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U of T Researchers Uncover Major Source of Evolutionary Differences among Species

By Guest PostJanuary 1, 2013Nature, Sciencealternative splicing, alzheimer, benjamin blencowe, brain, cancer, chicken, chimpanzee, disease, disease susceptibility, frog, fundamental characteristics, fundamental difference, genetic basis, genetic messages, heart, human, human brain, human diseases, identical, liver, mouse, multiple proteins, nuno barbosa morais, set of genes, species, university of toronto, vertebrate, vertebrate evolution

TORONTO, ON – University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine researchers have uncovered a genetic basis for fundamental differences between humans and other vertebrates that could also help explain why humans are susceptible to diseases not found in other species.

Scientists have wondered why vertebrate species, which look and behave very differently from one another, nevertheless share very similar repertoires of genes. For example, despite obvious physical differences, humans and chimpanzees share a nearly identical set of genes. (more…)

Researchers Report Potential New Treatment to Stop Alzheimer’s Disease

By Guest PostNovember 16, 2012Health, Sciencealzheimer, amyloid beta, blood brain barrier, brain, brain pathology, cell, clr01, disease, disorders, gal bitan, inhibitor, mammalian animal model, memory, molecular compound, molecular tweezer, mouse model, neuron, parkinsons disease, pathologic feature, process specific, radioactive label, tau, toxic protein, ucla

Molecular ‘tweezers’ break up toxic aggregations of proteins in mouse model

Last March, researchers at UCLA reported the development of a molecular compound called CLR01 that prevented toxic proteins associated with Parkinson’s disease from binding together and killing the brain’s neurons.

Building on those findings, they have now turned their attention to Alzheimer’s disease, which is thought to be caused by a similar toxic aggregation or clumping, but with different proteins, especially amyloid-beta and tau. (more…)

New Global Subsidy that Provides Access to Most Effective Malaria Drugs Shows Promise

By Guest PostNovember 15, 2012Healthacts, african children, african countries, african nations, amfm program, anti malaria medications, anti-malarial drugs, artemisinin combination therapies, buying time, claire panosian dunavan, disease, geneva, ghana, global fund, Kenya, key, Madagascar, malaria, malaria case, niger, nigeria, physician, qaacts, saving lives, Tanzania, the lancet, ucla, uganda, Zanzibar

UCLA infectious diseases doctor played key role in finance strategy for therapy

A new international program, conceived in part by a UCLA physician, has rapidly transformed access to lifesaving anti-malarial drugs by providing cheap, subsidized artemisinin-based combination therapies in seven African countries that account for a quarter of the world’s malaria cases.

The first independent evaluation of the Affordable Medicines Facility–malaria (AMFm) program was recently published in the journal The Lancet. The program is based at the Global Fund in Geneva, an international financing institution dedicated to disbursing funds to prevent and treat infectious diseases. The evaluation shows that the program improved access to key artemisinin combination therapies, or ACTs, which offer broader protection and less antibiotic resistance than anti-malaria medications currently available in those African nations. (more…)

Football Scores a Health Hat Trick for Hypertensive Men

By Guest PostOctober 15, 2012Healthblood pressure, body fat, british men, cardiovascular disease, control group, copenhagen, coronary artery, cycling, denmark, disease, exercise capacity, exeter, fat burning, fifa, gentofte university, gps, heart rate, high, hospital, hypertension, maximal, men, middle aged, mmhg, moderate hypertension, oxygen uptake, peter krustrup, peter riis hansen, physical exercise, playing football, risk, soccer, stroke, university

Playing football (soccer) could be the best way for people with high blood pressure, known as hypertension, to improve their fitness, normalise their blood pressure and reduce their risk of stroke, according to research published today (Monday 15 October 2012) in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.

Research from Universities of Exeter and Copenhagen, and Gentofte University Hospital in Denmark suggests football training prevents cardiovascular disease in middle-aged men with hypertension and is more effective than healthy lifestyle advice currently prescribed by GPs.

After six months of football training, three out of four men in this study had blood pressure within the normal, healthy range. (more…)

Sticky Paper Offers Cheap, Easy Solution for Paper-Based Diagnostics

By Guest PostOctober 4, 2012Scienceacidity, antibodies, arthur yu, biological molecule, chemical trick, daniel ratner, diabetes, diagnostic, disease, divinyl sulfone, DNA, fluorescent ricin, galactose, george whitesides, global, harvard university, health research, immune system, industrial solvent, jing shang, malaria, medical test, nitrocellulose, oldest technology, paper, paper stick, paul yager, plain paper, poison, pregnancy test, protein, rodrigo andrade, sticky membrane, university, Washington, ziploc bag

A current focus in global health research is to make medical tests that are not just cheap, but virtually free. One such strategy is to start with paper – one of humanity’s oldest technologies – and build a device like a home-based pregnancy test that might work for malaria, diabetes or other diseases.

A University of Washington bioengineer recently developed a way to make regular paper stick to medically interesting molecules. The work produced a chemical trick to make paper-based diagnostics using plain paper, the kind found at office supply stores around the world. (more…)

Analysis of Bacterial Genes May Help ID Cause of Dog Brain Disease, Say UF Researchers

By Guest PostOctober 2, 2012Health, Nature, Scienceanalysis, autoimmune, bacteria, balance, brain damage, brain disorder, brain inflammation, brain syndrome, brain tissue, cell, central, chihuahuas, christopher mariani, daniel brown, decreased alertness, dina michaels, disease, dog, florida, gene, genetic makeup, genital tract, gme, granulomatous meningoencephalomyelitis, immune system, karen vernau, macrophages, malteses, mycoplasma canis, necrotizing meningoencephalitis, nervous system, nme, pomeranians, pugs, renee barber, response, scott schatzberg, seizures, small breed, symptom, throat, university, viral agent, virus, yorkshire terriers

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — By analyzing the genes of bacteria, University of Florida researchers have moved a step closer to pinpointing how two brain disorders common in small-breed dogs occur.

The researchers found that the bacteria, known as Mycoplasma canis, invade dog’s cells and suppress their immune system responses. (more…)

Relieving Plant Stress Could Eventually Help Humans Relax

By Guest PostSeptember 14, 2012Scienceanimal model, arabidopsis mutant, biologist, biotechnology, cell, cell material, coal mine, disease, Environment, federica brandizzi, human growth, humans, ire1, michigan, multifunctional protein, plant, protein, state university, stress

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Humans could learn from how plants handle stress.

Federica Brandizzi, Michigan State University plant biologist, is using a grant from the National Institutes of Health to study how plants overcome stress as they grow. These pathways used to overcome stress are a key to growth. Without them plants, and animals, would die.

“When cells grow, they undergo trauma as growth is quite stressful,” Brandizzi said. “Since it’s very likely that these pathways have much in common between humans and plants, we should be able to gain insights into how plants and animals overcome stress and continue to grow as well.” (more…)

Immune Systems of ‘Bubble Babies’ Restored by Gene Therapy, UCLA Researchers Find

By Guest PostSeptember 14, 2012Healthada deficient, adenosine deaminase, bone marrow, bubble boy, chemotherapy, chronic diarrhea, denise carbonaro sarracino, disease, donald kohn, ear infections, enzyme, gene therapy, immune system, immunology, microbiology, molecular genetics, oral candidiasis, recurrent pneumonia, researcher, scid, stem cell, sterile environment, treatment, ucla, virus

UCLA stem cell researchers have found that a gene therapy regimen can safely restore immune systems to children with so-called “bubble boy” disease, a life-threatening condition that if left untreated can be fatal within one to two years.

In the 11-year study, researchers were able to test two therapy regimens for 10 children with ADA-deficient severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), which has come to be known as “bubble boy” disease because some of its victims have been forced to live in sterile environments. (more…)

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