Body

It should be possible to use therapeutic vaccines to create both cheap and effective drugs for diseases like cancer and allergies. One problem in developing such vaccines has previously been the lack of adjuvants, substances that make vaccines more effective. However, there has now been a major breakthrough in this area. The study, led by scientists at Uppsala University, is published in the December issue of the journal Vaccine.

When cells accumulate excessive errors in the proteins they produce, apoptosis is activated, that is to say, a cell suicide programme; however, beforehand the cells attempt to rectify the problem through a number of rescue responses. Scientists know only the general outline of the mechanisms behind cellular "stress responses", the interactions between them and the molecular components involved. Researchers at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) have designed a new tool to study rescue signalling pathways and cell suicide in depth.

Graphene -- A single-atom-thick sheet of carbon, like those seen in pencil marks -- offers great potential for new types of nanoscale devices, if a good way can be found to mold the material into desired shapes.

Chemists at the University of Illinois at Chicago say it's possible, reporting that graphene can become quite pliable using only a nanodroplet of water to do the job.

Scientists in Scotland, Canada and the US have proposed a new method to identify priority areas for whale conservation. The team's findings, published in Animal Conservation, suggest that even small protected areas, identified through feeding behaviour, can benefit highly mobile marine predators such as killer whales.

The medical establishment and politicians must do more to crack down on alternative medicine, argues a senior scientist on bmj.com today.

In 1909 the BMA, BMJ and politicians tried to end the marketing of secret remedies by uncovering the secret ingredients of popular products like Turlington's Balsam of Life, Mayr's wonderful stomach remedy, and Green Mountain magic pain remover.

Santa should share Rudolf's snack of carrots and celery sticks rather than brandy and mince pies and swap his reindeer for a bike or walk, says a public health expert in the Christmas issue published on bmj.com today.

Dr Nathan Grills, from Monash University in Australia, says the current image of Santa promotes obesity, drink-driving, speeding and a general unhealthy lifestyle. He argues that "Santa only needs to affect health by 0.1% to damage millions of lives" and that it would be better if his popularity was used to promote healthy living.

In the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) of leprosy and the largest GWAS on an infectious disease, scientists at the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) and 26 institutes in China identified seven genes that increase an individual's susceptibility to leprosy.

The discovery of these genes, reported in the 16 Dec. 2009 New England Journal of Medicine, highlights the important role of the innate immune response in the development of leprosy, said the scientists, who analyzed over 10,000 samples from leprosy patients and healthy controls in China.

CLEVELAND -- December 16, 2009 -- Every year in the United States, 160,000 cases of colorectal cancer are diagnosed, and 57,000 patients die of the disease, making it the second leading cause of death from cancer among adults, after lung cancer.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---The most widely used human embryonic stem cell lines lack genetic diversity, a finding that raises social justice questions that must be addressed to ensure that all sectors of society benefit from stem cell advances, according to a University of Michigan research team.

Blood loss is a major cause of death from roadside bombs to freeway crashes. Traumatic injury, the leading cause of death for people age 4 to 44, often overwhelms the body's natural blood-clotting process.

In an effort to enhance the natural process, a team led by Erin Lavik, a new Case Western Reserve University biomedical engineering professor, and her former doctoral student, James P. Bertram, built synthetic platelets that show promise in halting internal and external bleeding.

Their work is published in Science Translational Medicine.

Global warming is giving a boost to Sonoran Desert plants that have an edge during cold weather, according to new research.

Although the overall numbers of winter annuals have declined since 1982, species that germinate and grow better at low temperatures are becoming more common.

"It's an unexpected result -- that global warming has led to an increase in cold-adapted species," said lead author Sarah Kimball, a research associate at the University of Arizona in Tucson. "Because the winter rains are arriving later, they are occurring under colder temperatures."

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Is that really Bob? You've seen him hundreds of mornings for the last 10 years at local coffee shops. Since he started dating Sara, he looks you in the eye -- and smiles. Sara takes every opportunity to let coffee shop cronies know that Bob is her guy and to gush about how funny he is. And he is. Who knew?

Think of Sara like Michelangelo chipping away at a block of marble to release the ideal figure slumbering within.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – In a developing animal, stem cells proliferate and differentiate to form the organs needed for life. A new study shows how a crucial step in this process happens and how a reversal of that step contributes to cancer.

The study, led by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, shows for the first time that three proteins, called E2f1, E2f2 and E2f3, play a key role in the transition stem cells make to their final, differentiated, state.

Research teams led by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute announce the first comprehensive analyses of cancer genomes.

All cancers are caused by mutations in the DNA of cancer cells which are acquired during a person's lifetime. The studies, of a malignant melanoma and a lung cancer, reveal for the first time essentially all the mutations in the genomes of two cancers.

DALLAS – Dec. 16, 2009 – Aided by next-generation DNA sequencing technology, an international team of researchers has gained insights into how more than 60 carcinogens associated with cigarette smoke bind to and chemically modify human DNA, ultimately leading to cancer-causing genetic mutations.