LA JOLLA, CA - Researchers at the Salk Institute have discovered a startling feature of early brain development that helps to explain how complex neuron wiring patterns are programmed using just a handful of critical genes. The findings, published February 3 in Cell, may help scientists develop new therapies for neurological disorders, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and provide insight into certain cancers.
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La Jolla, Calif., February 10, 2012 – There is a need to analyze tumor specimens at the time of ovarian cancer recurrence, according to a new study published in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. Researchers used a diagnostic technology called molecular profiling to examine the differences in the molecular characteristics of primary and recurrent ovarian tumors and found significant changes for some biomarkers.
HOUSTON – (Feb. 10, 2012) – Older maternal and paternal age are jointly associated with having a child with autism, according to a recently published study led by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).
The researchers compared 68 age- and sex-matched, case-control pairs from their research in Jamaica, where UTHealth has been studying autism in collaboration with The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Kingston, Jamaica.
Research conducted at Yale School of Medicine shows that a cesarean (C-section) delivery, which was thought to be harmless, is associated with breathing problems in preterm babies who are small for gestational age.
The study was presented at the 32nd Annual Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) Meeting in Dallas, Texas by Heather Lipkind, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at Yale School of Medicine, and co-author Erika Werner, M.D., who is now at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Weekday delivery is no better than night or weekend delivery for infants with birth defects, according to a new study presented today at The Pregnancy Meeting, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual conference. The finding is good news for all parties – moms, babies and healthcare teams – and suggests that this high-risk population of women should deliver when their bodies are ready to deliver, regardless of the day or time.
A new study shows that Kineret (anakinra), a medication approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, is effective in stopping the progression of organ damage in people with neonatal-onset multisystem inflammatory disease (NOMID). This rare and debilitating genetic disorder causes persistent inflammation and ongoing tissue damage. The research was performed by scientists at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), part of the National Institutes of Health.
A research group in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta is hoping its latest discovery could one day be used to develop new therapies that target certain types of cancers.
The discovery by Mark Glover, his graduate student Zahra Havali-Shahriari and post-doctoral fellow Nicolas Coquelle has shed light on what happens in cells when DNA is damaged. They solved the structure of a DNA repair enzyme called polynucleotide kinase/phosphatase, or PNKP. This allows them to see what is happening when this enzyme is repairing DNA.
Augusta, Ga. – Cochlear implants may be a safe, effective option for some organ transplant patients who've lost their hearing as an unfortunate consequence of their transplant-related drug regime, researchers report.
The antibiotics and immunosuppressive drugs required by organ transplant patients can cause deafness, said Dr. Brian J. McKinnon, otologist and neurotologist at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Health Sciences University.
HOUSTON – (Feb. 9, 2012) -- A Rice University undergraduate will depart with not only a degree but also a possible patent for his invention of an efficient way to create protein libraries, an important component of biomolecular research.
Rice senior Manan Mehta discovered a method to create libraries of "circularly permuted" proteins at the suggestion of his mentor, bioengineer Jonathan Silberg. The research was reported this week in the journal Nucleic Acids Research.
Researchers at Northwestern University have developed a new method for creating scaffolds for tissue engineering applications, providing an alternative that is more flexible and less time-intensive than current technology.
A paper describing the results, "Low-Pressure Foaming: A Novel Method for the Fabrication of Porous Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering," was featured in the February issue of the journal Tissue Engineering.
SAN FRANCISCO – In a new study presented today at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), researchers completed a systematic review of three major orthopaedic journals – the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (American and British editions) and the Journal of Arthroplasty (JOA) – for all articles related to metal-on-metal total hip replacement between October 1999 and May 2011.
PHILADELPHIA—Curcumin, an active component of the Indian curry spice turmeric, may help slow down tumor growth in castration-resistant prostate cancer patients on androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), a study from researchers at Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center suggests.
Cancer risks. Investment alternatives. Calories. Numbers are everywhere in daily life, and they figure into all sorts of decisions. A new article published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, examines how people who are numerate—that's like literacy, but for numbers—understand numbers better and process information differently so that they ultimately make more informed decisions.
Athens, Ga. ¬– Researchers at the University of Georgia have taken a major step in the ongoing effort to find sources of cleaner, renewable energy by mapping the genomes of two originator cells of Miscanthus x giganteus, a large perennial grass with promise as a source of ethanol and bioenergy.
Excessive consumption of phosphate is damaging to health. Therefore, food that contains phosphate additives should be labeled, as recommended by Eberhard Ritz and coauthors in their article in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International [Dtsch Arztebl Int 2012; (109 (4): 49-55].