Biology News
Dancing with wolves -- prestigious award goes to a scientist at the Vetmeduni Vienna
| 1/27/2012 | The American Psychological Association, the largest psychological society in the world, will grant its 2012 "Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology" to Dr Friederike Range of the Messerli Research Institute at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna (Vetmeduni Vienna). The award is recognition of Range's ground-breaking research on animal cognition and... [Comments] |
Scientists reveal how cholera bacterium gains a foothold in the gut
| 1/27/2012 | A team of biologists at the University of York has made an important advance in our understanding of the way cholera attacks the body. The discovery could help scientists target treatments for the globally significant intestinal disease which kills more than 100,000 people every year. The disease is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae , which is able to colonise the intestine usually a... [Comments] |
Capturing an octopus-eye view of the Great Barrier Reef
| 1/27/2012 | The camera enables the researchers to see an aspect of light that humans are essentially blind to: polarized light. Though humans aren't sensitive to polarized light, many reef dwelling animals are but this has not always been taken into account in previous studies of reef communities. Thanks to generous support provided by a Yulgilbar Foundation Fellowship, Dr Shelby Temple, and a team o... [Comments] |
European Research Council supports search for regulators of tissue damage
| 1/27/2012 | There is more to fighting infection than just clearing the body of pathogens. As important as resisting infection, is limiting damage to the host's tissue caused, very frequently, by toxins produced by pathogens or by components of the host immune response that clears those pathogens. Indeed... [Comments] |  |
80 percent of 'irreplaceable' habitats in Andes unprotected
| 1/27/2012 | DURHAM, N.C. Hundreds of rare, endemic species in the Central Andes remain unprotected and are increasingly under threat from development and climate change, according to a Duke University-led international study. "These species require unique ecological conditions and are particularly vulnerable to changes in the environment or climate. Yet our analysis shows that region-wide, about 80... [Comments] |
MSU technology spin-out company to market portable biohazard detection
| 1/27/2012 | EAST LANSING, Mich. --- A new company formed around Michigan State University nanotechnology promises to move speedy detection of deadly pathogens and toxins from the laboratory directly to the field. Food contamination and other biohazards present a growing public health concern, but labora... [Comments] |  |
MSU researchers show how new viruses evolve, and in some cases, become deadly
| 1/27/2012 | EAST LANSING, Mich. In the current issue of Science , researchers at Michigan State University demonstrate how a new virus evolves, which sheds light on how easy it can be for diseases to gain dangerous mutations. The scientists showed for the first time how the virus called "Lambda" ev... [Comments] |  |
Grape seed extract kills head and neck cancer cells, leaves healthy cells unharmed
| 1/27/2012 | Nearly 12,000 people will die of head and neck cancer in the United States this year and worldwide cases will exceed half a million. A study published this week in the journal Carcinogenesis shows that in both cell lines and mouse models, grape seed extract (GSE) kills head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cells, while leaving healthy cells unharmed. "It's a rather dramatic effect,"... [Comments] |
Study pinpoints genetic variation that raises a risk linked to bisphosphonates
| 1/27/2012 | New York, NY (January 26, 2012) Researchers at the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine have identified a genetic variation that raises the risk of developing serious necrotic jaw bone lesions in patients who take bisphosphonates, a common class of osteoclastic inhibitors. The discovery paves the way for a genetic screening test to determine who can safely take these drugs. The st... [Comments] |
Rice, UCSD scientists probe form, function of mysterious protein
| 1/27/2012 | HOUSTON -- (Jan. 26, 2012) -- Like a magician employing sleight of hand, the protein mitoNEET -- a mysterious but important player in diabetes, cancer and aging -- draws the eye with a flurry of movement in one location while the subtle, more crucial action takes place somewhere else. Us... [Comments] |  |
What really happened prior to 'Snowball Earth'?
| 1/27/2012 | MIAMI Jan. 27, 2012 In a study published in the journal Geology , scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science suggest that the large changes in the carbon isotopic composition of carbonates which occurred prior to the major climatic event... [Comments] |  |
Medicine News
Winter Doldrums Got You Down? Here's How to Bounce Back
| 1/29/2012 | SATURDAY, Jan. 28 (HealthDay News) -- For some people a change in the seasons can trigger a loss of energy or even clinical depression, according to an expert who describes how to cope with seasonal affective disorder. The condition is caused by changes in ambient light, said Dr. Dan Iosifescu, director of the Mount Sinai Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program in New York City.... [Comments] |
Very good experiences don't just happen for patients
| 1/28/2012 | PROVIDENCE, R.I. A new training program for emergency department staff at Rhode Island Hospital (www.rhodeislandhospital.org) teaches communication skills by having staff take part in simulations of real patient experiences. The goal is to improve the patient experience by standardizing both team and patient communication in an emergency department (ED) setting. The program will be presented... [Comments] |
Test Might Predict Risk of Lung Cancer's Return
| 1/27/2012 | By Randy Dotinga HealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- A new industry-funded study suggests that a molecular test can provide insight into whether patients are at high risk of a relapse after surgical treatment for a form of lung cancer. The test, which is... [Comments] |  |
Experts Offer Tips on Avoiding iPad-Linked Shoulder, Neck Strain
| 1/27/2012 | FRIDAY, Jan. 27 (HealthDay News) -- If working with your iPad or other tablet computer gives you shoulder or neck pain, there are ways around it, a new study suggests. Researchers from Harvard School of Public Health, Microsoft Corp. and Brigham and Women's Hospital say this t... [Comments] |  |
Common Gastro Disease Occurs Even With High-Fiber Diet
| 1/27/2012 | FRIDAY, Jan. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Eating a high-fiber diet does not lower a person's risk of diverticulosis, but a low-fiber diet might, according to a new study that contradicts what doctors have believed for decades. Diverticulosis is a disease of the intestines in which... [Comments] |  |
Bedwetting can be due to undiagnosed constipation, research shows
| 1/27/2012 | Winston-Salem, N.C. Jan. 27, 2012 Bedwetting isn't always due to problems with the bladder, according to new research by Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. Constipation is often the culprit; and if it isn't diagnosed, children and their parents must endure an unnecessarily long, costly and difficult quest to cure nighttime wetting. Reporting online in the journal Urology , researchers... [Comments] |
Georgia Bio honors biotech company that enables stroke care
| 1/27/2012 | Augusta, Ga. It was a "common sense" decision to start the company in a large, mostly rural state in the middle of the stroke belt. "We wanted to give better stroke care," said Dr. David Hess, stroke specialist and Chairman of the Department of Neurology at the Medical College of Georgia... [Comments] |  |
Body location plays part in scratching pleasure
| 1/27/2012 | WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. Jan. 27, 2012 An itch is just an itch. Or is it? New research from Gil Yosipovitch, M.D., Ph.D., professor of dermatology at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and a world-renowned itch expert, shows that how good scratching an itch feels is related to the itch's location. While previous studies by Yosipovitch have shown the pleasurability of itching, analysis of... [Comments] |
Diagnostic brain tumor test could revolutionize care of patients
| 1/27/2012 | DALLAS Jan. 26, 2012 Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have developed what they believe to be the first clinical application of a new imaging technique to diagnose brain tumors. The unique test could preclude the need for surgery in patients whose tumors are located in areas of... [Comments] |  |
Discovery of new vaccine approach for treatment of cancer
| 1/27/2012 | Scientists in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, have developed a new vaccine to treat cancer at the pre-clinical level. The research team led by Professor Kingston Mills, Professor of Experimental Immunology at Trinity College Dublin discovered a new approach for treating the disease based on manipulating the immune response to malignant tumours. The discovery has been patented and there are p... [Comments] |
Statins May Stave Off Liver Cancer in People With Hepatitis B
| 1/27/2012 | By Denise Mann HealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Popular cholesterol-lowering statins may also lower risk for liver cancer among people with hepatitis B, a new study shows. Hepatitis B, an inflammation of the liver due to the hepatitis B virus, is one of... [Comments] |  |