Body

Malaria: The right vaccine in the right place?

A new study by Christopher Plowe and colleagues (University of Maryland School of Medicine) on a malaria vaccine used at a testing site in Mali calls into question whether the best vaccine was chosen to be tested at this particular site.

Testing adult stem cells for heart damage repair

The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health is among the first medical centers in the country taking part in a novel clinical trial investigating if a subject's own stem cells can treat a form of severe coronary artery disease.

Smithsonian study concludes Caribbean extinctions occurred 2M years after apparent cause

Smithsonian scientists and colleagues report a new study that may shake up the way paleontologists think about how environmental change shapes life on Earth. The researchers summarized the environmental, ecological and evolutionary consequences for Caribbean shallow-water marine communities when the Isthmus of Panama was formed. They concluded that extinctions resulting when one ocean became two were delayed by 2 million years.

Go low - these legs were made for fighting

Your football coach always told you that the low man wins. Seems that ape-like ancestors may have evolved that way for the same reason.

Australopiths maintained short legs for 2 million years because a squat physique and stance helped the males fight over access to females, a University of Utah study concludes.

Creation of a magnetic field in a turbulent fluid

Understanding the origin and behavior of the magnetic fields of planets and stars is the goal of research being carried out by many teams from all over the world. The VKS1 collaboration (CEA2, CNRS3,4, Ecole normale supérieure in Lyon3, Ecole normale supérieure in Paris4) has succeeded in creating in the laboratory a magnetic field in a highly turbulent flow of liquid sodium.

Fountain of Youth: Molecular Switch Holds Key to Reserve Supply of Muscle Stem Cells

After injury, even adult muscles can heal very well because they have a reserve supply of muscle stem cells, called satellite cells, which they can utilize for repair. Until now, it was unclear how this supply of satellite and muscle progenitor cells, out of which both muscle cells as well as satellite cells develop, keeps itself “fresh”. Developmental biologists Professor Carmen Birchmeier, Dr.

Test for p53 is needed to prescreen patients for blood cancer drugs

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine have determined a way to pre-screen cancer patients to see if they are suitable candidates for proteasome inhibitors, a promising class of anti-cancer drugs. They propose to test for p53, a well-known tumor-suppressor protein that is broken down by cellular machinery called proteasomes. This study appears online in the journal Blood, in advance of print publication in June 2007.

Stealth camouflage at night

Cuttlefish are well-known masters of disguise who use highly developed camouflage tactics to blend in almost instantaneously with their surroundings. These relatives of octopuses and squid are part of a class of animals called cephalopods and are found in marine habitats worldwide. Cephalopods use camouflage to change their appearance with a speed and diversity unparalleled in the animal kingdom, however there is no documentation to date that they use their diverse camouflage repertoire at night.

Bacterial walls come tumbling down

The first detailed images of an elusive drug target on the outer wall of bacteria may provide scientists with enough new information to aid design of novel antibiotics. The drugs are much needed to treat deadly infections initiated by Staphylococcus aureus and other bacterial pathogens.

UW-Madison stellerator a step forward in fusion research

A project by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers has come one step closer to making fusion energy possible.

Is your wife angry and aggressive? Maybe it's her genes

ver wonder why some women seem to be more ill-tempered than others? University of Pittsburgh researchers have found that behaviors such as anger, hostility and aggression may be genetic, rooted in variations in a serotonin receptor gene. Indrani Halder, Ph.D., of the Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine Program at the University of Pittsburgh, will present the findings today at the American Psychosomatic Society's Annual Meeting, held in Budapest, Hungary.

Acrux Announces Positive Clinical Trial With Combination Contraceptive Sprays

Acrux announced positive results from its Phase 1 clinical studiesusing two unique contraceptive skin sprays, each containing a progestin and an estrogen.

The first study was a Phase I, pharmacokinetic study, investigating the delivery of a formulation combining Nestorone® and the synthetic estrogen, Ethinyl Estradiol. A single dose of the combination formulation was applied to the forearm of healthy volunteers.

How Jack Bauer on "24" Does So Well Without Sleep - It May Be His Clock Gene

Could you survive a day like Jack Bauer has on the Fox television show "24?" Maybe not, and it might not be just because you lack counter-terrorism training.

Genes commonly shared between species, studies show

Two new studies by University of California, Berkeley, scientists highlight the amazing promiscuity of genes, which appear to shuttle frequently between organisms, especially more primitive organisms, and often in packs.

Such gene flow, dubbed horizontal gene transfer, has been seen frequently in bacteria, allowing pathogenic bacteria, for example, to share genes conferring resistance to a drug. Recently, two different species of plants were shown to share genes as well. The questions have been: How common is it, and how does it occur?

'Guardian of the genome' protein found to underlie skin tanning

A protein known as the "master watchman of the genome" for its ability to guard against cancer-causing DNA damage has been found to provide an entirely different level of cancer protection: By prompting the skin to tan in response to ultraviolet light from the sun, it deters the development of melanoma skin cancer, the fastest-increasing form of cancer in the world.