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| | Latest Science News | | | Bacteria 'Invest' Wisely to Survive Uncertain Times, Scientists Report
In a new study available online and featured on the cover of Cell, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers describe how bacteria play the market so well. Inside each bacterial cell are so-called genetic circuits that provide specific survival skills.......More | AstraZeneca sues Lupin to protect patent rights of anti-ulcer drug, Nexium
PharmaBiz News, AstraZeneca, the Anglo-Swedish drug major, has filed a patent infringement lawsuit at the US District Court of New Jersey against the Mumbai-based Lupin Ltd and its US subsidiary to curb the latter's move to manufacture and market the generic version of its blockbuster acid reflux drug, Nexium...........More | Nanomedicine Promising For Treating Spinal Cord Injuries, Findings Show
ScienceDaily (Nov. 9, 2009)
Researchers at Purdue University have discovered a new approach for repairing damaged nerve fibers in spinal cord injuries using nano-spheres that could be injected into the blood shortly after an accident.........More | HIV self-test proves accurate: Study in an ER shows individuals successfully determined their own HIV status
Science News (Nov 10, 2009)
PHILADELPHIA — Using basic written instructions and a standard testing kit, people can self-administer an HIV test with a degree of accuracy equal to what health-care workers achieve, according to a new study presented October 31 at a meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America........More | Next-generation microcapsules deliver 'chemicals on demand'
Biology News (oct, 31 2009) Scientists in California are reporting development of a new generation of the microcapsules used in carbon-free copy paper, in which capsules burst and release ink with pressure from a pen. The new microcapsules burst when exposed to light, releasing their contents in ways that could have wide-ranging commercial uses from home and personal care to medicine. Their study appears in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, a weekly publication........More | AAPS And CRS Co-Sponsored Workshop To Take Place In Conjunction With The 2009 AAPS Annual Meeting And Exposition
Medical News (Oct, 31 2009)
The American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) is a professional, scientific society of approximately 12,000 members employed in industry, academia, government and other research institutes worldwide.......More | Novel agent for treatment of Parkinson's disease - Lu 02-750
World Pharma News (Oct 31, 2009)
H. Lundbeck A/S strengthens its pipeline of pharmaceuticals in clinical development by initiating phase I clinical studies with Lu 02-750 in order to investigate safety, tolerability and the pharmacokinetic profile of the drug in humans......More | FDA Warns of Unapproved and Illegal H1N1 Drug Products Purchased Over the Internet
World Pharma News (Oct 31, 2009)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns consumers to use extreme care when purchasing any products over the Internet that claim to diagnose, prevent, treat or cure the H1N1 influenza virus. The warning comes after the FDA recently purchased and analyzed several products represented online as Tamiflu (oseltamivir), which may pose risks to patients.......More | Lighter sentence for murderer with 'bad genes': Italian court reduces jail term after tests identify genes linked to violent behaviour
Nature News (Oct. 31, 2009)
A court in Italy has cut a prisoner's jail term because he has genes associated with aggressive behaviour.Ingram PublishingAn Italian court has cut the sentence given to a convicted murderer by a year because he has genes linked to violent behaviour — the first time that behavioural genetics has affected a sentence passed by a European court. But researchers contacted by Nature have questioned whether the decision was based on sound science.......More | Nanomagnets Guide Stem Cells To Damaged Tissue
ScienceDaily (Oct. 24, 2009) — Microscopic magnetic particles have been used to bring stem cells to sites of cardiovascular injury in a new method designed to increase the capacity of cells to repair damaged tissue, UCL scientists have announced...........More | FDA approves Micardis® (telmisartan) as the first treatment in its class
World Pharma News (22 October 2009)
Boehringer Ingelheim announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new indication for Micardis® (telmisartan) for the reduction of the risk of myocardial infarction (heart attack), stroke, or death from cardiovascular (CV) causes in patients 55 years of age or older at high risk of developing major CV events who are unable to take ACE inhibitors...........More | Study Shows How Normal Cells Influence Tumor Growth
ScienceDaily (Oct. 21, 2009) — It was once thought that the two communities of cells within a cancerous breast tumor -- fast-growing malignant cells and the normal cells that surround them -- existed independently, without interaction. Then evidence emerged indicating that the normal-looking cells encouraged cells within the tumor to become malignant, but how the one community influenced the other wasn't known............More | GlaxoSmithKline gets US approval for Cervarix cervical cancer vaccine
Pharma News (Oct 19, 2009) GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE:GSK) declared on Friday the receipt of US approval for its cervical cancer vaccine, Cervarix. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Cervarix [Human papillomavirus bivalent (types 16 and 18) vaccine, recombinant] for the prevention of cervical pre-cancers and cervical cancer associated with oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 for use in girls and young women aged 10-25............More | Major Step In Making Better Stem Cells From Adult Tissue
ScienceDaily (Oct. 19, 2009) A team led by scientists from The Scripps Research Institute has developed a method that dramatically improves the efficiency of creating stem cells from human adult tissue, without the use of embryonic cells...........More | New images show puny plume from moon crash: Another moon mission suggests iron and mercury, not frozen water, were kicked up Science News (Oct 17th, 2009)
The Centaur rocket that was deliberately crashed into one of the moon’s southern craters October 9 did in fact kick up a plume, even though the plume was not initially as large as hoped...........More | Protein-design papers challenged: Reanalysis does not find same results as key 2003 study Nature News (Oct 13, 2009) Two papers published by protein engineer Homme Hellinga's lab at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, have been challenged in a new analysis of the data......More | Science journals crack down on image manipulation: US figures show that incidents have jumped in the past two years
Nature News (N. Gilbert Oct 12, 2009)
There is a fine line between beautification of scientific images and fraud.GettyMore science journals are taking action to tackle the growing problem of falsified and manipulated images in papers submitted to them for publication......More | For Kidney Disease Patients, Staying Active Might Mean Staying Alive
ScienceDaily (Oct. 12, 2009) — Getting off the couch could lead to a longer life for kidney disease patients, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). The findings indicate that, as in the general population, exercise has significant health benefits for individuals with kidney dysfunction......More | INDIA, BRAZIL TO MOVE WTO AGAINST EC OVER DRUG SEIZURE ISSUE
NEW DELHI, (Oct 12, 2009)
India and Brazil will jointly file a complaint with the WTO against the European Commission for seizure of drug consignments of Indian pharma companies, including Dr Reddy's (BSE:500124) and Aurobindo (BSE:524804) at various European ports......More | A High Fat Diet During Pregnancy Can Lead To Severe Liver Disease In Offspring
ScienceDaily (Oct. 13, 2009)
Scientists have discovered a previously unknown link between a mother’s diet in pregnancy and a severe form of liver disease in her child.
In a study, published in the journal Hepatology, researchers at the University of Southampton found that a high fat diet during a woman’s pregnancy makes her offspring more likely to develop a severe form of fatty liver disease when they reach adulthood......More | H1N1 flu is back and found in 37 states, CDC reports
Science News (October 12, 2009) Nasal spray vaccine for swine flu now shipping to some clinics; studies suggest it’s OK to get shots for seasonal flu and swine flu at same time......More | BIO Releases New Online Video Series Highlighting The Wonders Of Biotech
Medical News Today (Oct 12, 2009)
In an effort to educate the public about biotechnology, its numerous applications, and its most recent innovations, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) has created a series of educational web videos to answer many of the basic questions of biotech - "What is it?" "How does it affect me?" and "Where is it happening? - ......More | New view reveals how DNA fits into cell: Map of 3-D structure of the entire human genome shows fractal folding is key
Science News (October 9th, 2009)
Cells are tidy packers, cramming DNA into nuclei to create a tangle-free, dense ball with pieces that are still accessible, researchers report October 9 in Science. The findings, based on a new three-dimensional view of the whole human genome, solve a long-standing biological mystery and may lead to a deeper understanding of how genes operate..........More | One Dose of Swine Flu Vaccine Offers Protection: Studies
Findings could expand vaccine supply and speed immunity, experts say
HealthDay News (October 9, 2009 )
Preliminary tests of an H1N1 swine flu vaccine conducted in Australia and Britain show that a single dose creates enough antibodies to protect against the virus within about 10 days...........More | New pattern in our biological clock overturns long-held theory
PhysOrg.com (October 8, 2009)
University of Michigan mathematicians and their British colleagues say they have identified the signal that the brain sends to the rest of the body to control biological rhythms, a finding that overturns a long-held theory about our internal clock..........More | Bioengineer uses nanoparticles to target drugs
Nanotechnology/Bio & Medicine (October 8, 2009)
Clemson bioengineer Frank Alexis is designing new ways to target drugs and reduce the chances for side effects.
Pharmaceutical commercials can cause the unsettling feeling that if the disease doesn't kill, the cure will, what with a drug's long list of side effects and warnings. ........More | Nobel Prize in chemistry awarded for ribosome research: Ada Yonath, Thomas Steitz and Venkatraman Ramakrishnan will share the prize equally
Science News (October 7th, 2009) This year's Nobel Prize in chemistry will be shared by three scientists whose research revealed detailed maps of bacterial ribosomes — the factories that all living things use to make proteins. Some antibiotics (red molecule at center) stymie bacteria by interfering with their ribosomes. .......More | Nobel in medicine honors discoveries of telomeres and telomerase Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak will share the prize (Monday, October 5th, 2009)
Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak will share the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for discovering telomeres, the caps on the end of chromosomes, and telomerase, the enzyme that tacks those caps on, Sweden's Nobel Foundation announced October 5.
Telomeres, repeated sequences of DNA at the end of chromosomes, prevent degradation of genetic material. The discoveries of the sequences and the enzyme adds or elongates them solved a long-standing biological mystery: How do cells replicate chromosomes without losing any genetic information? Telomeres have broad implications for medicine, and may be especially important for cancer, certain inherited diseases and aging....More | | Nobel Prize in physics awarded for work with light: Invention of charge-coupled device, enabling of fiber-optic communication recognized Science News (October 6th, 2009)
Invention of the charge-coupled device in the late 1960s (an early version of a CCD is seen in this archival image) earned two researchers a share of the 2009 Nobel Prize for physics. Alcatel-Lucent Bell LabsThree scientists will share the 2009 Nobel Prize in physics for scientific discoveries that revolutionized the fields of telecommunications and photography, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced October 6.
Half of the prize was awarded to Charles K. Kao, retired director of engineering at the Standard Telecommunication Laboratories in Harlow, England, for research that led to dramatic improvements in fiber-optic telecommunications. The other half will be split equally by Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith, both retired from Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, N.J., for inventing the charge-coupled device, a semiconductor circuit that captures images in digital cameras, medical imaging devices and telescopes.
In the late 1960s, fiber-optic communication was a phenomenon known only in the lab because low-quality glass fibers prevented efficient transmission of light. About 99 percent of the light sent down a glass fiber disappeared after traveling only 20 meters. But Kao’s research hinted that chemical impurities in the glass, not physical imperfections, were to blame for the inefficiency. He suggested that light could move more than 100 kilometers through ultrapure glass. Material scientists worldwide rose to the challenge, and within four years researchers at Corning Glass Works in New York had produced a kilometer-long optical fiber suitable for long-distance communication.......More | Cocaine Vaccine Could Treat Addiction: Immunization May Help Body Fight Drug Abuse
Biotech News (October 7th, 2009) An experimental vaccine helped 38 percent of people in a trial end their addictions to cocaine, according to a news release from the National Institutes of Health.
The vaccine causes the body's immune system to produce antibodies. Instead of destroying a virus or bacteria, in this case they bind to cocaine molecules, which makes them unable to pass into the brain. That means that people who take cocaine can't feel it.
The study looked at 115 patients in treatment for drug addiction. Half were given the new treatment, and half were given a placebo. All of the patients also had weekly counseling sessions and were tested three times a week for drug use.
Researchers said that those whose bodies produced the most antibodies were most likely to have clean tests.
"Fifty-three percent of participants in the high-antibody group were abstinent from cocaine more than half the time ... compared with only 23 percent of participants with lower levels of antibodies," said Dr. Thomas Kosten of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston........More | Ranbaxy to market Daiichi's products in Mexico
fe Bureaus (Tuesday, Oct 06, 2009)
New Delhi: Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd is going to market products from the portfolio of Japanese pharma firm Daiichi Sankyo in Mexico. The Gurgaon-based drug firm would market the products through its Latin America-based subsidiary, Ranbaxy Mexico SA de CV Mexico. Daiichi Sankyo holds around 64% stake in Ranbaxy.
With an estimated population of 107 million people, Mexico is Latin America's second-biggest market after Brazil. "This is the first time that Daiichi Sankyo and Ranbaxy are leveraging mutual synergies generated through the hybrid business model in Latin America," Ranbaxy said in a statement.
"Our understanding of the Latin American markets and local presence pave the way for an efficient and immediate market entry for Daiichi Sankyo, while priming the channel for the launch of Ranbaxy specialty products in future," Ranbaxy CEO and MD Atul Sobti said......More | Novel Technology Developed for Tissue Engineering
By BiotechDaily International staff writers (05 Oct 2009)
Researchers have received a U.S. grant to develop a novel bioreactor system that will control the mechanoelectrochemical environment for tissue growth and also provide on-line monitoring for the properties of engineered tissues.
The two-year, US$735,000 grant from the U.S. National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH; Bethesda, MD, USA), will provide funding for the University of Miami (UM) College of Engineering (FL, USA). The grant will fund the work of Drs. Weiyong Gu and Charles Huang, professors in the department of biomedical engineering, to develop the novel bioreactor system for engineering tissue in vitro for implantation in vivo.
“Congratulations to Dr. Gu and Dr. Huang for being awarded such a prestigious grant on behalf of the College of Engineering,” stated Dean James M. Tien, Ph.D., NAE. “Funding from the NIH/NIBIB serves the college and university, and also opens lines of inquiry and exploration about how technology can be applied to reengineering the human body, a key focus of the College’s research thrusts,” added Dr. Tien.....More | Flu virus behind infant pneumonia in poor countries
Nature News (5 October 2009 )
Pneumonia accounts for more than 20% of childhood mortality in developing countries.
Influenza may be a surprisingly important player in childhood pneumonia deaths in developing countries, a study has found1. Pneumonia is the leading cause of death in under-fives worldwide — in poor countries more than one-fifth of childhood mortality is attributed to the disease.......More | | Scientists Develop Nasal Spray That Improves Memory
ScienceDaily (Oct. 2, 2009) — Good news for procrastinating students: a nasal spray developed by a team of German scientists promises to give late night cram sessions a major boost, if a good night's sleep follows........More | Aspirin Misuse May Have Made 1918 Flu Pandemic Worse
ScienceDaily (Oct. 3, 2009) — The devastation of the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic is well known, but a new article suggests a surprising factor in the high death toll: the misuse of aspirin. Appearing in the November 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases and available online now, the article sounds a cautionary note as present day concerns about the novel H1N1 virus run high.......More | Scientists Race To Deliver DNA Swine Flu Test
ScienceDaily (May 2, 2009) — A team of genetics experts in Southampton is working against the clock to produce the world's first DNA test for the Mexican strain of swine flu.....More | Medical Ethics Experts Identify, Address Key Issues In H1N1 Pandemic
ScienceDaily (Oct. 4, 2009) — The anticipated onset of a second wave of the H1N1 influenza pandemic could present a host of thorny medical ethics issues best considered well in advance, according to the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics, which today released nine papers for public discussion.
Topics include duty of health care workers to work during a serious flu pandemic; government restrictions on individual freedoms and privacy and their responsibilities administering vaccination programs; how to allocate limited medical resources; and the obligation of rich countries to share such resources with those less fortunate.
"While we hope there will not be a major second wave of the H1N1 flu, there is limited cause for optimism and we could well see the pandemic's full onset late this year or early next when the traditional flu season begins," says JCB Director Ross Upshur.....More | Here's Venom In Your Eye: Spitting Cobras Hit Their Mark
ScienceDaily (Jan. 26, 2009) — Spitting cobras have an exceptional ability to spray venom into eyes of potential attackers. A new study published in Physiological and Biochemical Zoology reveals how these snakes maximize their chances of hitting the target. Using high-speed photography and electromyography, scientists uncover the mechanics of a cobra "spit."
The name "spitting cobra" is a bit of a misnomer. Cobras don't actually "spit" venom, says the study's lead author Bruce Young, director of the Anatomical Laboratory in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Muscle contractions squeeze the cobra's venom gland, forcing venom to stream out of the snake's fangs. The muscles can produce enough pressure to spray venom up to six feet.
There are no points for distance, however. To be effective, venom must make contact with an attacker's eyes, where it causes severe pain and possibly blindness. Previous studies have found that cobras hit their targets with alarming frequency—nearly 100 percent accuracy from 60 centimeters......More | DASNR researchers make breakthrough against poxviruses
Stillwater, Okla. - Smallpox has a nasty history throughout the world. Caused by poxviruses, smallpox is one of the few disease-causing agents against which the human body’s immune system is ineffective in its defense.
A major breakthrough by Junpeng Deng, a structural biologist in the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (DASNR) at Oklahoma State University, and his first-year Ph.D. student, Brian Krumm, may be the first step towards a pharmaceutical medication for smallpox and the emerging human monkeypox.
The human immune system is rendered helpless against poxviruses partly because the viruses block a human immune molecule, interleukin-18 (IL-18), from sending out a signal to the immune system. The body acts as if everything is fine and the deadly disease takes over.
Deng and Krumm joined an ongoing project midway through 2007 and Krumm found what he was looking for in December 2008. They solved a three-dimensional crystal structure of a poxvirus protein in the act of disarming the IL-18.....More | Rsearchers discover brain's memory 'buffer' in single cells
The study, available online and appearing in the February issue of Nature Neuroscience, is the first to identify the specific signal that establishes nonpermanent cellular memory and reveals how the brain holds temporary information. It has implications for addiction, attention disorders and stress-related memory loss, said Dr. Don Cooper, assistant professor of psychiatry at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study conducted in mice.
Researchers have known that permanent memories are stored when the excitatory amino acid glutamate activates ion channels on nerve cells in the brain to reorganize and strengthen the cells' connections with one another. But this process takes minutes to hours to turn on and off and is too slow to buffer, or temporarily hold, rapidly incoming information.
The researchers found that rapid-fire inputs less than a second long initiate a cellular memory process in single cells lasting as long as minute, a process called metabotropic glutamate transmission. This transmission in the most highly evolved brain region holds moment-to-moment information......More | When Might Preventive Mastectomy Be Right Choice? Study Investigates
A new US study has sought to help women who have been treated for breast cancer in one breast to make a better informed decision about whether to have a preventive mastectomy to remove the unaffected breast by identifying which types of patients and tumors present the highest risk of developing cancer in the second breast.
The study was the work of Dr Kelly K Hunt and colleagues at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and colleagues, and is to be published in the March 1, 2009 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.
Having breast cancer in one breast increases a woman's chances of getting it in the second breast, either at the same time or later. Finding out which women are most at risk of developing cancer in the other breast could help patients make better decisions about preventive treatment, such as whether to surgically remove the other breast.....More | Supermassive Black Holes Not Guilty Of Shutting Down Star Formation
ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2009) — A team of Yale University astronomers has discovered that galaxies stop forming stars long before their central supermassive black holes reach their most powerful stage, meaning the black holes can’t be responsible for shutting down star formation.
Until recently, astronomers believed that active galactic nuclei (AGN)—the supermassive, extremely energetic black holes at the centers of many young galaxies—were responsible for shutting down star formation in their host galaxies once they grew large enough. It was thought that AGN feed on the surrounding galactic material, producing enormous amounts of energy (expelled in the form of light) and heat the surrounding material so that it can no longer cool and condense into stars.
But new research shows that this shutting-down process appears to take place much earlier in the AGN’s lifetime, well before it starts shining brightly. “This high-luminosity phase, when the AGN are at their biggest and brightest and most powerful, is not the phase responsible for the shutdown of star formation,” said Kevin Schawinski, a postdoctoral associate in Yale’s astronomy department and lead author of the study, published in the Feb. 10 issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters.....More | New Family Of Antibacterial Agents Uncovered
ScienceDaily (Jan. 17, 2009) — As bacteria resistant to commonly used antibiotics continue to increase in number, scientists keep searching for new sources of drugs. One potential new bactericide has now been found in the tiny freshwater animal Hydra.
The protein identified by Joachim Grötzinger, Thomas Bosch and colleagues at the University of Kiel, hydramacin-1, is unusual (and also clinically valuable) as it shares virtually no similarity with any other known antibacterial proteins except for two antimicrobials found in another ancient animal, the leech.
Hydramacin proved to be extremely effective though; in a series of laboratory experiments, this protein could kill a wide range of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, including clinically-isolated drug-resistant strains like Klebsiella oxytoca (a common cause of nosocomial infections). Hydramacin works by sticking to the bacterial surface, promoting the clumping of nearby bacteria, then disrupting the bacterial membrane......More | Birth Control Pill: Oral Contraceptive Use May Be Safe, But Information Gaps Remain
ScienceDaily (Jan. 17, 2009) — Introduced in the 1960s, oral contraceptives have been used by about 80 percent of women in the United States at some point in their lives. For women without pre-existing risks for heart disease, the early formulations were generally safe, and the newer ones appear to be even safer, but all the risks and benefits are yet to be established, especially as women's lifestyles change and new forms of contraceptives become available, according to specialists in women's heart disease at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
"As women use these therapies more frequently and for longer periods of time, there is an urgent need to better understand and minimize associated cardiovascular risks," said C. Noel Bairey Merz, M.D., director of the Women's Heart Center and the Preventive and Rehabilitative Cardiac Center at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. She is senior author of an article in the Jan. 20, 2009, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology that provides an overview of the known cardiovascular risks and benefits of hormonal contraceptives while pointing out areas that require further research.
Reproductive hormones affect the tone and function of blood vessels as well as lipid (fat) levels in the blood. Low estrogen levels have been found to increase risk of coronary atherosclerosis (thickening and hardening of artery walls) and "adverse cardiac events," such as heart attacks and strokes. But the use of supplemental estrogen in hormone replacement therapy has been linked to an elevated risk of blood clots that can lead to heart attacks and strokes.......More | High Live Birth Rates Following In Vitro Fertilization
ScienceDaily (Jan. 17, 2009) — Thirty years ago last summer, the world's first "test-tube" baby was born, and since then more than 1 million infants have been successfully conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF), the technique in which a woman's eggs and man's sperm are fertilized in a laboratory and then implanted in the mother's womb.
When deciding whether or not to pursue IVF treatment, the obvious question of most patients is, "What is the chance that this therapy will result in a baby?" They now have an answer.
In the largest study of IVF patients to date, researchers at Boston IVF and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) followed more than 6,000 women through six IVF cycles. Their findings, described in the January 15 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) demonstrate that the chances of a successful live birth following IVF therapy range between 65 and 86 percent in younger women and between 23 and 42 percent in women aged 40 and older.
"This shows that, overall, IVF is extraordinarily effective and largely overcomes infertility, especially in younger women," explains lead author Beth Malizia, MD, a clinical fellow at Boston IVF and in the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at BIDMC.......More | Fantastic Voyage: Medical 'Mini-submarine' Invented To Blast Diseased Cells In The Body
ScienceDaily (Jan. 16, 2009) — Ever since the 1966 Hollywood movie, doctors have imagined a real-life Fantastic Voyage a medical vehicle shrunk small enough to “submarine” in and fix faulty cells in the body. Thanks to new research by Tel Aviv University scientists, that reality may be only three years away.
The blueprints for the submarine and a map of its proposed maiden voyage were published earlier this year in Science by Dr. Dan Peer, who now leads the Tel Aviv University team at the Department of Cell Research and Immunology. The team will build and test-run the actual “machine” in human bodies. Dr. Peer originally developed the scenario at Harvard University. Made from biological materials, the real-life medical submarine’s Fantastic Voyage won’t have enough room for Raquel Welch, but the nano-sized structure will be big enough to deliver the payload: effective drugs to kill cancer cells and eradicate faulty proteins.
A Nano-GPS System
“Our lab is creating biological nano-machines,” says Dr. Peer. “These machines can target specific cells. In fact, we can target any protein that might be causing disease or disorder in the human body. This new invention treats the source, not the symptoms.”.......More | 'Window Into The Brain' Reveals Deadly Secrets Of Malaria
ScienceDaily (Jan. 16, 2009) — Looking at the retina in the eyes of patients with cerebral malaria has provided scientists with a vital insight into why malaria infection in the brain is so deadly. In a study funded by the Wellcome Trust and Fight for Sight and published January 14 in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, researchers in Malawi have shown for the first time in patients that the build-up of infected blood cells in the narrow blood vessels of the brain leads to a potentially lethal lack of oxygen to the brain.
Malaria is one of the world's biggest killers, killing over a million people every year, mainly children and pregnant women in Africa, and adults in South-east Asia. Malaria parasites enter the bloodstream from bites by infected mosquitoes and live in red blood cells, making them stick to the inside of narrow blood vessels and causing blockages. Most deaths occur as a result of cerebral malaria, where red blood cells infected by malaria parasites build up into the brain, leading to coma and convulsions and, if not treated swiftly, death.
Scientists have known for some time that cerebral malaria is accompanied by changes in the retina, known as malarial retinopathy which can be seen by examining the eye. Because the retina can be considered as an extension of the central nervous system, it has been used previously as a "window into the brain", allowing for swifter diagnosis of cerebral malaria. However, until now it was not clearly understood why the disease should be so deadly.......More | Busted Spine-Discs? Researchers Are Growing New Ones, Bioengineering Intervertebral Discs
ScienceDaily (Jan. 16, 2009) — Each year, 40 to 60 percent of American adults suffer from chronic back pain. For patients diagnosed with severe degenerative disc disease, neurosurgeons must perform surgery called discectomy — removing the IVD — followed by a fusion of the vertebrate bones to stabilize the spine. Even after all that effort, the patient's back will likely not feel the same as before their injury.
But collaboration between physician-scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College and basic science researchers at Cornell University has led to the creation of bioengineered IVDs, in the laboratory, for transplantation into the spines of rats.
To create new spine discs, Dr. Roger Härtl and Dr. Lawrence Bonassar are using cells from IVD tissue of human patients who have had their spinal discs removed. Dr. Härtl is a noted neurological surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, and the Leonard and Fleur Harlan Clinical Scholar and assistant professor of neurological surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College, and Dr. Bonassar is an associate professor in the departments of biomedical engineering and mechanical and aerospace engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York......More | Safe New Therapy For Genetic Heart Disease, Clinical Trial Suggests...
ScienceDaily (Jan. 14, 2009) — A new clinical trial suggests that long-term use of candesartan, a drug currently used to treat hypertension, may significantly reduce the symptoms of genetic heart disease.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HCM, is a genetic heart disease where the heart muscle is thickened, especially in the left ventricle. Although people with HCM usually display mild symptoms or are completely asymptomatic, up to 1% of affected people succumb to sudden cardiac death (SCD), often with no previous signs of illness. HCM can be caused by mutations in a number of different genes, and different gene mutations may result in more or less severe symptoms.
Researchers lead by Dr. Jiri Krupicka of Na Homolce Hospital, Prague conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study on the long-term administration of candesartan in patients with HCM. Dr. Krupicka's group found that candesartan reduced the symptoms of HCM, including decreasing the thickening of the left ventricle. This effect was found to be dependent on the underlying gene mutations in each patient. They did not observe any adverse effects of candesartan use over the course of their study.....More | Tiny Nanoparticle Capsules Deliver Medicines
ScienceDaily (Jan. 13, 2009) — A tiny particle syringe composed of polymer layers and nanoparticles may provide drug delivery that targets diseased cells without harming the rest of the body, according to a team of chemical engineers. This delivery system could be robust and flexible enough to deliver a variety of substances.
"People probably fear the effects of some treatments more than they fear the disease they treat," says Huda A. Jerri, graduate student, chemical engineering. "The drugs are poison. Treatment is a matter of dosage so that it kills the cancer and not the patient. Targeted treatment becomes very important."
Newer approaches to drug delivery include particles that find specific cells, latch on and release their drugs. Another approach allows the cells to engulf the particles, taking them into the cell and releasing the drug. However, the requirements for these delivery systems are complicated and challenging to implement.
The Penn State researchers' approach produces a more universal delivery system, a tiny spherical container averaging less than 5 microns or the diameter of the smallest pollen grains.
The spheres are formed around solid microparticles that are either the drug to be delivered or a substance that can be removed later leaving a hollow sphere for liquid drugs. They reported their results online in Soft Matter......More | Potential New Weapon In Battle Against HIV Infection Identified
ScienceDaily (Jan. 14, 2009) — Researchers have discovered a potentially important new resistance factor in the battle against HIV: blood types. An international team of researchers from Canadian Blood Services, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and Lund University in Sweden have discovered that certain blood types are more predisposed to contracting HIV, while others are more effective at fending it off.
A carbohydrate-containing antigen, termed Pk blood group which is distinct from the well-known ABO and Rh blood grouping systems, is present at variable levels on the surface of white and red blood cells in the general population. A study published today in Blood, which is currently available online, shows that cells from rare individuals (≈ 1 in a million) who produce excess of this blood group antigen have dramatically reduced sensitivity to HIV infection. Conversely, another slightly more common subgroup of people who do not produce any Pk (≈ 5 in a million) was found to be much more susceptible to the virus.
"This study is not suggesting that your blood type alone determines if you will get HIV," says lead author Dr. Don Branch of Canadian Blood Services. "However, it does suggest that individuals who are exposed to the virus, may be helped or hindered by their blood status in fighting the infection.....More | "We want Indian Biotech industry to get a new dimension"
Dr M K Bhan, who's been at the helm of formulating the National Biotech Development Strategy, gives us a clear view on BIPP and its purpose. Here are the excerpts from the interview with him.
What was the idea behind setting up BIRAC?
We wanted to change the role of DBT so that it is directly and effectively an instrument of R&D and innovation within the companies particularly SMEs. What we did with BIRAC is to say that we create a new organization, which has DBT, ABLE, BCIL as core partners. Their role in BIRAC is independent of their role as an organization. This organization (BIRAC) is distinct from all organizations and it has its own entity and own purpose, which is unique to it.
We are doing two things here. We are creating two organizations. DBT, which is the national funding agency, funds all kinds of life sciences research. We will create an agency, which will become the innovation management agency of the government in biotechnology. This agency is BIRAC. So BIRAC will not only operate our industry R&D schemes, it will provide innovation link service, tech transfer, IP, service support and advice for new companies, provides regulatory advice, clinical trials support and field trials thus covering the whole value chain. DBT will manage the science function and BIRAC, the innovation management. 30 percent of DBT's budget in future will be spent through BIRAC and 70 percent through DBT. This is our goal and we have to move towards it.....More | Nanoparticles Delivering Drugs Can Kill Skin, Breast Cancer Cells
ScienceDaily (Dec. 24, 2008) — Researchers in Pennsylvania are reporting for the first time that nanoparticles 1/5,000 the diameter of a human hair encapsulating an experimental anticancer agent, kill human melanoma and drug-resistant breast cancer cells growing in laboratory cultures.
The discovery could lead to the development of a new generation of anti-cancer drugs that are safer and more effective than conventional chemotherapy agents, the scientists suggest.
The research is scheduled for the Dec. 10 issue of ACS' Nano Letters, a monthly journal.
In the new study, Mark Kester, James Adair and colleagues at Penn State's Hershey Medical Center and University Park campus point out that certain nanoparticles have shown promise as drug delivery vehicles. However, many of these particles will not dissolve in body fluids and are toxic to cells, making them unsuitable for drug delivery in humans. Although promising as an anti-cancer agent, ceramide also is insoluble in the blood stream making delivery to cancer cells difficult. ....More | How to Avoid a Holiday Trip to the ER
THURSDAY, Dec. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Each year during the holidays, tens of thousands of Americans have to go to hospital emergency departments for treatment of preventable injuries and illnesses. That includes about 11,000 people with some type of decoration-related injury, said Dr. Nick Jouriles, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians.
"We will always be there to treat you, no matter when you come in, but we hope you won't have to celebrate the holidays in the hospital! It's important to make your health and safety a priority and to take some time to plan ahead," Jouriles said in a group news release.
The physicians' group offered 12 tips for staying safe and healthy during the holidays:....More | Horseback Riding: Impact On Sexual Dysfunction And Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms In Men And Women
UroToday.com - Bicycle riding has been reported to be related to male sexual dysfunction. Dr. Shaheen Alanee and colleagues from Minneapolis hypothesized that similar force impacts might be seen in equestrian sports. They sought to evaluate the effect of horseback riding on urinary symptoms and sexual dysfunction in men and women. Swimmers were used as a control group.
Twelve hundred and fifty surveys were sent to equestrian clubs and 750 surveys were sent to swim clubs and over 300 questionnaires were distributed by hand. Responders (15% by direct mail and 31% from manual distribution) filled out the American Urologic Association Symptom Index, the abridged International Inventory of Erectile Dysfunction, and a sexual questionnaire developed by the authors for women.
Horseback riding was not significantly associated with sexual dysfunction in males. Age and the years of bicycling were significantly associated with sexual function in males. Age was another factor affecting the incidence of sexual function in males. In women, horseback riding was not associated with urinary symptoms, though greater age increased the risk and marriage seemed to decrease the risk of LUTS. No aspect of female sexual dysfunction was associated with horseback riding. ....More | Apolipoprotein(a): A natural regulator of inflammation
In a study to be published in the January 09 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine, Hoover-Plow and co-workers in seeking to define a role of apo(a) in leukocyte recruitment have identified a novel activity of apo(a) apolipoprotein that may function as a natural and cell specific suppressor of the inflammatory response in vivo. In addition, a mechanism for this novel function of apo(a) was also identified: its selective regulation of cytokine production. These effects of apo(a) are independent of its molecular mimicry of Plg.
Lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) is similar to low density lipoprotein (LDL), but contains an additional apolipoprotein, apo(a). Numerous clinical studies conducted over the past 40 years have identified Lp(a) as a risk factor independent from LDL for a variety of cardiovascular pathologies. Much of the focus of apo(a) pathogenic activities has centered on its strong resemblance to plasminogen, the zymogen for plasmin, the primary enzyme for blood clot degradation. In addition to its important role in clot lysis, plasmin is required for leukocyte recruitment in inflammation. While several in vitro studies have demonstrated the interference of apo(a) in plasminogen leukocyte recruitment, evidence for this in vivo has been lacking.....More | Blocking the spread of antibiotic resistance in bacteria
It's as simple as A, T, G, C. Northwestern University scientists have exploited the Watson-Crick base pairing of DNA to provide a defensive tool that could be used to fight the spread of antibiotic resistance in bacteria -- one of the world's most pressing public health problems.
The resistant nasty pathogens cause thousands of deaths each year in the United States. Particularly virulent is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which often cause hospital- and community-acquired infections. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls antibiotic resistance one of its top concerns.
The Northwestern researchers have discovered that a special DNA sequence found in certain bacteria, called a CRISPR locus, can impede the spread of antibiotic resistance in pathogenic staphylococci. It blocks the DNA molecules (plasmids) that move from one cell to another, spreading antibiotic resistance genes. With the plasmids disabled, which the researchers believe is a result of the DNA itself being destroyed, the resistance cannot spread.
The blocking mechanism takes advantage of the fact that a small sequence of this CRISPR locus matches staphylococcal conjugative plasmids, including those that confer antibiotic resistance in MRSA strains. ....More | How the brain tells us what to believe
Unexpected finding by researcher by Champalimaud Foundation scientist at the IGC
Confidence in a decision has long been considered a uniquely human experience and a hallmark of self-consciousness: which route to take on coming to a crossroads depends on the confidence one has in each of the possibilities. Now, a new study, coordinated by Zachary Mainen, principal investigator of the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme at the IGC, calls into question this human exclusivity by showing that the lowly laboratory rat can also calculate confidence to make decisions.
The surprising findings were first obtained at the Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory, in the USA, and have just been published in the leading scientific journal Nature.
The team trained laboratory rats to choose the compound with the stronger odor in a mixture of two chemical compounds, in order to receive a reward.
Zachary Mainen explains, ‘We changed the composition of the mixture, thus manipulating the decision making process, and, consequently, the animals’ confidence in that decision. This situation is akin to asking someone to decide whether a certain mixture of green and blue shades has more green or more blue. If the mixture is predominantly green or blue, the decision is easier and confidence in the decision is higher. On the contrary, if there are equal amounts of green and blue, uncertainty is higher, and confidence is lower.....More | Humans and chimps register faces by using similar brain regions
Chimpanzees recognize their pals by using some of the same brain regions that switch on when humans register a familiar face, according to a report published online on December 18th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. The study—the first to examine brain activity in chimpanzees after they attempt to match fellow chimps' faces—offers new insight into the origin of face recognition in humans, the researchers said.
"We can learn about human origins by studying our closest relatives," said Lisa Parr, a researcher at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University. "We can discover what aspects of human cognition are really unique and which are present in other animals."
Earlier studies had shown that chimpanzees, like humans, are adept at recognizing their peers. "We knew [from behavioral studies] that chimps and humans process faces similarly," Parr said. "We wondered whether similar brain regions were responsible, and, for the most part, they seem to be." ....More | Dangerous skin cancer
The German Cancer Society has worked out new guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of malignant melanoma—a disease with unfavorable prognosis. Malignant melanoma is responsible for 90% of deaths from skin cancer. The incidence has increased 5-fold within the last 30 years and UV radiation is thought to be an important cause. Caucasian populations are most affected.
Claus Garbe of Tübingen University and his coauthors present the therapy of melanoma in the current edition of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2008; 105[49]: 845-51). Physicians should confirm the diagnosis by histopathology after complete surgical removal of the tumor. The German Cancer Society recommends specific treatments or therapeutic combinations, depending on the thickness of the tumor and its stage. For example, if the tumor has more than a specific thickness, it is recommended that the primary tumor should be surgically removed, together with the sentinel lymph nodes and in combination with immunotherapy. If surgical removal is not possible, radiotherapy is indicated. If there are distant metastases, physicians should perform monochemotherapy. ....More | HIV Dementia: How Major HIV Strains Affect The Brain Differently
ScienceDaily— A new study led by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has clarified how two major variants of HIV differ in their ability to cause neurologic complications. The finding, published in Journal of Neuroscience, highlights a new target for drugs that could prevent HIV-associated dementia, an incurable and increasingly common complication in people with AIDS.
Even with anti-retroviral drug therapies, up to one-half of people infected with HIV will develop mild to moderate neurological complications, according to some estimates.
Earlier this decade, scientists observed that people with AIDS in India developed dementia at a far lower rate than comparable populations in the U.S. and Western Europe. Most cases of AIDS in India are due to infection with a subtype or clade of HIV, known as clade C, while most cases in the U.S. and Western Europe are due to clade B.
Based on these observations, in 2004, a team of researchers led by Dr. Vinayaka R. Prasad, professor of microbiology and immunology at Einstein, began searching for genetic variations between the two clades that could explain the differing rates of HIV-related dementia. The team, in collaboration with Dr. Udaykumar Ranga of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research in Bangalore, India, focused their search on Tat, a protein that helps HIV replicate and leads the attack on the brain....More | HIV Dementia: How Major HIV Strains Affect The Brain Differently
ScienceDaily— A new study led by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has clarified how two major variants of HIV differ in their ability to cause neurologic complications. The finding, published in Journal of Neuroscience, highlights a new target for drugs that could prevent HIV-associated dementia, an incurable and increasingly common complication in people with AIDS.
Even with anti-retroviral drug therapies, up to one-half of people infected with HIV will develop mild to moderate neurological complications, according to some estimates.
Earlier this decade, scientists observed that people with AIDS in India developed dementia at a far lower rate than comparable populations in the U.S. and Western Europe. Most cases of AIDS in India are due to infection with a subtype or clade of HIV, known as clade C, while most cases in the U.S. and Western Europe are due to clade B.
Based on these observations, in 2004, a team of researchers led by Dr. Vinayaka R. Prasad, professor of microbiology and immunology at Einstein, began searching for genetic variations between the two clades that could explain the differing rates of HIV-related dementia. The team, in collaboration with Dr. Udaykumar Ranga of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research in Bangalore, India, focused their search on Tat, a protein that helps HIV replicate and leads the attack on the brain....More | Boy Or Girl? It's In The Father's Genes
ScienceDaily (Dec. 12, 2008) — A Newcastle University study involving thousands of families is helping prospective parents work out whether they are likely to have sons or daughters.
The work by Corry Gellatly, a research scientist at the university, has shown that men inherit a tendency to have more sons or more daughters from their parents. This means that a man with many brothers is more likely to have sons, while a man with many sisters is more likely to have daughters.
The research involved a study of 927 family trees containing information on 556,387 people from North America and Europe going back to 1600.
"The family tree study showed that whether you’re likely to have a boy or a girl is inherited. We now know that men are more likely to have sons if they have more brothers but are more likely to have daughters if they have more sisters. However, in women, you just can’t predict it," Mr Gellatly explains.
Men determine the sex of a baby depending on whether their sperm is carrying an X or Y chromosome. An X chromosome combines with the mother’s X chromosome to make a baby girl (XX) and a Y chromosome will combine with the mother’s to make a boy (XY)....More | New Class Of Anti-inflammatory Drugs Developed
ScienceDaily (Dec. 11, 2008) — In the treatment of pain, inflammation and fever, non-steroid anti-rheumatic drugs (NSAR) such as acetylsalicylic acid - more commonly known as Aspirin - or Ibuprofen have always been popular choices. However, had they been tested using today's stringent criteria, many of these drugs would not have passed the clinical trial stage, due to the potential risks and side effects they entail.
This suggests the need for more innovative thinking in this area of drug therapy. One such new approach has been developed in Manfred Schubert-Zsilavecz's laboratory at the Goethe University, using chemical substances belonging to the dual mPGES-1/5-LO-Inhibitors. Oliver Werz's group at Tübingen has characterized the substances at the molecular/pharmacological level. Their research results now form the basis of a joint patent application, and a publication in the renowned "Journal of Medicinal Chemistry" (Koeberle et al, J Med Chem (2008), Nov 19. [Epub ahead of print])....More | Scientists ID Enzyme Causing Brain Cell Death
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 10 (HealthDay News) -- An enzyme believed to play a role in the death of neurons in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases has been identified by U.S. researchers.
The finding could help in the development of new drugs to treat these debilitating conditions.
The scientists focused on an enzyme called HDAC1, which configures chromatin, the structural component of chromosomes. Tests in mice found that when HDAC1 is blocked, some neurons start to replicate their DNA as if they were about to divide. This isn't a natural cycle for neurons and causes them to die. But increased levels of HDAC1 prevent this process and protect neurons.
The finding that HDAC1 is a molecular link between aberrant neuron cell-cycle activity and DNA damage suggests that the enzyme may be a potential target for drugs to treat diseases and conditions that involve neuronal death, the researchers said....More | Women With Metastatic Breast Cancer Can Benefit From Estrogen Pills
For breast cancer survivors, the idea of taking estrogen pills is almost a taboo. In fact, their doctors give them drugs to get rid of the hormone because it can fuel the growth of breast cancer. So these women would probably be surprised by the approach taken by breast cancer physician Matthew Ellis, M.B., Ph.D., associate professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis - he has demonstrated that estrogen therapy can help control metastatic breast cancer.
In a study presented at the 31st annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, he showed that for about a third of the 66 participants - women with metastatic breast cancer that had developed resistance to standard estrogen-lowering therapy - a daily dose of estrogen could stop the growth of their tumors or even cause them to shrink. The study was funded by the Avon Foundation through the National Cancer Institute and included six cancer centers in the United States....More | Antibiotics: Single largest class of drugs causing liver injury
Study finds CNS agents also commonly associated with drug-induced liver injury
Bethesda, MD (Dec. 1, 2008) – Antibiotics are the single largest class of agents that cause idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury (DILI), reports a new study in Gastroenterology, an official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute. DILI is the most common cause of death from acute liver failure and accounts for approximately 13 percent of cases of acute liver failure in the U.S. It is caused by a wide variety of prescription and nonprescription medications, nutritional supplements and herbals.
"DILI is a serious health problem that impacts patients, physicians, government regulators and the pharmaceutical industry," said Naga P. Chalasani, MD, of the Indiana University School of Medicine and lead author of the study. "Further efforts are needed in defining its pathogenesis and developing means for the early detection, accurate diagnosis, prevention and treatment of DILI."
In this prospective, ongoing, multi-center observational study — the largest of its kind — patients with suspected DILI were enrolled based upon predefined criteria and followed for at least six months. Those with acetaminophen liver injury were excluded.....More | Phase I Clinical Trial To Test Combination Of Two HIV Vaccine Candidates Starts In London
ScienceDaily (Nov. 27, 2008) — The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and the St. Stephen’s AIDS Trust at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital have initiated a Phase I clinical trial in London, UK to test a prime-boost combination of two HIV vaccine candidates.
“Prevention is crucial in the fight against HIV and AIDS, and a vaccine is one of the most powerful prevention tools we know to combat infectious diseases,” said Professor Brian Gazzard, Research Director at the St. Stephen’s AIDS Trust and the principle investigator of this trial. “We hope this trial will contribute to a better understanding of how to induce with a vaccine an immune response to protect against HIV infection and AIDS.”
The news follows promising results recently announced by IAVI and partners for one of the two vaccine candidates to be tested, the MVA-based TBC-M4, which in a recent phase I trial generated modest immune responses in all volunteers who received the highest dose. According to Patricia Fast, Chief Medical Officer at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, “The responses observed with this vaccine candidate warrant further research to improve immune activation. We have learned from other studies that a prime-boost regimen has the potential to achieve just this.” ....More | Lower Childhood IQ Associated With Higher Risk of Adult Mental Disorders
For immediate release: Monday, December 1, 2008
Boston, MA -- Researchers have hypothesized that people with lower IQs may have a higher risk of adult mental disorders, but few studies have looked at the relationship between low childhood IQ and psychiatric disorders later in life. In a new, long-term study covering more than three decades, researchers at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) found that children with lower IQs showed an increased risk of developing psychiatric disorders as adults, including schizophrenia, depression and generalized anxiety disorder. Lower IQ was also associated with psychiatric disorders that were more persistent and an increased risk of having two or more diagnoses at age 32.
The study will be published online December 1, 2008 and in the January print issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry.....More | From Genes To Farmers' Fields: New 'Waterproof' Rice Developed
ScienceDaily (Nov. 23, 2008) — "Waterproof" versions of popular varieties of rice, which can withstand 2 weeks of complete submergence, have passed tests in farmers' fields with flying colors. Several of these varieties are now close to official release by national and state seed certification agencies in Bangladesh and India, where farmers suffer major crop losses because of flooding of up to 4 million tons of rice per year. This is enough rice to feed 30 million people.
The flood-tolerant versions of the "mega-varieties"—high-yielding varieties popular with both farmers and consumers that are grown over huge areas across Asia—are effectively identical to their susceptible counterparts, but recover after severe flooding to yield well.
A 1-9 November tour of research stations and farms in Bangladesh and India led by David Mackill, senior rice breeder at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), marked the successful completion of a project, From genes to farmers' fields: enhancing and stabilizing productivity of rice in submergence-prone environments, funded for the past 5 years by Germany's German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).....More | Denmark Works To Cut Carbon Dioxide Emissions By 50%
ScienceDaily (Nov. 26, 2008) — Denmark can change its energy system to depend mainly on renewable energy and cut CO2 emissions by 50%, according to the results of a recent consensus. The big challenge lies in the system itself. This was one of the messages at DTU’s workshop on future energy systems.
For two days 160 scientists, businesspeople and government officers have been working to answer the question: What is the fastest way to an energy system with much less CO2 emissions? The first step is to integrate an interconnected intelligent power grid in Europe.
Denmark can become independent of fossil fuels by implementing efficiency improvements in all sectors including power stations, houses, industry and transport. At the same time, the share of renewable energy must be increased with more wind energy and increased use of biomass. In the transport sector we can replace fossil fuels with biofuels and we can also use electric cars which can be integrated into the power grid. The obstacle is the development of better batteries. Such a radical transformation of the energy system takes time.....More | Snakebites: At Least 421,000 Venom Bites And 20,000 Deaths Occur Each Year, Study Finds
ScienceDaily (Nov. 4, 2008) — Snakebites cause considerable death and injury worldwide and pose an important yet neglected threat to public health, says new research published in this week's PLoS Medicine.
The study used the most comprehensive methods yet to estimate that at least 421,000 envenomings (venomous bites) and 20,000 deaths from snakebites occur each year, especially in South and South East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
To estimate death and injury from snakebite, Janaka de Silva (University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka) and colleagues conducted a systematic review of the scientific literature, reviewed county-specific mortality data from databases maintained by United Nations organizations, and identified unpublished information from Ministries of Health, National Poison Centres, and snakebite experts on snakebites in countries that do not have reliable data on snakebite incidence and mortality....More | T cell-based HIV vaccine candidate demonstrates positive results
Study demonstrates proof-of-concept for vaccine model
BOSTON -- The question of whether or not to continue to pursue the development of T-cell-based HIV-1 vaccines has been a source of controversy following last year's widely publicized failure of the field's most promising candidate, a vaccine developed by Merck known as V520.
Now a study led by investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) provides the proof-of-concept that a T-cell-based strategy remains a viable course to follow.
Described in today's dvance On-line Publication of Nature, the study showed that an improved regimen using two distinct adenovirus vectors – rAd26 prime/rAd5 boost – and expressing the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) Gag protein, resulted in potent T-cell immune responses leading to long-term immune control of an SIV challenge in monkeys. The findings demonstrate for the first time using this stringent animal model that such a vaccine may be effective in the fight against AIDS.....More | Getting a new kidney can boost brain function
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with kidney disease often suffer from cognitive impairment, but kidney transplantation can improve their mental performance, research presented Thursday at the Society of Nephrology's annual meeting in Philadelphia confirms.
It's well known that chronic or advanced kidney disease requiring dialysis is associated with declining cognitive function. Previous small studies have suggested that cognitive impairment in dialysis patients is reversed by successful kidney transplantation.
To investigate further, Dr. Mark Unruh of the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania and colleagues assessed cognitive performance before and after kidney transplantation in 37 patients with advanced kidney disease. They also assessed cognitive function at two different time points in a matched control group of 23 advanced kidney disease patients who did not receive a kidney transplant.
Unruh and colleagues found a statistically significant improvement in performance on tests of verbal learning and memory, attention, and language after patients received kidney transplants.
They found no such improvement in patients who did not have a kidney transplant. In fact, cognitive test scores declined in these patients over time. ....More | New Evidence Challenges Old Notions About Diet And Survivorship
New evidence is shifting traditional approaches to treating and caring for cancer survivors, according to experts at a major conference on nutrition, physical activity and cancer. Researchers, dietitians and policy makers gathered today in Washington to hear about the latest progress in the study of diet's role in survivorship.
The survivorship session was part of the Annual Research Conference on Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and Cancer hosted by the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR).
Going Further with Soy and Selenium
Do soy foods help or hinder recurrence of breast cancer? AICR grantee Stephen Barnes, PhD, of the University of Alabama in Birmingham referred to the large body of often-conflicting evidence from animal studies, clinical trials and studies of large populations in Asia and Western countries.....More | Vitamins E and C supplements not effective for prevention of cardiovascular disease in men
Neither vitamin E nor vitamin C supplements reduced the risk of major cardiovascular events in a large, long-term study of male physicians, according to a study in the November 12 issue of JAMA. The article is being released early online November 9 to coincide with the scientific presentation of the study findings at the American Heart Association meeting.
Most adults in the United States have taken vitamin supplements in the past year, according to background information provided by the authors. "Basic research studies suggest that vitamin E, vitamin C, and other antioxidants reduce cardiovascular disease by trapping organic free radicals, by deactivating excited oxygen molecules, or both, to prevent tissue damage." Some previous observational studies have supported a role for vitamin E in cardiovascular disease prevention. Some previous observational studies have also shown a role for vitamin C in reducing coronary heart disease risk.....More | Fried purple tomatoes
Scientists have expressed genes from snapdragon in tomatoes to grow purple tomatoes high in health-protecting anthocyanins.
Anthocyanins are naturally occurring pigments found at particularly high levels in berries such as blackberry, cranberry and chokeberry. Scientists are investigating ways to increase the levels of health-promoting compounds in more commonly eaten fruits and vegetables.
"Most people do not eat 5 portions of fruits and vegetables a day, but they can get more benefit from those they do eat if common fruit and veg can be developed that are higher in bioactive compounds," says Prof Cathie Martin from the John Innes Centre.
Anthocyanins offer protection against certain cancers, cardiovascular disease and age-related degenerative diseases. There is evidence that anthocyanins also have anti-inflammatory activity, promote visual acuity and hinder obesity and diabetes......More | Purple tomatoes: The richness of antioxidants against tumors
High anthocyanins content tomatoes, produced by European researchers, may be able to extend lifespan in cancer-prone mice; the finding by the FLORA European Project published in the journal Nature Biotechnology
Researchers from the John Innes Centre in Norwich, Great Britain, in collaboration with other European centres participating to the FLORA project, have obtained genetically modified tomatoes rich in anthocyanins, a category of antioxidants belonging to the class of flavonoids. These tomatoes, added to the diet of cancer-prone mice, showed a significant protective effect by extending the mice lifespan. The research has been published in the 26 October issue of Nature Biotechnology.
It is a remarkable step ahead in the study on antioxidants, particularly flavonoids, widely considered as a useful tool for preventing a large number of diseases, from cardiovascular disease to certain types of can-cer. The diet followed by the majority of people living in the Western world does not appear to be suffi-cient to guarantee an adequate intake of these substances, present in many fruits and vegetables such as berries. That is why the FLORA project aims at understanding their mechanisms trying to find new ways to increase their consumption......More | First international guidelines for treatment of psoriatic arthritis
Rheumatologists, dermatologists, and patient advocates have come together to publish the first-ever international guidelines for the treatment of psoriatic arthritis, a disease that mainly affects people who have psoriasis but also some people without it.
The guidelines by the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA) were presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology. The group was headed by Christopher Ritchlin, M.D., M.P.H., professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center, who presented the guidelines Sunday, Oct. 26.
"In the past few years, new medications have become available that are incredibly effective for the various manifestations of psoriatic arthritis," said Ritchlin, who treats about 250 patients with the disease. "Many patients' find their lives changed for the better within just a couple of weeks. These guidelines are designed as a platform to make sure physicians around the world are aware of what's available for their patients and to help them make sound treatment decisions." .....More | Alcohol: A life sentence
Every year, almost 4000 babies in Germany are born with alcohol-related defects. The mothers of these children have often drunk alcohol regularly during the pregnancy. The consequences are often devastating and commonly persist into adulthood. The various forms of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are presented by the pediatricians Hans-Ludwig Spohr and Hans-Christoph Steinhausen in the latest issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2008; 105[41]: 693-8).
http://www.aerzteblatt.de/v4/archiv/pdf.asp?id=61821
Despite intensive research the precise pathogenetic mechanism of intrauterine alcohol damage remains to be clearly established. Affected neonates are too small and underweight, with craniofacial deformities. A narrowed palpebral fissure and a thin upper lip are typical manifestations. The children's physical and mental development is delayed. Many of them are poor learners or display conspicuous behavior. Psychiatric and neurological disorders such as depression and epileptic seizures occur with increased frequency......More | New study shows drinking your vegetables may be a solution to bridging the vegetable gap
CHICAGO, October 24, 2008 – Making vegetable juice a daily habit could be a small step that can lead to big changes in meeting daily vegetable recommendations, according to a new study being presented by researchers from the University of California-Davis this week at the American Dietetic Association annual conference1.
With seven out of 10 adults falling short of the daily recommended vegetable intake as put forth by the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, researchers studied whether drinking vegetable juice could be a simple behavior change to help boost the intake of this critical food group2. And it was. .....More | Emotion And Scent Create Lasting Memories -- Even In A Sleeping Brain
ScienceDaily (Oct. 17, 2008) — When French memoirist Marcel Proust dipped a pastry into his tea, the distinctive scent it produced suddenly opened the flood gates of his memory
In a series of experiments with sleeping mice, researchers at the Duke University Medical Center have shown that the part of the brain that processes scents is indeed a key part of forming long-term memories, especially involving other individuals.
"We can all relate to the experience of walking into a room and smelling something that sparks a vivid, emotional memory about a family member from years or even decades ago," says Stephen Shea, Ph.D., the lead author of the study published in The Journal of Neuroscience. "This research sought to understand that phenomenon on a cellular level." ....More | Genome Of Parasite That Causes Relapsing Malaria Decoded
ScienceDaily (Oct. 9, 2008) — In research aimed at addressing a global epidemic, a team of scientists from around the world has cracked the genetic code for the parasite that is responsible for up to 40 percent of the 515 million annual malaria infections worldwide, Nature reveals in its October 9 cover story.
Led by a parasitologist from NYU Langone Medical Center, Jane Carlton, PhD, some 40 researchers sequenced the genome of Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax), one of four malaria parasites that routinely affect humans. P. vivax, which is increasingly resistant to some antimalarial drugs, is the species most common outside Africa, particularly in Asia and the Americas, including the United States, the site of periodic outbreaks.
Vivax malaria, as it is known, is believed more robust and resilient than its cousin, the more deadly malaria species, P. falciparum – and is thus more difficult to eradicate. Distinctively, vivax malaria can be transmitted by mosquitoes in cooler temperatures. It also has a dormant stage that enables it to re-emerge as climates warm, causing "relapses" of the disease months and even years after a first attack. ....More | Human protein atlas will help pinpoint disease
A map of where proteins are located in tissues and cells could help scientists understand the molecular basis of diseases such as cancer
Researchers in Sweden are compiling a remarkable 'atlas' that pinpoints the location of thousands of individual proteins in the body's tissues and cells which will give scientists important insights into the function of different proteins and how changes in the distribution of proteins could be reflected in diseases such as cancer. Professor Mathias Uhlén of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, who is leading the project, said, "We are trying to map the building blocks of life."
The project is hugely ambitious, relying on the selective identification and mapping of thousands of proteins, many of whose function is not yet known, and has required the development of a massive infrastructure to enable the proteins to be identified in a realistic period of time. ....More | Scientists discover bacteria that can cause bone infections
Scientists have discovered that a bone infection is caused by a newly described species of bacteria that is related to the tuberculosis pathogen. The discovery may help improve the diagnosis and treatment of similar infections, according to an article published in the October issue of the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.
Some rare genetic diseases can make patients susceptible to infections with Mycobacterium species, the bacteria that amongst other diseases, cause tuberculosis and leprosy. These patients often suffer from recurring mycobacterial infections throughout their whole lives. Because of this, researchers are trying to identify unusual species that cause disease in order to improve treatment strategies.
"We isolated an unknown species of bacteria from a 7 year old child who has a genetic immune defect," said Dr Didi Bang from Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, Denmark. "The infection had caused bone lesions and this is where we found the newly described bacteria." ....More | Aurobindo Pharma gets USFDA nod for two drugs
Bangalore, Oct 13, 2008: Aurobindo Pharma, one of India’s top pharma companies has received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for manufacturing and marketing two drugs in that country.
Cyclobenzaprine Hydrochloride and Fluconazole Tablets are the two drugs that have been approved. Cyclobenzaprine Hydrochloride tablets are used as a muscle relaxant, in strengths of 5-10 mg. The Fluconazole Tablets are used to treat fungal infection and are to be marketed in the strengths of 50 mg, 100 mg, 150 mg and 200 mg.
Last month, the company had received two US FDA approvals for manufacturing and marketing Didanosine Delayed Release capsules and Abacavir Sulfate tablets, both used in the treatment of HIV infections.....More | Learning How Not to Be Afraid
Why do some people have the ability to remain calm and relaxed even in the most stressful situations? New experiments in mice by Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers are providing insight into how the brain changes when the animals learn to feel safe and secure in situations that would normally make them anxious.
HHMI investigator Eric R. Kandel and Daniela D. Pollak conducted experiments in which they conditioned mice to feel safe in stressful situations. Their experiments showed that the mice developed a conditioned inhibition of fear, which Kandel calls “learned safety.”
The behavioral changes observed in the mice squelched anxiety as effectively as antidepressant drugs such as Prozac, said Kandel, who is at Columbia University. “It's a little bit like psychotherapy,” he noted. “This shows that behavioral intervention works.” ....More | UNC study: cell protein suppresses pain eight times more effectively than morphine
Wednesday, October 08, 2008 — More people suffer from pain than from heart disease, diabetes and cancer combined, but many of the drugs used to relieve suffering are not completely effective or have harmful side effects.
Now researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and the University of Helsinki have discovered a new therapeutic target for pain control, one that appears to be eight times more effective at suppressing pain than morphine.
The scientists pinpointed the identity and role of a particular protein that acts in pain-sensing neurons, or nerve cells, to convert the chemical messengers that cause pain into ones that suppress it.
“This protein has the potential to be a groundbreaking treatment for pain and has previously not been studied in pain-sensing neurons,” said lead study author Mark J. Zylka, Ph.D., assistant professor of cell and molecular physiology at UNC. The results of the study will be published online in the journal Neuron, on Wednesday (Oct. 8) and in the print edition the following day. ....More | Scent On Demand: Scientists Genetically Enhance Scent Of Flowers
ScienceDaily (Oct. 8, 2008) — A team of scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has found a way to genetically enhance the scent of flowers and implant a scent in those that don't have one.
Smell plays an important role in our lives: It influences the way in which we choose fruit and vegetables, perfume, and even a partner. And yet, smell is not just what we smell with our noses, it's also what we taste, explains Prof. Alexander Vainstein, who is heading the team at the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment. "Aroma is of major importance for defining the taste of food."
Scent in flowers and plants is used to attract pollinating insects like bees and beetles that pass on the pollen and help in the reproduction and creation of fruit. The intensity of the scent that the flower emanates is influenced by the time of day, depending on weather, age of the flower and the species.
In research that was published recently in the Plant Biotechnology Journal, Prof. Vainstein and his research assistant Michal Moyal Ben-Tzvi succeeded, together with other researchers, to find a way of enhancing the scent of a flower by ten-fold and cause it to emit a scent during day and night - irrespective of the natural rhythm of scent production. ....More | Indian Agri biotech industry in credibility crisis
The debate around the safety of genetically modified crops hits a new roadblock.
Jai Krishna
The author is a campaigner with the environmental organization Greenpeace for the past four years. He works on Sustainable Agriculture.
India is on the verge of approving its first genetically modified (GM) food crop, Bt Brinjal. Brinjal was first transformed in 2000 and has made its way clearing each regulatory step and is now in the final stages of large scale field trials.
As Bt Brinjal reaches the end of the regulatory assembly line and nears the market, one issue has raised a lot of debate. Should information submitted to the regulator be kept a secret? Should that information be considered an intellectual property? Or precisely, does safety tests conducted on GM crops be reserved for private eyes of the official in the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) or the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and not be allowed for independent public scrutiny before the approval of the product? ....More | Breast stem cell fate is regulated by 'notch'
Errant expression leads to uncontrolled breast ductal cell growth
A normal developmental protein that sometimes goes awry has been implicated in breast cancer. This discovery indicates the mechanism by which inappropriate expression of the Notch pathway may contribute to breast cancer.
The breast cancer team at WEHI, led by Drs Jane Visvader and Geoff Lindeman from the Victorian Breast Cancer Research Consortium, have identified important roles for Notch genes in regulating breast development and function.
This discovery has important implications for breast cancer, since elevated levels of Notch have been linked to breast cancer. The advance builds on the group's 2006 discovery of the breast stem cell in mice.
Research carried out by Drs Toula Bouras and Bhupinder Pal has uncovered dual functions for Notch in breast tissue. ....More | Global Carbon Emissions Speed Up, Beyond IPCC Projections
ScienceDaily (Sep. 28, 2008) — The new Global Carbon Budget has been launched simultaneously by Global Carbon Project co-chair Michael Raupach in France at the Paris Observatory, and in the USA at Capitol Hill, Washington by GCP Executive Director Pep Canadell, September 25.
The Global Carbon Project posted the most recent figures for the worlds' carbon budget, a key to understanding the balance of carbon added to the atmosphere, the underpinning of human induced climate change. Despite the increasing international sense of urgency, the growth rate of emissions continued to speed up, bringing the atmospheric CO2 concentration to 383 parts per million (ppm) in 2007.
Anthropogenic CO2 emissions have been growing about four times faster since 2000 than during the previous decade, despite efforts to curb emissions in a number of Kyoto Protocol signatory countries. Emissions from the combustion of fossil fuel and land use change reached 10 billion tones of carbon in 2007. Natural CO2 sinks are growing but slower than the atmospheric CO2 growth, which has been increasing at 2 ppm since 2000 or 33% faster than the previous 20 years. ....More | Anti-Obesity Drugs Could Fight Viral Infections
TUESDAY, Sept. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Drugs used to treat obesity may be effective against a wide range of viral infections such as the flu, hepatitis, and even HIV, say researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center and Princeton University.
In cellular metabolism, glucose can be converted into fatty acids -- a process known as fatty acid biosynthesis. Fatty acid biosynthesis is not essential in humans, but many viruses use these fatty acids to build their viral envelopes, or outer coatings, which help the viruses penetrate and infect human cells.
For the new study, published Sept. 28 in the journal Nature Biotechnology, the researchers developed techniques to monitor cell metabolism as human cells become infected by a virus called human cytomegalovirus (HCMV). HCMV serves as a model for the processes that occur in many enveloped viral infections and in cancer. ....More | Changes in sex steroids associated with menopause
Objective and subjective measures show that postmenopausal women slept longer than premenopausal women but felt less satisfied with the quality of sleep
Westchester, Ill.— A study in the Oct. 1 issue of the journal Sleep shows that the increased rate of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) change that occurs during menopause is associated with increased objective sleep duration but poor subjective sleep quality.
Findings from the sleep profiles created for the study's 365 participants indicate that postmenopausal women had deeper sleep and longer total sleep time than premenopausal women. The faster rate of change in FSH was associated with slow wave sleep and sleep duration, indicating that as women transitioned more rapidly from an endocrine perspective, they slept longer. Simultaneously, however, FSH change was associated with poorer self-reported sleep quality.
"We found that it was not the level of the FSH that was predictive of sleep, bout how quickly these menopause transition changes - FSH changes - occurred when hormones were measured over a seven-year period," said principal investigator MaryFran Sowers, PhD, professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan. ....More | Vitamin C supplements may reduce benefit from wide range of anti-cancer drugs
PHILADELPHIA – In pre-clinical studies, vitamin C appears to substantially reduce the effectiveness of anticancer drugs, say researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
These new findings, published in the October 1 issue of Cancer Research, a publication of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR), came from studying laboratory cancer cells and mice, but the study's authors say the same mechanism may affect patient outcomes, although they add this premise needs to be tested.
"The use of vitamin C supplements could have the potential to reduce the ability of patients to respond to therapy," said Heaney, an Associate Attending Physician at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. ....More | Cells That Avoid Suicide May Become Cancerous
When a cell's chromosomes lose their ends, the cell usually kills itself to stem the genetic damage. But University of Utah biologists discovered how those cells can evade suicide and start down the path to cancer.
Details of how the process works someday may provide new ways to treat cancer.
The new study of fruit flies is the first to show in animals that losing just one telomere - the end of a chromosome - can lead to many abnormalities in a cell's chromosomes, which are strands of DNA that carry genes.
"The essential point is that loss of a single telomere may be a primary event that puts a cell on the road to cancer," says Kent Golic, a professor of biology at the University of Utah and senior author of the study, which will be published online this week in the December issue of the journal Genetics. ....More | Preventing Suicide In Low- To Middle-income Countries
ScienceDaily (Sep. 23, 2008) — An international study of almost 2,000 people in Brazil, India, Sri Lanka, Iran and China has shown that a low cost strategy to keep in contact with people who have previously attempted suicide, can reduce the risk of subsequent suicides.
Given that suicide is among the top three causes of deaths in 15 to 34-year-olds, the strategy has the potential to help reduce the economic and societal loss of young people in their most productive years of life.
The study, co-authored by the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention director Professor Diego De Leo, said subsequent suicide deaths reduced from 2.2 per cent in people treated with usual care to 0.2 per cent in the people given extra contact.
It also included nine follow-up phone calls or visits by a health professional for 18 months following the patient's discharge from an emergency department.
"Many suicidal patients lack good communication and relationships within their family and with other people," the researchers said. ....More | Regular Hand-Washing Can Prevent Against Colds, Flu
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Fewer Americans are regularly washing their hands, even though it's one of the best ways to prevent colds and flu, says the fourth annual Soap and Detergent Association (SDA) Clean Hands Report Card.
"Americans should prepare for the onslaught of the cold and flu season. Cleaning your hands regularly throughout the day can help keep you out of the doctor's office or the emergency room," Nancy Bock, SDA's vice president of education, said in an SDA news release. The group has designated Sept. 21-27 as National Clean Hands Week to raise awareness of the need.
The report card, based on a national telephone survey of 916 people conducted in August, gives Americans a C-minus for their hand hygiene habits, the same score they had in 2006. ....More | Vaccine Manufacturers On Death Bed
India's globally acclaimed vaccine industry is gasping for its breath.
The Biospectrum Industry Forum was a platform to voice the predicament of the vaccine industry and look at the emerging opportunities in the biopharma space.
Myriad developments are now taking place in the biotech industry both for the good and for the bad. To get down to facts and statistics, the biotech industry as estimated by the Biospectrum-ABLE survey 2008, stood at $2.5 billion in 2007-08 with the appreciation in the rupee being a blow to the industry. Coupled with this is the latest threat to vaccine manufacturers in the face of WHO (World Health Organization) giving an ultimatum of October 2008 to the Indian regulators (the Drug Controller General of India and its accredited testing institution in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh) to revamp the regulatory system failing which, they will be forced to derecognize the National Regulatory Authority (NRA), represented by these two organizations. This has come in the event of three public units being shut down resulting in many applications put on hold. In a country, where only 10 percent of the children are vaccinated, this can snowball into a serious issue. The other side of the picture for India is the biopharma space, which holds a lot of promise in the future. ....More | Drug Company Gets Into Stem Cell Research
Pfizer, the world's largest drug company, is getting into stem cell research to explore the potential of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells (where ordinary cells like those taken from adult skin are coaxed into behaving like embryonic stem cells).
"These cells will be tremendous in drug discovery," said John McNeish, executive director of Pfizer's global research and development arm in an interview reported by Reuters.
McNeish, described by Pfizer as "one of the world's leading stem cell scientists", has many years experience in using stem cells, particularly as screening tools in drug discovery. He gave an interview at the World Stem Cell Summit in Madison, Wisconsin, earlier this week where he revealed that some of the first applications of stem cell technology at Pfizer will be in drug testing. ....More | Biocon 7th largest biotech employer, Med Ad News report
Biocon is ranked as the seventh largest employer amongst the top global biotechnology companies, according to a report released by Med Ad News. The report takes into consideration drug based firms, as these companies provide the best numbers to track the progress of the sector. Companies have been ranked by number of employees and Biocon Limited is the only Asian company to feature at number seven.
BIO 2008, held in San Diego recently, stated that the global biotechnology industry will be a $100 billion annual business by 2010. The actual revenue has reached $85 billion in 2007. There are close to 5000 biotech companies across the globe. The top 25 biotech companies represent 62 per cent of all biotech sales and probably over 90 percent of income. ....More | As personalized, genomic medicine takes off, four developing countries show the way for others
India, Mexico, Thailand and South Africa point way for developing countries with emerging economies
Developing countries that want the benefits of cutting-edge health care possibilities based on the genetic variation of individual citizens and sub-populations need to foster the new science at home, says a major new Canadian study published today by Nature Publishing Group.
In a special six-paper supplement of the journal Nature Reviews Genetics (NRG), researchers from the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health (MRC), Toronto, say four countries with emerging economies -- Mexico, India, Thailand and South Africa -- are showing the way for others in similar economic circumstances.
The study details how those four countries are actively establishing domestic capacity in genomic medicine – efforts that will improve national health, slash medical costs through better resource allocation, and bolster their economies. ....More | RNA Interference Plays Bigger Role Than Previously Thought
ScienceDaily (Sep. 18, 2008) — In a paper published online in the journal Nature, IBM and the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) reported findings from a joint research study that provides new information on how stem cell differentiation is controlled by microRNAs.
The two teams have shown that microRNAs -- small molecules that are an important regulatory component in the machinery of living cells -- have roles that go well beyond what was previously thought.
In 2006, IBM scientists developed a mathematical model that led to a conjecture about an expanded role for microRNAs. The team decided to test the hypothesis by focusing on mouse stem cells. IBM used computation to guide the experimental effort that GIS carried out.
The work is expected to provide new insights on stem cell differentiation as well as on the role of microRNAs in cell process regulation and the onset of cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, diabetes and other diseases. The research is also expected to suggest future avenues for novel diagnostics and the development of therapeutics. ....More | Bed chothes that cover head may increase SIDS risk
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Preventing bedclothes from covering the face or head of a sleeping infant may decrease the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, commonly referred to as SIDS, researchers report.....More | Newsweek Examines Fertility Issues Among Women Older Than 40, Women In Developing Countries
Newsweek on Monday published two stories on fertility-related issues. Summaries appear below.
~ "Modern Maternity": The story examines the increasing number of women who are giving birth after age 40 and the medical issues and decisions confronting them.. ....More | Breakthrough in spinal injury treatment
Manipulating embryo-derived stem cells before transplanting them may hold the key to optimizing stem cell technologies for repairing spinal cord injuries in humans. Research published in BioMed Central's open access Journal of Biology, may lead to cell based therapies for victims of paralysis to recover the use of their bodies without the risk of transplant induced pain syndromes.
Dr. Stephen Davies, Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, reported that in collaboration with researchers at the University of Rochester, NY his research team has transplanted two types of the major support cells of the brain and spinal cord, cells called astrocytes. These two types of astrocytes, which are both made from the same embryo-derived stem cell-like precursor cell, have remarkably different effects on the spinal repair process. ....More | Novel tuberculosis vaccine in Germany in clinical phase
New from old
For the first time in more than 80 years a promising live vaccine against tuberculosis has passed into the clinical phase in Germany: Since Monday of this week the new vaccine, which goes by the designation "VPM1002", has begun safety testing on volunteers in a Phase I clinical trial in Neuss, Germany. It is based on a highly safe vaccine that was introduced in 1921. However, the vaccine has been genetically developed to an extent where it is significantly more effective at preventing infection with tuberculosis bacteria than its predecessor. So far, VPM1002 has proved to be extremely effective and safe in animal models. „ This good protection now has to be proven in humans for the vaccine to be ready for the final approval," explains the Chief Executive Officer of Vakzine Projekt Management GmbH (VPM), Bernd Eisele.
VPM coordinates application-oriented development of vaccines. The organisation is a public-private partnership established by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in 2002. „ We ensure that the outstanding results of basic science are actually used for the good of mankind and make their way into use," says the Clinical Project Manager Hans von Zepelin. In this, the superb contacts enjoyed by VPM within German science prove a great aid, as the Scientific and Technical Services Manager at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Rudi Balling, states: "VPM knows exactly where promising projects can be found. With their assistance we, the researchers, can show that our ideas are helping people to stay healthy.".....More | Wellcome Trust and Indian government announce £80 million partnership to boost biomedical research
The partnership was announced in New Delhi by Dr M K Bhan, Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, and Dr Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust. The £80m scheme, jointly funded by the Government of India's Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and the Wellcome Trust over five years, aims to strengthen the research base of Indian biomedical science by providing fellowship programmes to support researchers from newly-qualified postdocs through to senior researchers.
Each year, thousands of PhDs are awarded in the field of biomedical research in India, but the opportunities for researchers to continue postdoctoral work in their home country are limited. Many work outside India, only returning to fill research leader roles far later in their careers. The new fellowships aim to build excellent career pathways in India for scientists working in basic biomedical, clinical and veterinary research. .....More | The 'satellite navigation' in our brains
Our brains contain their own navigation system much like satellite navigation ("sat-nav"), with in-built maps, grids and compasses, neuroscientist Dr Hugo Spiers told the BA Festival of Science at the University of Liverpool today.
The brain's navigation mechanism resides in an area know as the hippocampus, which is responsible for learning and memory and famously shown to be different in London taxi drivers in a Wellcome Trust-funded study carried out by Professor Eleanor Maguire at UCL (University College London).
The study showed that a region of the hippocampus was enlarged in London taxi drivers compared to the general population. Even bus drivers do not have the same enlarged area, and general skill at navigating is not related to hippocampus size, suggesting that the difference is linked to 'The Knowledge' of the city's 250,000 streets built up by taxi drivers over many years. .....More | Key enzyme for regulating heart attack damage found, Stanford scientists report
STANFORD, Calif. — Marauding molecules cause the tissue damage that underlies heart attacks, sunburn, Alzheimer’s and hangovers. But scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine say they may have found ways to combat the carnage after discovering an important cog in the body’s molecular detoxification machinery.
The culprit molecules are oxygen byproducts called free radicals. These highly unstable molecules start chain reactions of cellular damage—an escalating storm that ravages healthy tissue.
“We’ve found a totally new pathway for reducing the damage caused by free radicals, such as the damage that happens during a heart attack,” said Daria Mochly-Rosen, PhD, professor of chemical and systems biology and the senior author of a study reporting the new findings. The research appears in the Sept. 12 issue of Science.
Before the study, scientists knew that heart muscle could be preconditioned to resist heart attack damage—for instance, moderate drinkers tend to have smaller, less severe heart attacks than teetotalers. But scientists didn’t understand how pre-conditioning worked. .....More | Brewing A Great Beer: DNA Study Reveals Evolution Of Beer Yeasts
ScienceDaily (Sep. 11, 2008) — Lager lovers convinced that their beer of choice stands alone should prepare to drink their words this Oktoberfest. New research by geneticists at the Stanford University School of Medicine indicates that the brew, which accounts for the majority of commercial beer production worldwide, owes its existence to an unlikely pairing between two species of yeast - one of which has been used for thousands of years to make ale.
The research offers a fascinating glimpse into the early history of beer brewing, as well as an unheralded sneak peek at the early days of the evolution of a new yeast species. Then, as now, brewers reused yeast in several successive fermentation batches, unconsciously selecting for the traits that made the most desirable beer.
"These long-ago brewers were practicing genetics without even knowing it," said geneticist Gavin Sherlock, PhD. "They've given us a very interesting opportunity to look at a relatively young, rapidly changing species, as well as some very good beer." The research will be published online Sept. 11 in Genome Research. .....More | Cell Division Study Resolves 50-year-old Debate, May Aid Cancer Research
ScienceDaily (Sep. 3, 2008) — A new study at Oregon State University has finally resolved a controversy that cellular biologists have been arguing over for nearly 50 years, with findings that may aid research on everything from birth defects and genetic diseases to the most classic "cell division" issue of them all – cancer.
The exact mechanism that controls how chromosomes in a cell replicate and then divide into two cells, a process fundamental to life, has never been completely pinned down, researchers say. You can find the basics in any high school biology textbook, but the devil is in the details.
"Researchers have been debating cell cleavage ever since the cell was discovered, with two basic models proposed around 1960 of how a contractile ring pulls together and allows a single cell to split into two," said Dahong Zhang, an OSU associate professor of zoology. "Part of the problem is that until now there was no decisive way to manipulate the cytoskeleton, such as the microtubules and filaments that are involved, and see what was happening as it occurred." ...More | 1 in 2 adults at risk for painful knee arthritis
A landmark government study suggests nearly one in two people (46 percent) will develop painful knee osteoarthritis over their lifetime, with the highest risk among those who are obese. According to the Arthritis Foundation, the study underscores the immediate need for the public to understand what they can do to reduce the tremendous pain, disability and cost associated with arthritis. ...More | Substance Found In Fruits And Vegetables Reduces Likelihood Of The Flu
BETHESDA, Md. (Sept. 3, 2008) — Mice given quercetin, a naturally occurring substance found in fruits and vegetables, were less likely to contract the flu, according to a study published by The American Physiological Society. The study also found that stressful exercise increased the susceptibility of mice to the flu, but quercetin canceled out that negative effect.
Quercetin, a close chemical relative of resveratrol, is present in a variety of fruits and vegetables, including red onions, grapes, blueberries, tea, broccoli and red wine. It has been shown to have anti-viral properties in cell culture experiments and some animal studies, but none of these studies has looked specifically at the flu.
The study, “Quercetin reduces susceptibility to influenza infection following stressful exercise,” was carried out by J. Mark Davis, E.A. Murphy, J.L. McClellan, and M.D. Carmichael, of the University of South Carolina and J.D. Gangemi of Clemson University. The study appears in the current issue of the American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. ...More | Natural childbirth makes mothers more responsive to own baby-cry
Research news from the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
A new study has found that mothers who delivered vaginally compared to caesarean section delivery (CSD) were significantly more responsive to the cry of their own baby, identified through MRI brain scans two to four weeks after delivery.
The results of the study, to be published today in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, suggest that vaginal delivery (VD) mothers are more sensitive to own baby-cry in the regions of the brain that are believed to regulate emotions, motivation and habitual behaviours.
CSD is a surgical procedure, in which delivery occurs via incisions in the abdominal and uterine wall. It is considered necessary under some conditions to protect the health or survival of infant or mother, but it is controversially linked with postpartum depression. In the US the occurrence of CSD has increased steeply from 4.5% of all deliveries in 1965 to a recent high in 2006 of 29.1%. ...More | Youth Suicides Continue to Rise in U.S.
TUESDAY, Sept. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Suicides among U.S. children appear to be on the rise after a 15-year decline, and the trend may owe, in part, to fewer teens being prescribed antidepressants, a new study suggests.
Researchers thought a spike in youth suicides in 2004 may have been an anomaly. But the new study found the increase in suicides continued during 2005.
Looking at suicide trends among youngsters over a 15-year period, Jeff Bridge, from Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, found the rates of suicide among youths aged 10 to 19 were higher in 2004 and 2005 than would have been expected, based on suicide rate trends from 1996 to 2003.
"This is significant, because pediatric suicide rates in the U.S. had been declining steadily for a decade until 2004, when the suicide rate among U.S. youth younger than 20 years of age increased by 18 percent, the largest single-year increase in the past 15 years," said Bridge, an investigator in the Center for Innovation in Pediatric Practice. ...More | 80 percent of adolescents who play sports don't smoke
A research work carried out in sample of adolescents aged between 13 and 18 from Granada, Madrid, Murcia, Santander and Zaragoza has analysed the relationship between sport activity and tobacco consumption. According to this work, 59.2 percent of the Spanish adolescents are physically active, although there are significant differences according to sex (71.1 percent of boys, as against 46.7 percent of girls).
UGR News Sports and tobacco consumption are directly related, according to a study carried out by researchers of the University of Granada, the Spanish National Research Council-CSIC, the Universities of Murcia, Zaragoza and Cantabria, and the Nuestra Señora de la Consolación School of Granada. This work has proved that those Spanish adolescents who play a sport do not smoke usually (8 of every 10), and more than 40% of the adolescents aged between 13 and 18 do not practice any physical activity......More | New joint Israeli-American study sheds light on impact of terrorism on adolescent depression
BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL, August 25, 2008 – In a study on adolescent depression following terror attacks, Professor Golan Shahar of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer-Sheva, Israel, and Professor Christopher Henrich of Georgia State University, report that social support experienced by these adolescents seems to protect against depression. The research paper will be published in the upcoming issue of the prestigious Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 47:9, September 2008, also known as "The Orange Journal."
The Journal article is titled "Social Support Buffers the Effects of Terrorism on Adolescent Depression: Findings from Sderot, Israel." The study followed middle school students in the Israeli city of Sderot who have experienced seven years of ongoing terror attacks by Qassam rockets launched from the nearby Gaza Strip. Researchers examined whether higher levels of baseline social support protected the adolescents from adverse psychological effects of exposure to repeated trauma. .....More | Breastfeeding "Trust" Hormone
When young suckle, they are rewarded intermittently with a let-down of milk that results from reflex secretion of the hormone oxytocin. Oxytocin is a neuropeptide made by specialised neurons in the hypothalamus, and is secreted from nerve endings in the pituitary gland. During suckling, every 5 min or so, each of these neurons discharges a brief, intense burst of action potentials; these are propagated down the axons, and release a pulse of oxytocin into the circulation. Here, we have built a computational model to understand how these bursts arise and how they are synchronized. In our model, bursting is an emergent behaviour of a complex system, involving both positive and negative feedbacks, between many, sparsely connected cells. The oxytocin cells are regulated by independent afferent inputs, but they interact by local release of oxytocin and endocannabinoids. Oxytocin released from the dendrites of these cells has a positive-feedback effect, while endocannabinoids have an inhibitory effect by suppressing the afferent input to the cells. Many neurons make peptides that act as messengers within the brain, and many of these are also released from dendrites, so this model may reflect a common pattern-generating mechanism in the brain......More | Anti-cancer Flower Power: Researchers Combat Cancer With A Jasmine-based Drug
ScienceDaily (Aug. 25, 2008) — Could a substance from the jasmine flower hold the key to an effective new therapy to treat cancer?
Prof. Eliezer Flescher of The Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University thinks so. He and his colleagues have developed an anti-cancer drug based on a decade of research into the commercial applications of the compound Jasmonate, a synthetic compound derived from the flower itself. Prof. Flescher began to research the compound about a decade ago, and with his recent development of the drug, his studies have now begun to bear meaningful fruit.
“Acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) is based on a plant stress hormone,” says Prof. Flescher. “I asked myself, ‘Could there be other plant stress hormones that have clinical efficacy?’ While various studies have suggested that aspirin can prevent cancer, especially colon cancer, I realized that there could be a chance to find a potent plant hormone that could fight cancer even better. I pinpointed jasmonate.”.....More | Burning incense increases risk of respiratory tract cancers
Long term use of incense increases the risk of developing cancers of the respiratory tract, according to a new study. The new analysis, which the authors say is the first prospective investigation of incense and cancer risk, appears in the October 1, 2008 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society......More | Potential Alzheimer's, Parkinson's Cure Found In Century-old Drug ScienceDaily (Aug. 18, 2008) — A new study conducted by researchers at Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland shows that a century-old drug, methylene blue, may be able to slow or even cure Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. . ...More | India Continues To Progress In AIDS Vaccine Development Efforts The proportion of volunteers whose immune systems responded to the vaccine candidate suggests the candidate holds promise. The trial was done using two doses of the candidate vaccine. ....More | Newly detected air pollutant mimics damaging effects of cigarette smoke
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 17, 2008 — A previously unrecognized group of air pollutants could have effects remarkably similar to harmful substances found in tobacco smoke, Louisiana scientists are reporting in a study scheduled for presentation today at the 236th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society. ...More | Experts Say Single Abortion Not A Risk To Women's Mental Health
A task force of the American Psychological Association has concluded there is no significant evidence that a single elective abortion increases the risk of mental health problems for adult women. ...More | Poor sleep in teens linked to higher blood pressure
Teenagers are notorious for having bad sleep habits. New research suggests that having trouble staying awake the next day might not be the only consequence they face. In the first study to look at the relationship between not getting enough sleep and blood pressure in healthy adolescents, researchers found that healthy teens (ages 13 to 16 years old) who slept less than 6.5 hours a night were 2.5 times more likely to have elevated blood pressure compared to those who slept longer. ...More | Brain storming
Epilepsy, caused by an uncommon storm of electrical activity in the brain, can be controlled but not cured. Besides physical challenges, epilepsy patients have to bear a social stigma as well. . ...More | Elite" HIV wife may hold secret to AIDS vaccine
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A woman who has never shown symptoms of infection with the AIDS virus may hold the secret to defeating the virus, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.
Infected at least 10 years ago by her husband, the woman is able somehow to naturally control the deadly and incurable virus -- even though her husband must take cocktails of strong HIV drugs to control his......More | Zydus Cadila, WHO sign pact to develop drugs for rabies
Zydus Cadila has entered into an agreement with WHO to explore a possible collaboration in the development of a cocktail for the treatment of rabies, through the use of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), the next-generation biologicals.....More | Robot With A Biological Brain: New Research Provides Insights Into How The Brain Works
ScienceDaily — A multidisciplinary team at the University of Reading has developed a robot which is controlled by a biological brain formed from cultured neurons. This cutting-edge research is the first step to examine how memories manifest themselves in the brain, and how a brain stores specific pieces of data.....More | Novel method to create personalized immunotherapy treatments
MONTREAL, QC and DURHAM, N.C. - August 5, 2008 – Argos Therapeutics and Université de Montréal today announced the presentation of new information on Argos'process for developing dendritic cell-based immunotherapies for HIV. .....More | Identification of protein able to stimulate production of T-cells
Discovery from Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) at the Université de Montréal could fight age-related decline in immune response. A team of Canadian and Finish scientists has identified a protein able to stimulate the production of T-cells, the white blood cells involved in the recognition and the elimination of infectious agents. .....More | Whom do we fear or trust?
Faces instantly guide us, scientists say
A pair of Princeton psychology researchers has developed a computer program that allows scientists to analyze better than ever before what it is about certain human faces that makes them look either trustworthy or fearsome. In doing so, they have also found that the program allows them to construct computer-generated faces that display the most trustworthy or dominant faces possible.. .....More | Exercise Pill is No Replacement for Exercise
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Recently, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, a research organization focused on biology and its relation to health, published a study in the journal Cell on the results of a substance that increased exercise endurance without daily exertion when tested in mice......More | Erectile dysfunction may be "normal" with age
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Erectile dysfunction may be a feature of normal aging in men, while urinary or bowel function doesn't necessarily decline with age, according to a Dutch study.......More | Industry growth slides to 20 percent
The Indian biotech industry notches $2.5 billion in revenues, recording 20 percent growth, the lowest annual increase in the last five years. The industry was growing at a CAGR of 34 percent since 2003 and the 20 percent growth this year appears to be the pause before the next level of growth happens......More | Sensitive Testing Reveals Drug-resistant HIV With Possible Consequences For Treatment
ScienceDaily (July 30, 2008) — Drug-resistant HIV at levels too low to be detected by standard tests is not unusual and may contribute to treatment failure, according to research published in PLoS Medicine......More | Brain Plays Key Role In Appetite By Regulating Free Radicals
Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found the brain's appetite center uses fat for fuel by involving oxygen free radicals-molecules associated with aging and neurodegeneration. The findings, reported in the journal Nature, suggest that antioxidants could play a role in weight control. ....More | Dementia Underestimated in Developing Countries
MONDAY, July 28 (HealthDay News) -- Rates of dementia in developing countries have been greatly underestimated, according to researchers who used a specially-developed method of calculating dementia prevalence......More | Pathologists Believe They Have Pinpointed Achilles Heel Of HIV
ScienceDaily (July 16, 2008) — Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) researchers at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston believe they have uncovered the Achilles heel in the armor of the virus that continues to kill millions. ....More | Heart attack not a death sentence
Survivors of cardiac arrest who received intensive care can expect long-term quality of life at reasonable expense to the health care system. Research published today in BioMed Central's open access journal Critical Care is the first to show that the allocation of resources to the treatment of heart attack patients is equally as justified as the treatment of other intensive care patient groups.....More | Social Behavior In Ants From A Genetic Perspective
Scientists have made a step towards understanding how genes and the environment influence social behavior by learning about the numbers and types of genes that control social organization in fire ant colonies. These results are published in an article released on July 17, 2008 in the open access journal PLoS Genetics. . ....More | HIV Conquers Immune System Faster than Previously Realized
DURHAM, N.C. – New research into the earliest events occurring immediately upon infection with HIV-I shows that the virus deals a stunning blow to the immune system earlier than was previously understood. According to scientists at Duke University Medical Center, this suggests the window of opportunity for successful intervention may be only a matter of days – not weeks – after transmission, as researchers had previously believed. ....More | 'Pregnant man' gives birth to girl: Report
A US man who was born a woman before undergoing gender realignment surgery has given birth to a baby girl, US media reported Thursday.
Thomas Beatie, who is legally male but decided to keep his female sex organs during chest reconstruction surgery and testosterone therapy, attracted worldwide attention in April after revealing his pregnancy. ....More | Male biological clock 'ticks too'
Scientists say they have found more evidence that men as well as women have biological clocks and that they start to tick in their mid-30s.
A French study of over 12,200 couples having fertility treatment suggests the chance of a successful pregnancy falls when the man is aged over 35.....More | New West Nile virus strain may worsen epidemic
WASHINGTON, July 4, 2008 (Reuters) — A new strain of West Nile virus is spreading better and earlier across the United States, and may thrive in hot American summers, researchers said on Thursday......More | Scientists identify obesity gene
British and French scientists have identified several variants of a single gene that boost the risk of obesity, according to a study published on Sunday in the British journal Nature.. ....More | Slow exercise (not fast) is better for menopausal women
It's an inevitable truth: as we get older, our muscles deteriorate and we become weaker. Not only can this be an immensely frustrating change, but it can also have many other, more serious implications. We become clumsier and begin to have more falls, often resulting in broken bones or even more severe injuries. ....More |
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