Cambridge, MA, July 31, 2008 - Less than 27 months after announcing that he had institutional permission to attempt the creation of patient and disease-specific stem cell lines, Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) Principal Faculty member Kevin Eggan today proclaimed the effort a success - though politically imposed restrictions and scientific advances prompted him to use a different technique than originally planned.
Body
Using a surprisingly simple, inexpensive technique, chemists have found a way to pull pure oxygen from water using relatively small amounts of electricity, common chemicals and a room-temperature glass of water.
Because oxygen and hydrogen are energy-rich fuels, many researchers have proposed using solar electricity to split water into those elements--a stored energy source for when the sun goes down. One of the chief obstacles to that green-energy scenario has been the difficulty of producing oxygen without large amounts of energy or a high-maintenance environment.
NEW YORK – Harvard and Columbia scientists have for the first time used a new technique to transform an ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease) patient's skin cells into motor neurons, a process that may be used in the future to create tailor-made cells to treat the debilitating disease. The research – led by Kevin Eggan, Ph.D. of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute – will be published July 31 in the online version of the journal Science.
NEW YORK, NY (July 31, 2008) – In a breakthrough discovery, Dr. Kevin Eggan, Chief Scientific Officer of The New York Stem Cell Foundation and Principal Faculty Member of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, has produced human stem cell lines from the cells of patients afflicted with a version of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Eggan's work marks the first time scientists have replicated in a laboratory the specific human cells affected by disease.
Monash University scientists have revolutionised the design of fuel cells used in the latest generation of hybrid cars which could make the vehicles more reliable and cheaper to build.
The breakthrough, published today in the journal Science, revolves around the design of a fuel cell in which a specially-coated form of popular hi tech outdoor and sporting clothing material Goretex® is the key component.
A Michigan State University researcher and his students have developed a nanomaterial that makes plastic stiffer, lighter and stronger and could result in more fuel-efficient airplanes and cars as well as more durable medical and sports equipment.
A research team led by University of Washington scientists has found that several people in South and Southeast Asian countries working and living around monkeys have been infected with simian foamy virus (SFV), a primate virus that, to date, has not been shown to cause human disease. The findings provide more evidence that Asia, where interaction between people and monkeys is common and widespread, could be an important setting for future primate-to-human viral transmission. The study appears in the August issue of the journal Emerging Infectious Disease.
While steroids can help build the bulky muscles that lend athletes and body builders power and speed, there hadn't been a drug capable of building the endurance needed to run a marathon or to ride a bike through the Alps. Now, there just might be, suggests a new study in mice reported in the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication.
The report shows that a drug developed for the treatment of metabolic disease, when taken in combination with exercise, gives mice the ability to run farther than exercise training alone can.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have identified two drugs that mimic many of the physiological effects of exercise. The drugs increase the ability of cells to burn fat and are the first compounds that have been shown to enhance exercise endurance.
LA JOLLA, CA — Trying to reap the health benefits of exercise? Forget treadmills and spin classes, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies may have found a way around the sweat and pain. They identified two signaling pathways that are activated in response to exercise and converge to dramatically increase endurance.
It's not just bomb-sniffing dogs; animals everywhere rely on their sense of smell. Now, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Rockefeller University researchers show just how important olfaction is, proving that fruit flies with a normal sense of smell have a survival advantage over those that don't. The findings, to appear in the July 31 advance online issue of Current Biology, may be useful in controlling insect populations and reducing insect-borne disease.
Two new studies examine the use of the nucleoside polymerase inhibitor, R1626, to the standard therapy for hepatitis C. The reports appear in the August issue of Hepatology, a journal published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). The articles are available online at Wiley Interscience (www.interscience.wiley.com).
The antiviral drug, valganciclovir, can lower the levels of Epstein-Barr virus in children with liver transplants, according to a new study. About half of young transplant recipients with detectable levels of the virus in their blood responded to a long course of the therapy, with 60 percent maintaining their response when they stopped taking the drug. These findings are in the August issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal by John Wiley & Sons.
INDIANAPOLIS -- The decision to undergo surgery can be particularly difficult and confusing for older adults. In a study published in the July 2008 issue of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Richard M. Frankel, Ph.D., of the Indiana University School of Medicine, and colleagues report that older patients and their surgeons do not communicate effectively when exploring surgical treatment options.
Increasingly acidic conditions in the ocean—brought on as a direct result of rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere—could spell trouble for the earliest stages of marine life, according to a new report in the August 5th issue of Current Biology, a publication of Cell Press. Levels of acidification predicted by the year 2100 could slash the fertilization success of sea urchins by an estimated 25 percent, the study shows.