predicted. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Cancer found good correlation between genes believed to be involved in drug sensitivity and resistance and actual in vitro chemosensitivity.