Body

Researchers have discovered a monoclonal antibody that is effective against "Avian" H5N1, seasonal H1N1 and the 2009 "Swine" H1N1 influenza. Scientists at Sea Lane Biotechnologies, LLC, in collaboration with Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, St. Jude Research Hospital and the Scripps Research Institute, have shown that this antibody potently prevents and treats the Swine H1N1 influenza in mouse models of the disease. Results are published July 8 in the open-access journal PLoS Pathogens.

As the mercury rises outdoors, it's a fitting time to consider the effects of summertime droughts and global warming on ecosystems. Complex interactions among temperature, water cycling, and plant communities create a tangled web of questions that need to be answered as we face a rapidly changing climate.

A specific and remarkably small fragment of RNA appears to protect rats against cocaine addiction—and may also protect humans, according to a recent study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health. The study was published today in the journal Nature.

WASHINGTON – Children and adolescents who lack social problem-solving skills are more at risk of becoming bullies, victims or both than those who don't have these difficulties, says new research published by the American Psychological Association. But those who are also having academic troubles are even likelier to become bullies.

A Science article published on July 9, 2010, describes the discovery of an alternative form of evolution that helps Drosophila flies conquer nematodes that sterilize them. Nematodes are among the most abundant, diverse and destructive parasites of plants and animals.

COLUMBIA, Mo. ¬— A team of researchers from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and two other schools say that even the top 60 citizen websites and bloggers are not filling the information shortfall that has resulted from cutbacks in traditional media.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (July 8, 2010) – Researchers at Whitehead Institute and Children's Hospital Boston have identified a protein, called Musashi 2, that is predictive of prognosis in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients.

High levels of Musashi 2 protein is associated with increased cell proliferation, decreased cell maturation, and multiple cancer-related cellular pathways in human leukemias.

KINGSTON, R.I. July 8, 2010 – A new system for the controlled delivery of pharmaceutical drugs has been developed by a team of University of Rhode Island chemical engineers using nanoparticles embedded in a liposome that can be triggered by non-invasive electromagnetic fields.

The discovery by URI professors Geoffrey Bothun and Arijit Bose and graduate student Yanjing Chen was published in the June issue of ACS Nano.

DURHAM, NC – Men who have a baseline PSA value of 10 or higher the first time they are tested are up to 11 times more likely to die from prostate cancer than are men with lower initial values, according to Duke University Medical Center researchers.

Scientists say the finding, appearing early online in the journal Cancer, supports routine, early prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening among healthy men with normal life expectancy – a practice several studies have recently questioned.

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have identified a previously unknown mechanism by which cells direct gene expression, the process by which information from a gene is used to direct the physical and behavioral development of individuals. The research, which may help scientists gain insight into how muscle and heart diseases develop, is published in the July 8th issue of Nature.

Using a small molecule decoy, investigators funded by the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation have managed to block protein interactions and induce epigenetic reprogramming in human and mouse breast cancer cells, essentially changing the gene expression of breast cancer cells to behave in a more normal manner. The research illustrates what may perhaps become an effective targeted epigenetic therapy in breast cancer.

Vancouver, BC (July 08, 2010) – In a policy report published in Science, an internationally recognized peer-reviewed journal, leading experts in HIV/AIDS research have warned that failure to meet a pledge for universal access to HIV therapy and funding cuts to prevention and treatment programs are poised to deliver a major setback in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Scientists have discovered two potent human antibodies that can stop more than 90 percent of known global HIV strains from infecting human cells in the laboratory, and have demonstrated how one of these disease-fighting proteins accomplishes this feat. According to the scientists, these antibodies could be used to design improved HIV vaccines, or could be further developed to prevent or treat HIV infection. Moreover, the method used to find these antibodies could be applied to isolate therapeutic antibodies for other infectious diseases as well.

It has been a basic principle of evolution for more than a century that plants and animals can adapt genetically in ways that help them better survive and reproduce.

Boston, MA. -- We take our blood for granted, but its creation requires a complicated series of steps, starting with the formation of blood stem cells during early embryonic development, followed by progressive differentiation into the progenitors of red cells, white cells and platelets, and ultimately the full set of blood cells. Now, in the July 9 issue of Cell, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston report a surprising twist in how mature red blood cells form – which may explain the body's ability to rapidly replenish them in response to injury.