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 News From The Lab
1 May 2008
Electromagnetic Fields Disrupt Newborns' Heart Rates
The electromagnetic fields produced by hospital incubators can interfere with newborn babies’ heart rates, potentially creating problems for infants born prematurely who may spend extended periods in incubators...
22 April 2008
Stem Cell Decimation Behind "Chemo Brain"
Chemotherapy agents are recognized to have a negative impact on brain function in cancer patients but the precise mechanisms that underlie this cognitive dysfunction are only now being identified...
10 April 2008
"Paradoxical Pharmacology" Yields Radical New Asthma Treatment
One of the tenets of the Hippocratic Oath – first do no harm – has been ignored in the development of a new asthma treatment that initially worsens symptoms before eventually improving overall health...
31 March 2008
Mystery Fevers Cured With Surgery
Persistent childhood fevers that don’t respond to antibiotics seem to be cured by removal of the tonsils, even though the children’s tonsils appear completely normal and don’t show any sign of infection...
12 March 2008
Epigenetic Changes Found In Schizophrenics
For the first time, scientists have discovered epigenetic changes (chemical changes to a gene that do not alter the DNA sequence) in individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder...
6 March 2008
Rethink On Cause Of Type 2 Diabetes
Growing evidence shows that surgery on the small bowel may effectively cure Type 2 diabetes - an approach that may change the way the disease is treated...
5 March 2008
Expensive Placebo Works Better Than Cheap One
A 10-cent pill doesn't kill pain as well as a $2.50 pill, even when they are identical placebos, finds a new study...
29 February 2008
"Safer" Cigarettes Back On The Agenda
Scientists have fingered hydrogen peroxide as the cancer causative in cigarette smoke, a finding they hope may lead to "safer" cigarettes...
27 February 2008
Radical Nano-Vaccines Show Promise
A novel technique using an oil-based emulsion placed in the nose has produced a strong immune response against smallpox and HIV...
7 February 2008
Ink Delivers DNA
Tattooing has been found to be much more effective than intramuscular injection for the delivery of DNA vaccines...
24 January 2008
Liver Recipient Takes On Donor's Immune System
An Australian teenager who received a liver transplant has astonished medical experts by taking on her donor's immune system...
21 January 2008
New Delivery Method For Gene Therapy
Japanese researchers say they have pioneered a new method of introducing foreign DNA into cells that is simple, cheap and does not use cytotoxic reagents...
16 November 2007
Viral-Vector Vaccines Vexed
Hopes for radical new vaccines using so-called viral vector technology have received a setback, with researchers reporting that the method may actually do more harm than good...
31 October 2007
Massive Longevity Boost From Lithium
Nematode worms treated with lithium showed an astonishing 46 percent increase in lifespan, raising the question of whether humans taking the bipolar drug are also taking an anti-aging medication...
24 October 2007
Cancer Triggered By Viral Selection?
Scientists are mulling whether viruses may contribute to cancer by causing excessive death to normal cells while promoting the growth of surviving cells with cancerous traits...
17 October 2007
Blood Could Be Integral Part Of Brain's Processing Power
Scientists believe that blood may actually help us think, in addition to its well-known role as the conveyor of fuel and oxygen to brain cells...
11 September 2007
Motion Important For Viable Stem Cells
New research suggests that embryonic stem cells may develop much more viably when shaken...
4 September 2007
Fat And Vitamin C – A Cancerous Combo
In the presence of fat, vitamin C may actually increase, rather than reduce, certain cancer causing chemicals...
22 August 2007
Health Officials Get Wee-lly Smart About Drug Usage
Public health officials plan to get more accurate estimates on illegal drug use by analyzing drug residues and metabolites in sewage treatment plants...
8 August 2007
Bacterial Accumulation Doesn't Appear To Impact Longevity
Investigating the aging process in flies, researchers have established that while older flies accumulate very large populations of bacteria, the infestations don't seem to hasten death...
17 July 2007
Medicos Mull Advantageous Drug-Food Interactions
Exploiting novel interactions between food and drugs could dramatically lower the rising cost of anticancer drugs and other medications, say two oncologists...
22 May 2007
Oxygen Resuscitation In ER Damages Brain Function
Surprisingly, no one has ever scanned hospital patients' brains to examine how they respond to pure-oxygen resuscitation, but now that someone has, hospitals may want to review its use in many cases...
24 May 2007
Three (No Longer) Blind Mice
Gene therapy has been successfully used to restore sight in mice with a form of hereditary blindness; possibly leading to new treatments for common blinding diseases...
11 April 2007
"Construction" Protein Found
Scientists have discovered a protein required for two neighboring cells to fuse and become one super-cell, a function critical for building muscles...
4 April 2007
Modified Rabies Virus Could Tackle HIV
Arming a weakened rabies virus with HIV-related proteins appears to prevent development of HIV-like diseases in animals...
9 March 2007
The Dummies Guide To Mind Reading
Researchers have recently been able to forecast a subject's intentions. If our minds turn out to be this deterministic at much more complex levels, then the thought police could soon be on their way...
2 March 2007
The Slacker's Guide To Serendipitous Research
Scientists may not like to admit it, but serendipity has played a big role in many modern wonder drugs and gee-whiz inventions. So, if you're a young researcher looking to become a zillionaire, what's the best way of getting serendipity working for you? As a helpful guide, we've listed five choice tips which should put you on the road to riches...
27 February 2007
Bacterial Swimming Style Goes Against The Flow
Yale scientists have shown that E.coli bacteria have a propensity to swim upstream, possibly explaining why catheters are associated with such high rates of infection...
21 February 2007
Rogue Stem Cell Study Yields Anti-Cancer Protein
Rogue stem cells are at the heart of some, if not all, cancers, say European researchers, who have discovered a protein that they believe could disable cancerous cells...
19 February 2007
Vomiting Virgos Provide A Cautionary Tale For Clinicians
An analysis of health conditions and star signs has demonstrated the risks inherent when researchers find patterns in clinical data where in fact none exist...
1 January 2007
Antiquarian Herbal Book Yields Potential New Drugs
Mayo Clinic doctors are impressed with the anti-bacterial properties of a plant extract that they identified from a 17th century Dutch herbal textbook...
15 December 2006
Monkeying Around With Human Health
We're told that animal trials are crucial for the development of new drugs and medical treatments, but a recent study asks fundamental questions about the effectiveness and usefulness of animal research in regard to human health...
8 December 2006
Viagra Touted As Anti-Cancer Drug
While it won't cure cancer, researchers say the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra can turbocharge the body's cancer-attacking T-cells...
23 November 2006
Scientists Explore Manipulation Of Cancer Evolution
Oncologists are working with evolutionary biologists and ecologists to explore the possibility of radical new cancer treatments that manipulate the evolution of cancerous tumors...
20 November 2006
Success With Limb Regeneration
Researchers have been able to regenerate a wing in a chick embryo - a species not known to be able to regrow limbs - suggesting that the potential for regeneration exists in all vertebrates, including humans...
10 November 2006
The Ten Scariest Medical Mishaps
Doctors and medical specialists are miracle workers, right? And when we go to hospital, we'll leave healthier than when we arrived, right? Well, not always, as accidents do happen and modern medicine isn't exempt from Murphy's Law. So, what are the most terrifyingly medical blunders that could happen to you?
7 November 2006
Pimp My Retrovirus
Research into HIV gene therapy may be about to pay dividends, with positive results from a Phase I trial that used a modified version of the virus to deliver a gene that prevents HIV from reproducing...
2 November 2006
Clays Exhibit Novel Antibacterial Properties
Beauty treatments that use clay aren't new, but clay-based medicinal treatments are, especially when they go beyond the capabilities of existing antibiotics...
1 November 2006
Doctors Identify Potential Cause Of SIDS
US medicos say they have the strongest evidence yet that sudden infant death syndrome has a concrete biological basis...
13 October 2006
 Too Cool For The 21st Century
Cryonics is what you might better know as a sci-fi plot device; think suspended animation or stasis. But rather than journeying to a distant planet, cryonic aficionados will stay on Earth in the hope that they can be revived in the future and cured of whatever ails them in this life. Or even better, that future medical science might have found a way to give them immortality...
10 October 2006
Farty Gas Triggers Suspended Animation State
Hydrogen sulfide gas, known for its rotten egg smell, has a surprising effect on the metabolic system, inducing a state of suspended animation while maintaining normal blood pressure...
1 September 2006
Church And State Mixed In The Test Tube
Embryonic stem cell research has hit the doldrums, stalled in the eye of a perfect storm of controversy. And taking advantage of the momentarily calm weather, politicians everywhere appear to be hoisting-up policies based around their own personal belief systems. Worryingly, it appears these decisions are being driven by an undercurrent of religious conservatism rather than reasoned ethical concerns...
28 August 2006
This Cancer Cell Will Self-Destruct In 5 Seconds
A synthetic compound that can initiate suicide in cancer cells could become the future of anti-cancer therapies...
11 August 2006
Noises Off At The Patent Law Medicine Show
Patent law amendments supposedly now provide for developing nations facing health emergencies by allowing them to legally manufacture and/or import cheaper generic drugs. But either due to bureaucratic red tape or the ever-present threat of a lawsuit, these provisions have proven difficult to access. Now, two health policy experts are crying foul...
25 July 2006
Building Muscle From Fatty Stem Cells
Researchers have extracted adult stem cells from fatty tissue and turned them into smooth muscle cells, used to power hollow organs like blood vessels, the intestines and the bladder...
2 June 2006
Bloodsucking Medical Marvels
Contrary to Hollywood film depictions, you can find leeches in places other than the steamy tropical swamplands of the Amazon. In fact, you can find them anywhere from freezing polar waters to the otherwise unforgiving climate of the desert. And it turns out that the quacks of bygone days only had it half-right about the medicinal properties of leeches, as they were unaware that it's not the bloodletting that's important; but rather the chemicals that the leech releases into the surrounding tissue that apparently work medical wonders...
22 May 2006
Drug Discoverers Opt For The Life Aquatic
Scientists are exploring newly discovered deep-sea reefs between Florida and the Bahamas in the hope of discovering marine organisms with the potential to treat diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's...
11 May 2006
Key HIV/SARS Mechanism Revealed
UK scientists have revealed how HIV and SARS use "ribosomal frameshifting" to force a misreading of the genetic code during protein synthesis...
3 May 2006
Cannibalism The New Weapon In Cancer Fight
Scientists have a created a virus that forces deadly brain cancer cells to consume themselves. Better still, in addition to working on brain tumors, the virus works on other cancers as well...
6 April 2006
Photosensitive Algae Could Restore Vision
Scientists have used gene transfer technology to insert photosensitive proteins into the retinal cells of blind mice, restoring some visual ability...
4 April 2006
Wonky Waves Allow Cancer Cells To Spread
An understanding of how cancers metastasize could be closer, thanks to research into a biological communication mechanism known as cellular waves...
29 March 2006
Rats Showing Some Backbone After Stem Cell Treatment
Building on previous successful spinal repair stem cell research, University of Toronto researchers have managed to repair damaged spinal cord tissue, this time in rats...
28 February 2006
Getting Eye On Cannabinoids
The growth of excess blood vessels in the eye that can lead to blindness in diabetics could be prevented by a marijuana derived compound...
27 February 2006
Healing’s Golden Touch Explained
For 75 years, gold and platinum have been used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases, but how these metals performed their healing has been unknown until now...
16 February 2006
Disco Rats Last Longer On Ecstasy
Italian researchers, experimenting with rats, have found that loud music can prolong the effects of the recreational drug ecstasy for up to five days...
6 January 2006
Dogs Sniff Out Cancer
A new study has found that dogs have an astonishing capability to detect lung and breast cancer simply by sniffing the breath of the patient...
16 December 2005
Stem Cells May Prove Hard To Tame
Recent experiments have uncovered some fascinating insights into the way stem cells make every effort to form an embryo, defying researchers’ attempts to get them to form specific tissues...
22 November 2005
Chinese Research Lost In Translation
Important Chinese genetic research frequently fails to reach the international scientific community. It appears that it is often only the studies with spectacular results that tend to get disseminated...
18 November 2005
Anti-Aging Finding Turned On Its Head
Previous research showed that the addition of an extra SIR2 gene could extend the lifespan of some organisms. But a new study has found that deleting it altogether can produce even greater life extensions...
16 November 2005
Sperm Precursor Cells Could Be Source Of Embryonic Stem Cells
Experimenting with sperm precursor cells, scientists believe they are close to coaxing such cells to behave like embryonic stem cells...
11 November 2005
Face Transplants - Here's Looking At You
It seems that reality is about to imitate film fantasy, as a group of surgeons ready themselves to make history with the world’s first face transplantation. In doing so they’ll test the boundaries of medicine and bioethics, and there is also the small matter of finding a willing participant to join them on their pioneering quest...
20 September 2005
More Success With Stem Cells For Spinal Injuries
The potential of novel stem cell treatments is being realized with the announcement that adult neural stem cells have been used to successfully regenerate damaged spinal cord tissue...
9 September 2005
Stem Cell Stumbling Blocks
Despite the negativity and suspicion that stem cell research has attracted in the mainstream media, it has made remarkable headway in a relatively short period. But there are still major problems for scientists in their pursuit of new treatments and cures for a range of ailments. The obstacles to overcome are not trivial. Two of the most pressing problems are stem cell over-proliferation and stem cell navigation...
26 August 2005
Placebo Effect Produces Real Painkillers
The first direct evidence that the brain produces painkilling chemicals in response to a sham pain treatment may lead to new treatments, based around psychological therapy, for people with chronic pain...
22 August 2005
Umbilical Cord Blood May Overcome Stem Cell Stumbling Block
Embryonic stem cells hold great promise for disease treatment but ethical and technological bottlenecks are restricting their collection. Now, researchers believe they can create embryonic-like stem cells from umbilical cord blood...
2 August 2005
Gene Silencing Offers New Strategy For Treating Disease
A technique that can control gene expression at DNA level may pave the way for new treatments for many serious diseases...
13 July 2005
Parkinson's Drug Sparks Gambling Fever
A drug treatment used to help control the excessive shaking that Parkinson's disease triggers has caused some patients to develop pathological gambling behavior...
20 August 2004
Lactic Acid Not The Culprit In Muscle Fatigue
The belief among physiologists and athletes that a build up of lactic acid is a major cause of muscle fatigue has been overturned by researchers...
4 June 2004
Tongue-Vision Allows The Blind To Lap-Up The Sights
The brain receives a great deal of information from the tongue and researchers are investigating how to capitalize on this high-bandwidth sensory organ to turn it into a virtual eye...
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