Microbiology

A Gene That Protects From Kidney Disease

Researchers from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the University of Michigan have discovered a gene that protects us against a serious kidney disease. In the current online issue of Nature Genetics they report that mutations in the gene ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 8 2007 - 4:11pm

Scientists Discover Fundamental Protein In Brain Development

Scientists at Children’s National Medical Center have demonstrated conclusively that a specific protein is instrumental in myelination and remyelination, processes essential to the creation and repair of the brain’s white matter. This groundbreaking discov ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 9 2007 - 1:55am

Sugar Might Help Fight Infections

Neutrophils are biological killers. These white blood cells patrol the body and guard against infection by bacteria and fungi, identifying and destroying any invaders that cross their path. But new evidence, which may lead to better drugs to fight deadly p ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 11 2007 - 11:59am

A Stepwise Retreat: How Immune Cells Catch Pathogens

To protect us from disease our immune system employs macrophages, cells that roam our body in search of disease-causing bacteria. With the help of long tentacle-like protrusions, macrophages can catch suspicious particles, pull them towards their cell bodi ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 12 2007 - 1:50am

Small Molecules May Explain Psoriasis

A research team at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet has shown for the time that microRNA, small RNA molecules, may play an important role in the development of inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis and atopic eczema. The research ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 12 2007 - 1:52am

Eye Lens And Olfactory Cells In The Nose Determined By Same Molecule

A team of researchers at Umeå University in Sweden have discovered a unique mechanism by which the same signal molecule determines the formation of the both the lens of the eye and the olfactory cells of the nose. Smell and sight are two sensory systems th ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 12 2007 - 7:35pm

Macrophage Tentacles: How Immune Cells Snag Pathogens

To protect us from disease our immune system employs macrophages, cells that roam our body in search of disease-causing bacteria. With the help of long tentacle-like protrusions, macrophages can catch suspicious particles, pull them towards their cell bodi ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 14 2007 - 2:05pm

Small Molecules May Explain Psoriasis

A research team at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet has shown for the time that microRNA, small RNA molecules, may play an important role in the development of inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis and atopic eczema. The research ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 14 2007 - 2:07pm

The Molecular Basis Of Fear

Researchers from MIT have uncovered a molecular mechanism that governs the formation of fears stemming from traumatic events. The work could lead to the first drug to treat the millions of adults who suffer each year from persistent, debilitating fears- in ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 15 2007 - 1:01pm

African Green Monkeys And The Evolution Of HIV

Monkey viruses related to HIV may have swept across Africa more recently than previously thought, according to new research from The University of Arizona in Tucson. A new family tree for African green monkeys shows that an HIV-like virus, simian immunodef ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 16 2007 - 12:35pm