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Preventing infection in hosts receiving transplanted fetal tissues for neurodegenerative disease damage repair
Date: Jul-24-2013The use of central nervous system fetal tissues derived from routine elective abortions to provide stem cells for transplantation procedures aimed at restoring damage done by neurodegenerative diseases is an established therapy. However, fetal tissue microbial contaminants have been known to cause brain infections in cell transplantation recipients. Now, a research team from Germany has developed a "washing" technique that decontaminates the fetal tissues from which stem cells are derived...
Ticks confirmed to harbor Heartland virus, a recently discovered disease in the US
Date: Jul-24-2013Scientists have for the first time traced a novel virus that infected two men from northwestern Missouri in 2009 to populations of ticks in the region, providing confirmation that lone star ticks are carrying the recently discovered virus and humans in the area are likely at risk of infection. The findings were published online in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Dubbed Heartland virus or HRTV, the infection causes fever, headaches, and low white blood cell and platelet counts...
Study allows a rare glimpse of evolution in progress
Date: Jul-24-2013In a twist on "survival of the fittest," researchers have discovered that evolution is driven not by a single beneficial mutation but rather by a group of mutations, including ones called "genetic hitchhikers" that are simply along for the ride. These hitchhikers are mutations that do not appear to have a role in contributing to an organism's fitness and therefore its evolution, yet may play an important role down the road...
Click chemistry enables post-translational modification of molecules
Date: Jul-24-2013Thiols are sulfur-containing molecules found in most proteins of the human body. Characterized by their 'garlicky' smell, they also give coffee, sweat and the spray of skunks their unique odor. Because they are so widespread in biology, medicine and materials science, thiols are ideal targets for connecting molecules like drugs or polymers together, except that they must first be fitted with a chemical group that acts like an adaptor to other molecules. One of the most potentially useful of these 'adaptors' are the alkynes, which can be extremely powerful in bioconjugation...
People who migrate to wealthier countries aren't any happier
Date: Jul-24-2013Do migrants from Eastern European countries become happier once they have settled in Western Europe? A University of Leicester sociologist has investigated this question -- and the answer might make potential migrants think twice before packing their bags. Most migrants were no happier after migration -- and migrants from Poland were significantly less happy. In a paper published in Migration Studies, Dr. David Bartram analyses data from the European Social Survey of more than 42,000 people to try and determine whether happiness can be gained by moving to another country...
Female cancer patients unhappy with insufficient fertility support
Date: Jul-24-2013Young female cancer patients are unhappy about the way fertility preservation options are discussed with them by doctors before starting cancer treatment, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Sheffield and The Children's Hospital, Sheffield. The pioneering study discovered that only 40 per cent of young female cancer patients were happy with the way their doctors discussed the options they had to preserve fertility, before undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy which can have a harmful effect on a patient's fertility...
World's first IVF baby born after preimplantation genome sequencing is now 11 months old
Date: Jul-24-2013The largest genomic institute of the world, BGI Shenzhen, China (hereinafter BGI), together with Reproductive & Genetic Hospital CITIC-XIANGYA (hereinafter CITIC-XIANGYA) have announced that they have successfully applied Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) to detect in vitro fertilized (IVF) embryos with genetic abnormalities. The successful application of preimplantation sequencing (the most advanced form of preimplantation genetic screening, PGS) opens a new chapter in the field of human assisted reproduction, providing new hopes for IVF couples...
Should off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting be abandoned?
Date: Jul-24-2013In a Special Report in the current issue of Circulation, Boston Medical Center cardiothoracic surgeon Harold Lazar, MD, has found that off-pump coronary artery bypass graft (OPCAB) surgery has failed to show any significant improvement in short-term morbidity or mortality as compared to the traditional on-pump coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. He recommends that the technique be abandoned, unless surgeons who perform off-pump surgery can show that their own results are as good as results reported with the traditional on-pump surgery...
First-ever small animal model of norovirus provides tool for future drug studies
Date: Jul-24-2013An animal model of the human norovirus created at the University of Michigan Health System lays the groundwork for understanding the biology of the pesky virus and developing antiviral drug treatment. Well-known as the virus that impacts cruise ship vacations, norovirus leads to misery on land too. The virus spreads quickly from person to person in any closed-in space, such as schools, nursing homes, or day-care centers. "The first virus in this group was discovered in 1972 following a disease outbreak at a school in Norwalk, Ohio in 1968...
New insights into beneficial pathways that also operate in tumors and can regulate anti-tumor responses
Date: Jul-24-2013Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital in China have discovered a gene expression signature that may lead to new immune therapies for lung cancer patients. They found that NF-κB, a protein complex known to promote tumor growth, may also have the ability to boost the immune system to eliminate cancerous cells before they harm, as well as promote antitumor responses. The study appeared in a recent issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation. NF-κB is a protein complex that controls gene expression...
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