In a critical step that may lead to more effective HIV treatments, Harvard scientists have found pre-existing mutations in a small number of HIV patients. These mutations can cause the virus to develop resistance to the drugs used to slow its progression. The finding is particularly important because, while researchers have long known HIV can develop resistance to some drugs, it was not understood whether the virus relied on pre-existing mutations to develop resistance, or if it waits for those mutations to occur. By shedding new light on how resistance evolves, the study, ...

SEATTLE – In exploring the genetics of mitochondria – the powerhouse of the cell – researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have stumbled upon a finding that challenges previously held beliefs about the role of mutations in cancer development. For the first time, researchers have found that the number of new mutations are significantly lower in cancers than in normal cells. "This is completely opposite of what we see in nuclear DNA, which has an increased overall mutation burden in cancer," said cancer geneticist Jason Bielas, Ph.D., whose findings are published ...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—June 7, 2012—Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have for the first time transformed skin cells—with a single genetic factor—into cells that develop on their own into an interconnected, functional network of brain cells. The research offers new hope in the fight against many neurological conditions because scientists expect that such a transformation—or reprogramming—of cells may lead to better models for testing drugs for devastating neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. This research comes at a time of renewed focus on Alzheimer's ...

For the first time, researchers have produced a coherent, laser-like, directed beam of light that simultaneously streams ultraviolet light, X-rays, and all wavelengths in between. One of the few light sources to successfully produce a coherent beam that includes X-rays, this new technology is the first to do so using a setup that fits on a laboratory table. An international team of researchers, led by engineers from the NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) for EUV Science and Technology, reports their findings in the June 8, 2012, issue of Science. By focusing intense ...

A breakthrough in laser science was achieved in Vienna: In the labs of the Photonics Institute at the Vienna University of Technology, a new method of producing bright laser pulses at x-ray energies was developed. The radiation covers a broad energy spectrum and can therefore be used for a wide range of applications, from materials science to medicine. Up until now, similar kinds of radiation could only be produced in particle accelerators (synchrotrons), but now a laser laboratory can also achieve this. The new laser technology was presented in the current issue of the ...

CINCINNATI – Scientists have discovered a new function for a protein that protects cells during injury and could eventually translate into treatment for conditions ranging from cardiovascular disease to Alzheimer's. Researchers report online June 7 in the journal Cell that a type of protein called thrombospondin activates a protective pathway that prevents heart cell damage in mice undergoing simulated extreme hypertension, cardiac pressure overload and heart attack. "Our results suggest that medically this protein could be targeted as a way to help people with many ...

Easy-to-use, inexpensive tests to diagnose infectious diseases are urgently needed in resource-limited countries. A new report based on an American Academy of Microbiology colloquium, "Bringing the Lab to the Patient: Developing Point-of-Care Diagnostics for Resource Limited Settings," describes the challenges inherent in bringing new medical devices and technologies to the areas of the world where they are needed most. Point-of-care diagnostics (POCTs) bypass the need for sophisticated laboratory systems by leveraging new technologies to diagnose infectious diseases and ...

(PORTLAND, Ore.) —June 07, 2012—Eleven integrated health systems, with more than 16 million members, have combined de-identified data from their electronic health records to form the largest, most comprehensive private-sector diabetes registry in the nation. According to a new study published today in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Preventing Chronic Disease, the SUPREME-DM DataLink provides a unique and powerful resource to conduct population-based diabetes research and clinical trials. "The DataLink will allow us to compare more prevention and ...

There's new hope for development of an antibiotic that can put down a lethal bacteria or superbug linked to the deaths of hundreds of hospital patients around the world. Researchers from the University of Alberta-based Alberta Glycomics Centre found a chink in the molecular armour of the pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii. The bacteria first appeared in the 1970's and in the last decade it developed a resistance to most antibiotics. U of A microbiologist Mario Feldman identified a mechanism that allows Acinetobacter baumannii to cover its surface with molecules knows ...

Berlin, Germany, June 7 2012: Data presented today at EULAR 2012, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism, demonstrates that tailoring biologic treatment to individual patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can reduce total costs by €2,595,557 per 272 patients over 3 years (95 percentile range -€2,983,760 to -€2,211,755), whilst increasing effectiveness by an average of 3.67 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs)*. Cost savings were mostly on drug costs. The Dutch study, which investigated 272 patients with RA starting adalimumab treatment, measured ...

Berlin, Germany, June 7 2012: Results from a retrospective analysis of contemporary data presented today at EULAR 2012, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism, predict, based on estimates from a multivariate regression model, that the cumulative use of anti-tumour necrosis factor drugs (anti-TNFs) for one, two, or three years is associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular events by 24%, 42% and 56% in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) respectively, compared to not using anti-TNF therapies (adjusting for background use of methotrexate or other ...

Berlin, Germany, June 7 2012: A new American study presented today at EULAR 2012, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism, calls for more aggressive management of osteoporosis in the extreme elderly as the true impact of osteoporotic hip fractures in those aged 80 years or older is unveiled. Via the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), 4.3 million patients over the age of 65 with osteoporotic hip fractures were studied. Results showed that 67.3% of hip fractures occurred in the extreme elderly, increasing from 172,209 in 1993 to 180,428 in 2008. This ...

Berlin, Germany, June 7 2012: A new Phase III study presented today at EULAR 2012, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism, shows that patients treated with certolizumab pegol (CZP) were twice as likely to meet the primary endpoint of ACR20* response at week 12 than those on placebo: 58% on CZP200mg Q2W; and 51.9% on CZP 400 mg Q4W compared to 24.3% on placebo. This randomised, placebo controlled, 24 week period of an ongoing Phase III study of 409 patients indicated that more patients treated with both doses of CZP achieved ACR50* and ACR70* response ...

Berlin, Germany, June 7 2012: According to a study presented today at EULAR 2012, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism, patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who are prescribed biologic treatments have a significantly lower mortality risk (adjusted hazard ratio [HR]: 0.61) than those just treated with traditional disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs).The study also found the mortality was similar irrespective of the method of action of biologics (anti-tumour necrosis factor drugs [anti-TNFs] or rituximab). Results of the German study ...

Berlin, Germany, June 7 2012: Patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IRD) treated with anti-tumour necrosis factor medications (anti-TNFs) have a 75% greater risk of developing herpes zoster, or shingles, than patients treated with traditional disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), according to a meta-analysis presented today at EULAR 2012, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism. "Anti-TNFs, such as infliximab, adalimumab and etanercept have become the treatment of choice for patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases who ...

Berlin, Germany, June 7 2012: Data from one of the few head-to-head trials in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) presented today at EULAR 2012, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism, demonstrates that at one year, 64.8% of patients receiving abatacept (Orencia) and 63.4% of patients receiving adalimumab (Humira) achieved ACR20*. The Phase IIIb AMPLE study (Abatacept Versus Adalimumab Comparison in Biologic-Naive RA Subjects with Background Methotrexate) was carried out in 646 biologic-naïve patients with active RA and inadequate response to methotrexate. ...

All nuclear energy and weapons programs should be independently regulated and subject to rigorous peer review, according to three experts on nuclear policy. Their comments and recommendations are published in an article entitled, "A Safer Nuclear Enterprise," in the June 8 issue of the journal Science. The authors noted that, despite international diplomatic efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and ensure that nuclear material is protected against theft, there is growing apprehension about terrorists acquiring weapons or nuclear material. "There is ...

When you are planning a vacation or a trip and you need to rent a car, one of the most important things that you should consider is whether or not you need to buy rental car insurance. When you search for a car rental company online or in person, most salespeople will tell you that you need insurance, while most web pages will tell you that you do not need it. This couldn't be further from the truth. In reality, purchasing rental car insurance for a few extra dollars per day may be one of the most intelligent things that a person can do for themselves. CheapCarInsurance.net ...

An international research team led by the University of Colorado Boulder has generated the first laser-like beams of X-rays from a tabletop device, paving the way for major advances in many fields including medicine, biology and nanotechnology development. For half a century, scientists have been trying to figure out how to build a cost-effective and reasonably sized X-ray laser that could, among other things, provide super-high-resolution imaging, according to Henry Kapteyn, a CU-Boulder physics professor and fellow at JILA, a joint institute of CU-Boulder and the National ...

New York, NY (June 7, 2012) — Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) have identified a brain receptor that appears to play a central role in regulating appetite. The findings, published today in the online edition of Cell, could lead to new drugs for preventing or treating obesity. "We've identified a receptor that is intimately involved in regulating food intake," said study leader Domenico Accili, MD, professor of Medicine at CUMC. "What is especially encouraging is that this receptor is belongs to a class of receptors that turn out to be good targets ...

Chemical reactions on the surface of metal oxides, such as titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, are important for applications such as solar cells that convert the sun's energy to electricity. Now University of Washington scientists have found that a previously unappreciated aspect of those reactions could be key in developing more efficient energy systems. Such systems could include, for example, solar cells that would produce more electricity from the sun's rays, or hydrogen fuel cells efficient enough for use in automobiles, said James Mayer, a UW chemistry professor. "As ...

New research published today in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Genomics reveals that the Malaysian parasitic plant Rafflesia cantleyi, with its 50cm diameter flowers, has 'stolen' genes from its host Tetrastigma rafflesiae. Analysis of these genes shows that their functions range from respiration to metabolism, and that some of them have even replaced the parasites own gene activity. Vertical gene transfer is that between parents and their offspring, while horizontal gene transfer is the movement of genes between two different organisms. Bacteria use horizontal ...

A bioinspired robot has provided the first experimental evidence that live zebrafish can be influenced by engineered robots. Results published today, 8 June, in IOP Publishing's journal Bioinspiration and Biomimetics, provide a stepping stone on the path to using autonomous robots in an open environment to monitor and control fish behaviour. In the future, water-based robots could potentially contribute to the protection of endangered animals and the control of pest species. The robot, created by researchers from Polytechnic Institute of New York University and ...

In exploring how proteins interact with crucial DNA sequences to regulate gene activity, researchers have shed light on key biological events that may eventually be manipulated to provide new disease treatments. Within a cell's nucleus, regulatory elements in DNA called promoters and enhancers communicate with each other in carrying out gene activity, often over large genomic distances, hundreds of thousands of chemical bases apart from each other in chromosomes. As these elements physically contact each other, the intervening DNA sequences bend into loops made of chromatin ...

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute have, for the first time, determined the function of a series proteins within the mosquito that transduce a signal that enables the mosquito to fight off infection from the parasite that causes malaria in humans. Together, these proteins are known as immune deficiency (Imd) pathway signal transducing factors, are analogous to an electrical circuit. As each factor is switched on or off it triggers or inhibits the next, finally leading to the launch of an immune response against the malaria parasite. The study was ...