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Viral Paths Toward Cancer Charted By Field Guide To The Epstein-Barr Virus
Date: Aug-27-2012Researchers from The Wistar Institute and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) have teamed to publish the first annotated atlas of the Epstein-Barr virus genome, creating the most comprehensive study of how the viral genome interacts with its human host during a latent infection. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which is thought to be responsible for one percent of all human cancers, establishes a latent infection in nearly 100 percent of infected adult humans...
The Problems And Potential Solutions To Using Fat For Cartilage Repair
Date: Aug-27-2012Stem cells isolated from fat are being considered as an option for treating tissue damage and diseases because of their accessibility and lack of rejection. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy shows that this is not as straightforward as previously believed, and that fat-derived stem cells secrete VEGF and other factors, which can inhibit cartilage regeneration. However pre-treating the cells with antibodies against VEGF and growing them in nutrients specifically designed to promote chondrocytes can neutralize these effects...
New Insights Into The Underlying Mechanisms Of Sodium Balance
Date: Aug-27-2012Sodium chloride, better known as salt, is vital for the organism, and the kidneys play a crucial role in the regulation of sodium balance. However, the underlying mechanisms of sodium balance are not yet completely understood. Researchers of the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin and the University of Kiel have now deciphered the function of a gene in the kidney and have thus gained new insights into this complex regulation process (PNAS Early Edition, doi/10.1073/pnas.1203834109)*...
Body's Own Hormone Shows Promise In Protecting Dopamine, Leading To Possible Treatments For Parkinson's Disease
Date: Aug-27-2012Scientists at the University of Houston (UH) have discovered what may possibly be a key ingredient in the fight against Parkinson's disease. Affecting more than 500,000 people in the U.S., Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system marked by a loss of certain nerve cells in the brain, causing a lack of dopamine. These dopamine-producing neurons are in a section of the midbrain that regulates body control and movement...
DiGeorge Syndrome Severity May Be Explained By Gene 'Switch'
Date: Aug-27-2012The discovery of a 'switch' that modifies a gene known to be essential for normal heart development could explain variations in the severity of birth defects in children with DiGeorge syndrome. Researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute made the discovery while investigating foetal development in an animal model of DiGeorge syndrome. DiGeorge syndrome affects approximately one in 4000 babies. Dr Anne Voss and Dr Tim Thomas led the study, with colleagues from the institute's Development and Cancer division, published in the journal Developmental Cell...
Improper Rinsing Of Sinuses With Neti Pots Can Be Dangerous, FDA Says
Date: Aug-26-2012Neti pots are little teapot-like devices which people use to rinse out their sinuses. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns that if they are not used properly, the user runs a risk of developing serious infections, even potentially fatal ones. The FDA says that the neti pots are not the problem, but rather how people are going about rinsing their sinuses. Over the last ten years, neti pots have become very popular for people who have problems with their sinuses - they are also used for relieving symptoms of a cold and various allergies...
New Mechanical Clot-Remover Highly Effective In Stroke Trial
Date: Aug-26-2012A new generation tool that restores blood flow and mechanically removes clots from blocked blood vessels in people who have had an acute ischemic stroke, performed dramatically better in a clinical trial than the standard treatment, according to a new study reported in The Lancet this week. Stroke, where blood supply to the brain becomes restricted, is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, and is also a common cause of long-term disability...
Optimal Treatment For Most Common Infection After Organ Transplantation
Date: Aug-26-2012Waiting to treat the commonest viral infections in transplant recipients until they reach a certain threshold is better than prophylactically treating all recipients, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is the most common infection in organ transplant recipients, who are susceptible to infections in general because they must take immunosuppressive medications long term. CMV infections can cause increased risks of other infections, organ rejection, heart complications, and diabetes...
Why Humans May Be More Susceptible To Cancer And Other Diseases
Date: Aug-26-2012Chimpanzees rarely get cancer, or a variety of other diseases that commonly arise in humans, but their genomic DNA sequence is nearly identical to ours. So, what's their secret? Researchers reporting in the September issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics, a Cell Press journal, have found that differences in certain DNA modifications, called methylation, might play a role. The researchers discovered hundreds of genes that display different patterns of methylation between the two species...
Soprano Singing Apes On Helium
Date: Aug-26-2012Have you ever heard an opera singing ape? Researchers in Japan have discovered that singing gibbons use the same vocal techniques as professional soprano singers. The study, published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, explains how recording gibbons singing under the influence of helium gas reveals a physiological similarity to human voices. The research was led by Dr Takeshi Nishimura from the Primate Research Institute at Kyoto University, Japan. His team studied the singing of a white-handed gibbon (Hylobates lar) at Fukuchiyama City Zoo, in northern Kyoto...
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