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New Treatment Options For High-Risk Childhood Leukemia Subtype Offered By Existing Drugs
Date: Aug-15-2012Discovery of the genetic basis of a high-risk subtype of leukemia shows some patients might benefit from existing targeted therapies, advancing the goal of curing all children with the most common childhood cancer Scientists have identified new genetic alterations underlying a high-risk subtype of the most common childhood cancer that could be effectively targeted with existing leukemia therapies. The study focused on a subtype of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) known as Philadelphia chromosome-like ALL (Ph-like ALL)...
A Solution To The Riddle Of Congenital Heart Defects Provided By Supercomputers
Date: Aug-15-2012About 25,000 Danes currently live with congenital heart defects. Both heredity and environment play a role for these malformations, but exactly how various risk factors influence the development of the heart during pregnancy has been a mystery until now. With the aid of a supercomputer, an international, interdisciplinary research team has analysed millions of data points. This has allowed the scientists to show that a huge number of different risk factors - for example in the form of genetic defects - influence the molecular biology of heart development...
Viable Stem Cells Suitable For Biomedical Research From Human Embryos Frozen For 18 Years
Date: Aug-15-2012Even after being frozen for 18 years, human embryos can be thawed, grown in the laboratory, and successfully induced to produce human embryonic stem (ES) cells, which represent a valuable resource for drug screening and medical research. Prolonged embryonic cryopreservation as an alternative source of ES cells is the focus of an article in BioResearch Open Access, a new bimonthly peer-reviewed open access journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The article is available free online at the BioResearch Open Access website...
Using Light To 'Tag And Track' Genetic Processes Much More Efficient
Date: Aug-15-2012In a new study, UT Dallas researchers outline how they used fluorescent molecules to "tag" DNA and monitor a process called DNA looping, a natural biological mechanism involved in rearranging genetic material in some types of cells. The UT Dallas "tag and track" method not only sheds light on how DNA loops form, but also might be adapted to screen drugs for effectiveness against certain viruses that shuffle genetic material, such as HIV...
Urology-Owned Radiation Oncology Self-Referral Can Increase Patients' Travel Distance For Treatment
Date: Aug-14-2012Men with prostate cancer in Texas may be driving more than three times farther than needed to obtain radiation oncology treatments for their cancer when treated at a urology-owned radiation oncology practice versus other facilities, according to a study to be published online August 15, 2012, and in the September 1, 2012, print issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology � Biology � Physics (Red Journal), the official scientific journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO)...
Nurses As Effective As Doctors In Treatment Of HIV Patients
Date: Aug-14-2012Nurse-centred care of HIV patients can be just as safe and effective as care delivered by doctors and has a number of specific health benefits, according to a new study led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the University of Cape Town (UCT). Published today in The Lancet, the research shows that neither survival rates nor virus suppression reduced when nurses administered antiretroviral drugs to patients in South Africa...
Bowel Cancer Caused By Faulty Gene And High Iron Levels
Date: Aug-14-2012New research published in Cell Reports has revealed that high levels of iron switches on a key pathway in people with faults in a critical anti-cancer gene (APC) that could raise the risk of bowel cancer. According to Cancer Research UK scientists, based at the University of Birmingham and the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow, bowel cancers were 2 to 3 times more likely to form in mice fed high amounts of iron with a faulty APC gene, compared to mice who still had a fully functioning APC gene...
Microwave Butter Flavoring Ingredient Is A Respiratory Hazard
Date: Aug-14-2012Researchers have discovered that the ingredient 2,3-pentanedione (PD), used to promote the flavor and aroma of butter in microwave popcorn is a respiratory hazard, which can also change gene expression in the brain of rats. The study is published in The American Journal of Pathology and suggests that acute PD exposure can lead to respiratory toxicity similar to that of diacetyl in laboratory animals. Before using PD to enhance the flavor of butter, manufacturers used diacetyl...
What Is Calcium? Why Do I Need Calcium?
Date: Aug-14-2012Calcium is a chemical element which is essential for living organisms, including humans. Calcium's chemical symbol is "Ca". It is found in many foods. We need to consume a certain amount of calcium to build and maintain strong bones and healthy communication between the brain and various parts of the body. Calcium continues strengthening the bones of humans until they reach the age of 20-25 years, or when they reach their peak mass. After that age, the element helps bone maintenance as well as slowing down bone density loss, which is a natural part of the aging process...
Artificial Retina Restores Sight In Blind Mice
Date: Aug-14-2012Two researchers in the US have taken a huge step forward in developing technology to help blind people see: they have made an artificial retina that restored normal vision in blind mice. And they have already worked out a way to make a similar device for monkeys, which they hope to quickly redesign and test for human use. Artificial retinas are not a new invention, however, the ones produced so far only produce rough visual fields where the user sees spots and edges of light to help them navigate...
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