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Researchers raise concerns over the increasing commercialization of science

The increasing commercialisation of science is restricting access to vital scientific knowledge and delaying the progress of science, claim researchers on bmj.com today.

Varuni de Silva and Raveen Hanwella from the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka argue that copyrighting or patenting medical scales, tests, techniques and genetic material, limits the level of public benefit from scientific discovery.

For example, they found that many commonly used rating scales are under copyright and researchers have to pay for their use.

Lack of access to healthy food may contribute to health disparities in kidney disease

Processed and fast foods enriched with phosphorus additives may play a role in health disparities in chronic kidney disease, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). Previously, genetics was considered the leading reason blacks are four times more likely to progress to end stage renal disease than whites and have much higher rates of cardiovascular disease and mortality in early chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Newly identified genetic marker involved in aggressive Alzheimer's disease

A gene variation that appears to predict the rate at which Alzheimer's disease will progress has been uncovered by an international team of Alzheimer's disease experts, led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Published in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics, the findings help determine how rapidly Alzheimer's patients may develop full-blown dementia after their diagnosis.

Aerosols control rainfall in the rainforest

A team of environmental engineers, who might better be called "archeologists of the air," have, for the first time, isolated aerosol particles in near pristine pre-industrial conditions.

Working in the remote Amazonian Basin north of Manaus, Brazil, the researchers measured particles emitted or formed within the rainforest ecosystem that are relatively free from the influence of anthropogenic, or human, activity.

Native Hawaiians: Vulnerability to early death at all ages

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Throughout their lives, Native Hawaiians have higher risks of death than white Americans, according to a University of Michigan study.

The research is the first known study to assess mortality patterns among Native Hawaiians at the national level, including those living outside the state of Hawaii.

The study is published in the November 2010 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, online Sept. 16. It was funded by the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Case Western Reserve researcher discovers new 'anti-pathogenic' drugs to treat MRSA

CLEVELAND – September 16, 2010 – Menachem Shoham, PhD, associate professor and researcher in the department of biochemistry at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, has identified new anti-pathogenic drugs that, without killing the bacteria, render Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) harmless by preventing the production of toxins that cause disease.

Sexually precocious fruit flies get their genomes decoded

Irvine, Calif., Sept. 16, 2010 — UC Irvine researchers have deciphered how lowly fruit flies bred to rapidly develop and reproduce actually evolve over time. The findings, reported in the Sept. 15 online issue of Nature, contradict the long-held belief that sexual beings evolve the same way simpler organisms do and could fundamentally alter the direction of genetic research for new pharmaceuticals and other products.

Fast-track gene-ID method speeds rare disease search

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A University of Michigan-led research team has identified a gene responsible in some families for a devastating inherited kidney disorder, thanks to a new, faster method of genetic analysis not available even two years ago. The success offers hope that scientists can speed the painstaking search for the genes responsible for many rare diseases and test drugs to treat them.

The U-M scientists report their success with exome capture, a groundbreaking genetic analysis technique, in the September issue of Nature Genetics.

A scientific breakthrough could be the first step in a better treatment for leukemia patients

A discovery made by Dr. Tarik Möröy, President and Scientific Director and Director of the Hematopoiesis and Cancer research unit at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), and his team was recently published in Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology. The researchers found that a protein can regulate certain characteristics of blood stem cells, which could lead to a better treatment for leukemia patients. Dr. Cyrus Khandanpour, medical doctor and postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Möröy's laboratory, is the study's first author.

Developing countries may not benefit from adopting international treaties

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new study by an Oregon State University business professor has found that developing countries that adopt major international economic treaties do not necessarily gain more foreign direct investment.

In fact, in some cases adopting these treaties can hurt, not help a developing country, contrary to what agencies such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) espouse. The study, published in the current online version of the Journal of World Business, has major implications for Latin American and Caribbean intellectual policy reform

MIT researchers discover an unexpected twist in cancer metabolism

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- In a paper appearing in the Sept. 16 online edition of Science, Matthew Vander Heiden assistant professor of biology and member of the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT and researchers at Harvard University report a previously unknown element of cancer cells' peculiar metabolism. They found that cells can trigger an alternative biochemical pathway that speeds up their metabolism and diverts the byproducts to construct new cells.

Foraging for fat: Crafty crows use tools to fish for nutritious morsels

Crafty crows use tools to fish for nutritious morsels

Tulane University researchers find ancient roots for SIV

Tulane University researchers find ancient roots for SIV

The HIV-like virus that infects monkeys is thousands of years older than previously thought, according to a new study led by researchers from Tulane University.

AIDS virus lineage much older than previously thought

AIDS virus lineage much older than previously thought

An ancestor of HIV that infects monkeys is thousands of years older than previously thought, suggesting that HIV, which causes AIDS, is not likely to stop killing humans anytime soon, finds a study by University of Arizona and Tulane University researchers.

Scientific understanding of T. rex revised by a decade of new research and discovery

Scientific understanding of T. rex revised by a decade of new research and discovery