Microbiology

A 'Creator' Gene For The Cerebral Cortex Could Lead To New Stem Cell Treatments

University of California, Irvine researchers have identified a gene that is specifically responsible for generating the cerebral cortex, a finding that could lead to stem cell therapies to treat brain injuries and diseases such as stroke and Alzheimer’s. D ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 17 2008 - 2:45pm

Using RNA Interference To Control A Parasite That Kills And Eats Human Immune Cells

Entamoeba histolytica, which causes inflammation of the colon (colitis), plays dirty. It attacks and kills human immune cells in seconds. Then the parasite hides the evidence by eating the cells’ corpses. While doing so, it kills nearly 100,000 people each ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 17 2008 - 7:07pm

Embryonic Stem Cells Improve Muscular Dystrophy In Mice

Using embryonic stem cells from mice, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have prompted the growth of healthy – and more importantly, functioning – muscle cells in mice afflicted with a human model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The study represent ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 20 2008 - 3:31pm

Osteopontin Gene Breakthrough May End Scars

Tissue damage triggers an inflammatory response by white cells to protect skin from infection by killing microbes. The same white cells guide the production of layers of collagen. These layers of collagen help the wound heal but they stand out from the sur ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 22 2008 - 9:31am

Evolution Of CD46 Protein May Explain Infertility In Humans

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that field mice have evolved a unique way of ensuring faster fertilization, a phenomenon which could explain some cases of infertility in humans. The team, in collaboration with Charles University, Pragu ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 23 2008 - 10:25am

Shutting Off Problem Genes: New RNAi Clinical Trials Set To Begin

Traditional gene therapy has focused on supplying a normal copy of a faulty gene. RNAi turns off a problematic gene. These contrasting approaches share some of the same techniques and challenges, including delivery of a therapeutic gene or siRNA into cells ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 23 2008 - 11:14am

VGLUT3 Protein Removal Causes Deafness And Seizures

Scientists have discovered that mice genetically engineered to lack the VGLUT3 protein in the brain have profound deafness and seizures. The finding suggests a pathway for exploring the hereditary causes of deafness and epilepsy in humans. More broadly, th ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 24 2008 - 4:29pm

Solved: Mystery Of How Mitochondrial Disease Passes From Mother To Child

Once considered rare, mitochondrial diseases are now thought to affect as many as one person in 5,000. New research in this area hopes to open up more opportunities for predicting a child's risk of developing a mitochondrial disease which can cause mu ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 27 2008 - 3:42pm

Stroke Victims May Benefit From Adult Stem Cell Transplants

According to two studies published in Cell Transplantation, stroke victims may benefit from human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) or bone marrow stromal cell (BMSCs) transplantation. In both studies, the migration of chemically “tagged” transplanted stem cell ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 28 2008 - 1:05am

Gene Expression Differences In Mice Fed Human And Chimp Diets

Using mice as models, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology traced some of the differences between humans and chimpanzees to differences in our diet. Humans consume a distinct diet compared to other apes. Not only do we cons ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 30 2008 - 1:22am