Life Sciences News | Scicasts

Biologists Show That an RNA Molecule Protects Stem Cells During Inflammation

t.hamilton@scicasts.com (Teacha Hamilton) — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:54:05 +0000

Pasadena, CA (Scicasts) – When infections occur in the body, stem cells in the blood often jump into action by multiplying and differentiating into mature immune cells that can fight off illness. But repeated infections and inflammation can deplete these cell populations, potentially leading to the development of serious blood conditions such as cancer.

Drugs Shown to Successfully Prevent and Treat Alzheimer’s in Mice

t.hamilton@scicasts.com (Teacha Hamilton) — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:24:23 +0000

Los Angeles, CA (Scicasts) – Imagine a pharmaceutical prevention, treatment or even cure for Alzheimer’s disease.

Scientists Develop New Tumour-Killer

t.hamilton@scicasts.com (Teacha Hamilton) — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:53:41 +0000

Singapore (Scicasts) – Scientists from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Lund University, Sweden, have bioengineered a novel molecule which has been proven to successfully kill tumour cells.

Computational Study Tracks E. coli Cells' Regulatory Mechanisms

t.hamilton@scicasts.com (Teacha Hamilton) — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:20:20 +0000

Houston, TX (Scicasts) – Environment is not the only factor in shaping regulatory patterns -- and it might not even be the primary factor, according to a new Rice University study that looks at how cells' protein networks relate to a bacteria's genome.

Scientists Identify Molecular Trigger for Alzheimer's Disease

t.hamilton@scicasts.com (Teacha Hamilton) — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:31:21 +0000

Cambridge, UK (Scicasts) – Researchers have pinpointed a catalytic trigger for the onset of Alzheimer's disease – when the fundamental structure of a protein molecule changes to cause a chain reaction that leads to the death of neurons in the brain.

Study Shows Premature Birth Interrupts Vital Brain Development Processes Leading to Reduced Cognitive Abilities in Infants

t.hamilton@scicasts.com (Teacha Hamilton) — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:00:00 +0000

London UK (Scicasts) – Researchers from King's College London have used a novel form of MRI to identify crucial developmental processes in the brain that are vulnerable to the effects of premature birth. [Video]

The Compound in the Mediterranean Diet That Makes Cancer Cells ‘Mortal’

t.hamilton@scicasts.com (Teacha Hamilton) — Mon, 20 May 2013 23:53:37 +0000

Columbus, OH (Scicasts) – New research suggests that a compound abundant in the Mediterranean diet takes away cancer cells’ “superpower” to escape death.

Model for Better Testing, Targeting of MPNST Developed

t.hamilton@scicasts.com (Teacha Hamilton) — Mon, 20 May 2013 23:11:18 +0000

Minneapolis, MN (Scicasts) – Researchers from the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, and the University’s Brain Tumor Program, have developed a new mouse model of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumours (MPNST) that allow them to discover new genes and gene pathways driving this type of cancer.

Understanding How Long-Term Memory is Processed to Guide Behavioural Choices

t.hamilton@scicasts.com (Teacha Hamilton) — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:27:48 +0000

Japan (Scicasts) – In our interaction with our environment we constantly refer to past experiences stored as memories to guide behavioural decisions. But how memories are formed, stored and then retrieved to assist decision-making remains a mystery.

New Theory on Genesis of Osteoarthritis Comes with Successful Therapy in Mice

t.hamilton@scicasts.com (Teacha Hamilton) — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:00:42 +0000

Baltimore, MD (Scicasts) – Scientists at Johns Hopkins have turned their view of osteoarthritis (OA) inside out. Literally.

Using Metals from Antibacterial Clays to Attack MRSA

t.hamilton@scicasts.com (Teacha Hamilton) — Mon, 20 May 2013 10:56:58 +0000

Phoenix, AZ (Scicasts) – In the race to protect society from infectious microbes, the bugs are outrunning us. The need for new therapeutic agents is acute, given the emergence of novel pathogens as well as old foes bearing heightened antibiotic resistance.

Singapore's First Influenza Vaccine Brought to Clinical Trial

t.hamilton@scicasts.com (Teacha Hamilton) — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:22:46 +0000

Singapore and Schlieren (Zurich), Switzerland (Scicasts) – Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and Switzerland's Cytos Biotechnology AG have announced that the first healthy volunteer has been dosed in a Phase 1 clinical trial with their H1N1 influenza vaccine candidate based on Cytos' proprietary bacteriophage Qbeta virus-like particle (VLP) technology.

Scientists Use Human Stem Cells to Generate Immune System in Mice

t.hamilton@scicasts.com (Teacha Hamilton) — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:17:28 +0000

San Francisco, CA (Scicasts) – Raising hopes for cell-based therapies, UC San Francisco researchers have created the first functioning human thymus tissue from embryonic stem cells in the laboratory.

Study Finds Natural Killer Cells Activate Haematopoiesis

t.hamilton@scicasts.com (Teacha Hamilton) — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:48:36 +0000

Munich, Germany (Scicasts) – Infections can trigger haematopoiesis at sites outside the bone marrow – in the liver, the spleen or the skin. LMU researchers now show that a specific type of immune cell facilitates such “extra medullary” formation of blood cells.

Target to Prevent Hardening of Arteries Identified

t.hamilton@scicasts.com (Teacha Hamilton) — Fri, 17 May 2013 10:15:48 +0000

Orlando, FL (Scicasts) – The hardening of arteries is a hallmark of atherosclerosis, an often deadly disease in which plaques, excessive connective tissue, and other changes build up inside vessel walls and squeeze off the flow of oxygen-rich blood throughout the body.

Scientists Successfully Convert Human Skin Cells into Embryonic Stem Cells

t.hamilton@scicasts.com (Teacha Hamilton) — Thu, 16 May 2013 23:12:25 +0000

Portland, OR (Scicasts) – Scientists at Oregon Health & Science University and the Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) have successfully reprogrammed human skin cells to become embryonic stem cells capable of transforming into any other cell type in the body. [Video]

DNA-Guided Assembly Yields Novel Ribbon-Like Nanostructures

t.hamilton@scicasts.com (Teacha Hamilton) — Thu, 16 May 2013 21:52:11 +0000

Upton, NY (Scicasts) – Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered that DNA "linker" strands coax nano-sized rods to line up in way unlike any other spontaneous arrangement of rod-shaped objects.