Disruption of protein-folding causes neurodegeneration, mental retardation
Excess accumulation in brain cells of a fat molecule called GM1-ganglioside (GM1) disrupts the folding of newly assembled proteins into their proper shapes, triggering nerve degeneration and mental retardation in children. This finding, from investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, is published in the Sept. 10 issue of Molecular Cell. ...The disease, called GM1 gangliosidosis, di...Flame retardants found on supermarket shelves
A new study has found flame retardant chemicals, called PBDEs, in foods taken straight from supermarket shelves in Dallas, Texas, suggesting that food may be a key source of the contamination measured in people around the world. ... ...The report, which was published online Sept. 1 by , a peer-reviewed journal of the American Chemical Society, the worlds largest scientific society, revealed high...Flame retardant levels much higher in farmed salmon
Farm-raised salmon contain much higher levels of flame retardants than most wild salmon, and some wild Chinook have the highest levels of all, according to new research. Building on an earlier study of chemicals in the two types of fish, the findings suggest that consumers should choose their salmon carefully....... , a peer-reviewed journal of the American Chemical Society, the worlds largest sc...Desert science center aims to bridge rift between Jordan and Israel
In an effort to encourage scientific collaboration between Arab and Israeli students, the governments of Jordan and Israel have agreed to set aside 150 acres along their border for the construction of a major environmental research center that will be operated in collaboration with Stanford University and Cornell University.... ...Groundbreaking for the new Bridging the Rift Center will take plac...Same gene found to cause mental retardation in children, neurodegenerative condition in older males
HONOLULU, HI Researchers have recently discovered a progressive neurodegenerative condition -- resulting in tremor, balance problems, and dementia -- which may affect as many as one in 3,000 men. This condition has now been associated with the same gene that causes fragile X syndrome, the most common heritable form of mental retardation. Findings of this study are being presented at the American...OHSU researchers discover brain cell mechanism possibly linked to mental retardation
PORTLAND, Ore. Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) have discovered a key cellular mechanism in the brain possibly involved in mental retardation. The research may be used to develop new drugs or therapies to combat the condition. The research, which was conducted in mice, also may provide scientists with an animal model for mental retardation that will be of use in future st...Acorda therapeutics receives NIH Phase 2 grant for central nervous system repair
Hawthorne, NY December 19, 2002 Acorda Therapeutics announced today that it has been awarded a two-year Phase 2 Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant from the National Institutes of Health. The $980,000 grant will continue to fund collaborative research between Acorda and Drs. Allan Bieber and Moses Rodriguez of Mayo Clinic. The grant will fund research at Acorda and at Mayo Clinic t...Acorda Therapeutics acquires CeNeS neuregulin products
Hawthorne, NY November 14, 2002 Acorda Therapeutics announced today that it has acquired an exclusive worldwide license from CeNeS plc (LSE: CEN) to its neuregulin products, glial growth factor 2 (GGF2), and neuregulin 2 (NRG2), a class of therapeutic agents that has been demonstrated to promote remyelination in animal studies. ...... Acorda expects to advance pre-clinical development immediatel...Acorda Therapeutics receives L.W. Freeman Award for Scientific Research
Hawthorne, NY /Mesa, AZ November 13, 2002 - Acorda Therapeutics, a biotechnology company located in Hawthorne, NY, will receive the L.W. Freeman Award for Scientific Research tomorrow evening at the National Spinal Cord Injury Association (NSCIA) 2002 Annual Conference in Mesa, AZ. ...... This award is given annually for pioneering research on regeneration in spinal cord injury or disease and was...Acorda Therapeutics begins Phase 3 trials of Fampridine-SR for chronic spinal cord injury
Hawthorne, NY June 28, 2002 Acorda Therapeutics announced today that it has begun two Phase 3 clinical studies of its lead product, Fampridine-SR, in chronic spinal cord injury. The trials will evaluate the safety and efficacy of Fampridine-SR in the treatment of moderate-to-severe spasticity associated with chronic SCI. Spasticity, which affects up to 75% of people with chronic SCI, manifests...Possible gene for form of mental retardation, brain development identified
Researchers funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) have come one step closer to identifying one of the causes of previously unexplained mental retardation. The researchers report finding a single gene on the X chromosome, called AGTR2 for short, that when abnormal, appears to result in mental retardation (MR). The study, by Dr. Anand K. Srivastava and co...Clemson researchers identify mental retardation gene
Clemson University and Greenwood Genetic Center researchers have found a link between a single gene and mental retardation. Dr. Anand K. Srivastava and his colleagues report their findings in the June 28 edition of the internationally respected journal, Science....... The researchers found a single gene, Angiotensin II receptor 2 known as AGTR2 on the X chromosome that may trigger mental reta...New test offers hope of easy and affordable screening for hereditary breast cancer genes
Researchers at the Nottingham Breast Unit in the UK have developed an easy and affordable way of screening families for underlying hereditary genetic mutations which predispose them to developing breast cancer, the 3rd European Breast Cancer Conference in Barcelona heard today (Wednesday 20 March)....... By testing samples from either two family members affected by breast cancer or from one fami...Molecular basis of mental retardation uncovered
Scientists at last may have determined how mental retardation develops in...people with fragile X syndrome, a condition caused by the inherited loss of...an essential protein, termed the fragile X mental retardation protein...(FMRP). The new research demonstrates that FMRP controls the fate of...several specific proteins in brain cells and thus may explain why the...absence of this single protei...Blood markers associated with autism and mental retardation
.A new study shows that elevated concentrations of proteins present at birth in the blood may be associated with the development of autism and mental retardation later in childhood. The identification of a biological marker early in life and before the onset of symptoms could lead to earlier and more definitive diagnoses, better clinical definitions, and the discovery of interventional therapie...Chemical flame retardant found in salmon
...Madison -- University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists have found in Lake Michigan salmon some of the highest levels reported in the world of a common chemical flame retardant. ... ...The report was published today, Feb. 14, by the journal Environmental Science and Technology. ... ..."The concentrations are among the highest reported in the world for salmon in open waters," says Jon Manchester.... . . . . Foods that were contaminated in Michigan in 1973, when a fire retardant containing the chemical polybrominated biphenyl PBB was accidentally mixed with animal feed, have been associated with an early onset of menstruation and pubic hair in some daughters of the women exposed, scientists reported in the journal Epidemiology (Nov. 2000, Vol. 11, No. 6.) . The daughters of the.... UCSF researchers have exposed a single protein that can stimulate the maturation of the . synapses, or junctures, through which nerve cells communicate a key signal to one another. . The discovery reveals a mechanism critical for supporting brain development, learning and . memory and a possible target for treating mental retardation and nerve damage following . stroke and spinal cord injury.....Chlordane found in foods decades after pesticide use
. Study examines effects on crops grown in contaminated soil. . .Pesticide use from a more toxic past is hitting close to home. A new report says buyers of fresh produce may get something unexpected: chlordane, a now-banned hazardous chemical introduced more than five decades ago.. .The finding is reported in the May 15 print edition of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, published b...New antioxidant vitamin RDAs better, but not good enough
.The increases announced today for the recommended dietary allowances of antioxidants such as vitamins C and E are a step in the right direction, experts say, but still fall short of the amounts that many studies have shown could help prevent heart disease, stroke and cancer. . For the first time in a decade, the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences has increased the reco...Progress in mental retardation research
.A major rationale for genome sequencing is the promise of understanding human disorders, as articles in Genome Research often remind us. This month, in a report on recent progress in mental retardation (MR) research, Jozef Gécz and John Mulley (University of Adelaide) explain how advances in human genome sequencing have helped uncover genes involved in MR.. .Mental retardation, defined as...Researchers call for doubling of RDA on vitamin C
. CORVALLIS, Ore. - The recommended dietary allowance, or RDA, for vitamin.C should be officially doubled to a new level of 120 milligrams per day,.researchers conclude in a new report, with potential benefits for everything.from heart disease to cataracts and cancer. . The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition by.scientists from the Linus Pauling Institute...UV Rays, Fire And Flame Retardants To Be Reviewed For Possible Listing As Carcinogens, NTP Announces
.UVA, UVB and UVC, the three wavelength groups of ultraviolet light found in.sunlight and in varying amounts in artificial light from such devices as sun.lamps and sun beds, will be reviewed for possible listing in the federal.government's Tenth Annual Report on Carcinogens, National Toxicology Program.officials said today.. . Additional substances to be considered for listing, according...Jumpin' Jordan! Athletic Gene Yields Biological Clues
.Joltin' Joe is immortalized in song, Babe Ruth in a candy bar, but only Michael.Jordan has a gene named after him.. .Jordan's legendary leaping ability has inspired two cell biologists at.Washington University in St. Louis to name a transposon -- a highly specialized.gene -- after the sports and cultural icon. A transposon is a type of gene,.common in organisms ranging from algae to humans, tha...Gene Mutation Found For Common Form Of Mental Retardation
Defect Supports New View Of Nerve Signaling In Learning And Memory. . ..BOSTON-August 26, 1998--A gene mutation responsible for a form of mental.retardation affecting one in 600 males has been located on the X chromosome,.researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School,.and other institutions report in the September Nature Genetics. . Genes for nonsyndromic...A New Gene For Mental Retardation
. Association Of An X-Chromosome Dodecamer Insertional Variant Allele With.Mental Retardation . .RA Philibert, BH King, S Winfield, EH Cook, Y-H Lee, B Stubblefield, P.Damschroder-Williams, C Dea, A Palotie, C Tengstrom, BM Martin, EI Ginns. .X-Chromosome linked mental retardation affects approximately 1 in 300 males.. Although the genetic causes for some of these cases have been discovered,.the...Cancer Test May Offer High-Risk Groups Quick, Affordable Screening For Tumors
... ......... Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a new test that may allow...doctors to regularly and quickly check for early cancers in patients at risk for...developing cancer due to genetic or environmental factors.... The test temporarily slows DNA production in cancer cells, causing some...elements of DNA to accumulate in the blood. When these materials are excreted......Following three scientific reviews, the National Toxicology Program has asked...for final public comment before recommending action on proposals to list...benzidine dyes, UV radiation from sunlamps and the sun, cadmium, the drug...tamoxifen, butadiene, sulfuric acid mists and tobacco whether smoked or chewed,...as "known human carcinogens" in the federal government's Report on Carcinogens.......