News From The Lab (Pre 2011)
16 December 2010
Stroke, brain injury treated with turmeric
A synthetic derivative of the spice turmeric has been found to dramatically improve the behavioral and molecular deficits seen in animal models of ischemic stroke and traumatic brain injury...
9 December 2010
Scientists create offspring from same-sex parents
Using stem cell technology, reproductive scientists have produced male and female mice from two fathers. The milestone opens the provocative possibility of same-sex couples having their own genetic children...
11 November 2010
Paracetamol use linked to asthma and male infertility
New evidence has emerged that the use of paracetamol and other painkillers during pregnancy may be part of the reason for the increase in male reproductive disorders in recent decades, while another study has strengthened the link between maternal paracetamol use and infant asthma...
19 October 2010
Uh-oh, placebo
In clinical trials for new drugs, the contents of the placebo are disclosed in only about 10 percent of cases, leading one researcher to question the lack of standards in placebo formulation and the appropriateness of drug companies providing their own placebos for trials...
14 September 2010
Infant diet predicts adult love-life
For male infants, rapid weight gain in the first six months of life predicts a future where they will be taller, more muscled, stronger, have more sex partners and higher levels of testosterone than the average male...
2 September 2010
Intriguing evidence of charitable behavior in bacteria
Scientists have observed that in certain populations of bacteria, antibiotic resistant strains will release chemicals to assist weaker bacteria to survive, a finding that provides important insights into bacterial complexity and antibiotic resistance...
16 August 2010
Body dysmorphia not improved by cosmetic surgery
A new study has found that while many who suffer from body dysmorphic disorder seek cosmetic procedures, only 2 percent of procedures actually reduced the severity of the psychiatric disorder. Physicians, however, continue to provide requested surgeries to people suffering from the condition despite the poor outcomes...
14 July 2010
Stroke me, baby! Touching body-parts can prevent stroke damage, suggests study
The most common type of stroke can be completely prevented in rats by stimulating a single whisker, say University of California researchers who suggest that stimulation of the fingers, lips or face could all have a similar effect in humans...
22 June 2010
Synthetic antibodies successfully tested in mice
Researchers have created the first "plastic antibodies" to be successfully employed in live organisms - stopping the spread of bee venom through the bloodstream of mice. The revolutionary technique can be used to fight a range of lethal toxins and pathogens...
10 May 2010
HIV non-progressors have super-charged T cells
A new study shows that individuals with the HLA B57 gene produce larger numbers of T cells that are cross-reactive, meaning they can attack HIV mutations that arise to escape activated killer T cells...
4 May 2010
Centrifuge made from a salad spinner for developing countries
Two Rice University undergraduates have turned a simple salad spinner into a rudimentary centrifuge that medical clinics in developing countries can use to separate blood without electricity...
21 April 2010
Cold weather and prostate cancer: are pollutants the connection?
Cold, dry weather has been linked to an increased incidence of prostate cancer and researchers believe that the way in which weather patterns interact with persistent organic pollutants may be the underlying factor...
24 March 2010
Facial aging more than skin deep
Conventional facelifts to ward off the signs of aging are only fixing half the problem, according to researchers who say that facial bone structure - particularly the jaw bone - will be the next target for cosmetic surgeons...
22 March 2010
Researchers say results from nanoparticle cancer treatment are "game changing"
Researchers have published the first proof that a targeted nanoparticle - injected directly into a patient's bloodstream - can enter into tumors, deliver double-stranded small interfering RNAs, and turn off an important cancer gene using a mechanism known as RNA interference...
18 March 2010
Geometry influences stem cell differentiation
Scientists have successfully used geometrically patterned surfaces to influence the development of stem cells into either fat cells or bone cells. The new approach is a radical departure from that of many stem-cell biologists, who focus instead on uncovering the role of proteins in controlling the ultimate fate of stem cells...
9 March 2010
Popular SSRI meds and cataracts linked, say researchers
A Canadian study has linked the diagnosis of cataracts with the class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, as well as between cataracts and specific drugs within that class...
22 February 2010
IVF-linked chromosomal modifications prompt warning
Geneticists are recommending more rigorous health monitoring of IVF babies in later life as new research reveals links between assisted reproduction technologies and obesity and diabetes...
25 January 2010
Stillbirth linked directly to mother's oral bacteria
Confirming long-held suspicions, a Case Western Reserve University researcher has for the first time established a direct link between a mother's gum disease and the death of her fetus...
9 December 2009
Stem cells engineered to kill HIV
UCLA researchers have shown for the first time that human stem cells can be engineered into a genetic vaccine that can target and kill HIV-infected cells - a technique that could potentially be used against a number of other viral diseases...
27 November 2009
"Plasma pharmacology" wipes-out MSRA, helps wounds heal
So-called bacterial superbugs could face annihilation as newly developed low-temperature plasma devices are shown to offer safe, quick and unfailing bactericidal cocktails while also supporting human cell regeneration...
27 October 2009
Mole rat's cancer-proofing gene revealed
Despite a three decade lifespan that should provide ample time for cells to grow cancerous, naked mole rats have never been known to suffer cancerous tumors of any kind - and now University of Rochester scientists think they know why...
5 October 2009
Booze a lifesaver
Research into the survival of trauma patients suggests that alcohol consumption may have a protective effect against death by changing the body's chemical response to injury...
30 September 2009
Young adults can outgrow bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder (manic-depression) has traditionally been thought of as a lifelong disorder, but researchers have found evidence that nearly half of those diagnosed between the ages of 18 and 25 may outgrow the disorder by the time they reach 30...
29 September 2009
More evidence linking testicular cancer to chemicals in breast milk
High levels of endocrine disrupting chemicals have been found in breast milk in a country with one of the world's highest rates of male reproductive problems...
22 September 2009
Stem cell researchers barking up the wrong tree, says prof
Stem cell behaviors naturally emerge as a consequence of basic engineering principles of feedback control, argues a biologist who believes that understanding the precise nature of stem cells requires an intimate knowledge of the systems relationships and dynamics at work, rather than the molecular signatures and simple gene regulatory circuits so far detailed by researchers...
17 September 2009
Study links penis size to general health
An Australian study into penis size and body image found that men with a larger-than-average penis had higher self esteem and better general health...
8 September 2009
Compelling new evidence for prostate cancer virus
A type of virus known to cause leukemia and sarcomas in animals has been found for the first time in malignant human prostate cancer cells. The finding could have important implications for the development of a vaccine to block infection by the virus and thus prevent the development of prostate cancer...
1 September 2009
PSA test blamed for massive overdiagnosis of prostate cancer
Prostate-antigen screening (PSA) has resulted in over 1 million additional men being diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer - but most of these were likely overdiagnosed and should not have been treated, researchers say...
26 August 2009
Obesity linked to brain shrinkage, scans show
Neurologists have compared the brains of people who were obese, overweight, and of normal weight and found that the obese subjects had 8 percent less brain tissue than people of normal weight, while overweight people had 4 percent less...
13 August 2009
Herbals ineffective in treating menopausal symptoms
Commonly used botanicals black cohosh and red clover have been found to not have any significant effect on hot flashes or cognitive function in menopausal women...
3 August 2009
Dream therapy set for a revival
European researchers say that similarities in brain activity during lucid dreaming and psychosis indicate that previously discredited dream therapy could play a useful role in treating psychiatric conditions...
21 July 2009
Genetics linked to placebo response
Placebos - sugar pills designed to represent "no treatment" in a clinical treatment study - work nearly as well as the actual medication for some people. Why this should be so remains a mystery, but researchers at UCLA believe they have found a possible explanation: genetics...
9 July 2009
Anti-fungal shows dramatic anti-aging effects
Rapamycin, an anti-fungal compound first discovered in the soil of Easter Island, has been found to extend the expected lifespan of middle-aged mice by 28 - 38 percent...
22 June 2009
Combination approach could eradicate HIV from body
Medications that target viral replication of HIV throughout the body, in combination with drugs that prevent infected memory T-cells from dividing, could eliminate the reservoirs of HIV that stubbornly persist within the body, eventually leaving it disease-free...
17 June 2009
Mad fish disease could threaten humans
Experts are questioning the safety of eating farmed fish that are fed byproducts rendered from cows...
11 June 2009
Influenza during pregnancy linked to schizophrenia
When mothers contract influenza during their pregnancy, it may increase the risk for schizophrenia in their offspring...
19 May 2009
Cancer drug Rituxan linked to brain virus
Rituximab (marketed as Rituxan), a drug that is used to treat cancer as well as arthritis, lupus and multiple sclerosis, has been linked to a virus known as progressive multifocal leukoencephalitis (PML) that eats away the brain's white matter...
13 May 2009
Superbugs thriving in wastewater treatment plants
In the first study of its kind, Michigan researchers have established that wastewater treatment plants are providing a perfect environment for the emergence of antibiotic-resistant superbugs that eventually end up in neighboring streams and lakes...
12 May 2009
Men and women equal? Not when it comes to the immune system
Women have a more powerful immune system than men thanks to the production of estrogen that amplifies the body's innate inflammatory response against bacterial pathogens...
5 May 2009
Laissez faire use of DDT concerns experts
DDT's use to combat malaria was endorsed in 2006 by the World Health Organization and the organochlorine pesticide is now sprayed inside buildings and homes throughout the developing world. But the human health impacts of DDT exposure at such high levels are unknown, say epidemiologists...
4 May 2009
Mechanism behind caffeine withdrawal revealed
Scientists have been studying brain electrical activity and blood flow to examine what was taking place physiologically during acute caffeine abstinence, including the likely mechanism underlying the common "caffeine withdrawal headache"...
15 April 2009
Vaccine developed for E. coli diarrheal diseases
A researcher from Michigan State University has developed a working vaccine for a strain of E. coli that kills up to 3 million children each year in the developing world...
30 March 2009
Magnets used to clean up bloodstream
Sepsis, a potentially lethal disease caused by a systemic microbial infection that spreads via the bloodstream, is responsible for more than 200,000 deaths per year in the U.S. alone. Existing treatments can be ineffective but researchers have come up with a novel first line of defense - the use of magnetism to quickly remove pathogens from the blood...
16 March 2009
New antibiotics solve resistance problem
Researchers are developing a new generation of antibiotic compounds that work by disrupting bacterial communication, thus avoiding the problem of bacterial resistance. So far, the new compounds have been shown to work against two of the main food contaminant microbes that together cause 110,000 illnesses and 50 deaths in the US each year...
11 March 2009
Salt: nature's antidepressant
Most people consume far too much salt and an American researcher thinks we might crave it because it puts us in a better mood...
2 March 2009
Vege-based drugs inhibit melanoma
Tests on mice suggest that compounds extracted from green vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage could be used as potent weapons against melanoma. The Penn State College of Medicine cancer researchers behind the discovery say that when combined with selenium, the compounds target tumors more safely and effectively than conventional therapy...
18 February 2009
Scientists cast doubt on role of free radicals in aging
For nearly half a century, the prevailing dogma as to why we get old has been tied to what is called oxidative stress, where free radicals and ions build up and damage cells. But new research is calling the entire oxidative stress theory into question. In fact, the latest experimental results show that some organisms actually live longer when their ability to clean themselves of this toxic molecule buildup is partially disabled...
13 February 2009
More evidence for herpes conferring anti-bacterial effect
A new study by scientists at the Trudeau Institute has confirmed intriguing findings from earlier research that showed that mice infected with certain forms of the herpes virus are resistant to infection with bacterial pathogens...
11 February 2009
Birth defects linked to obesity during pregnancy
Women who are obese during pregnancy are putting their child at risk of birth defects such as spina bifida, heart defects, cleft palate, brain defects and gastrointestinal defects, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association...
3 February 2009
New evidence linking marijuana use to brain abnormalities in adolescents
Young people who are heavy users of marijuana are more likely than non-users to have disrupted development in the areas of the brain that are involved in memory, attention, decision-making, language and executive functioning skills...
22 January 2009
Estimate of tobacco-linked cancer deaths doubled
The association between tobacco smoke and cancer deaths - excluding lung cancer - in men has been vastly underestimated, according to a new study. The new analysis links smoking to more than 70 percent of cancer deaths - an effective doubling of the previous estimate of 34 percent...
14 January 2009
Meta-review slams herbal remedies for menopausal women
Reviewing a variety of herbal treatments taken by women for menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes and night sweats, researchers have identified a pervasive lack of clinical evidence to support the use of such remedies...
15 December 2008
Study reveals profound effects of anesthetics on infants
Numbing drugs and anesthetics used on infants or pregnant women have profound and long-term negative effects - even after minimal exposure...
11 November 2008
MP3 headphones a potential heart stopper
Researchers have found that while MP3 players are safe to use around pacemakers and defibrillators, the headphones that are used with these personal stereos can make medical devices malfunction if they are brought into close proximity...
27 October 2008
Immune system overdrive responsible for cold symptoms
The first study to examine the entire human genome's response to the most common cold virus has confirmed, at the genomic level, that an overblown immune system response to the virus, and not the virus itself, causes the symptoms that we associate with the common cold...
13 October 2008
Molecular biologists begin deciphering stem cell differentiation
In important new work, molecular biologists have begun to map the enormously complex process by which DNA is repackaged during differentiation - when embryonic stem cells, jacks of all cellular trades, lose their anything-goes attitude and become masters of specialized functions...
29 September 2008
Anti-obesity drugs may be effective against HIV, flu
Viruses dramatically increase cellular metabolism, and existing anti-obesity drugs may represent a new way to block these metabolic changes and inhibit viral infection, say University of Rochester researchers...
1 September 2008
Safety of Ayurvedic medicines questioned
An analysis of traditional Indian medicines purchased via the Internet found that 20 percent of the products contained levels of lead, mercury and/or arsenic that exceeded acceptable standards...
8 August 2008
Testosterone Key In Disease Transmission
It's been known for some time that testosterone makes males more susceptible to disease, but new research indicates that high levels of testosterone in an individual can also spur the transmission of disease throughout a population...
4 August 2008
Drug Testing And Approvals Process Fatally Flawed, Says New Study
More drug catastrophes like the Vioxx disaster are inevitable, says a health expert who contends that the current system of FDA administered testing and approval in the United States is increasingly inadequate...
16 July 2008
Novel Antibody Tackles HIV's Achilles Heel
Abzymes (antibodies with enzymatic activity) that are derived from HIV non-progressors can attack the Achilles heel of the HIV virus in a very precise way, say Texan researchers, essentially neutralizing all of the diverse HIV forms in existence...
14 July 2008
Magnolia Compound Targets Cancer Switch
Emory University School of Medicine researchers say that a natural compound from magnolia blocks a pathway for cancer growth that was previously considered "undruggable"...
8 July 2008
Web Crawler Identifies Infectious Disease Outbreaks
Web-based electronic information sources such as discussion forums and news outlets can play an important role in early disease outbreak detection and support situational awareness by providing current, highly local information, say the developers of the new HealthMap project...
30 June 2008
Cancer Eradicating Treatment Goes To Human Trial
Scientists are about to embark on a human trial to test whether a new cancer treatment that involves the transfusion of specific white blood cells will be as effective at eradicating cancer in humans as it has proven to be in mice...
20 June 2008
Take Two Rads And Call Me In The Morning
Radiation in high enough doses is lethal and chronic exposure is linked to the development of cancer, but one maverick professor believes that short-term controlled exposure to low doses of radiation may significantly improve our health...
15 May 2008
Hunger's Longevity Effect Due To Altered Hormonal System
Comparing the effects of caloric restriction and exercise on longevity, new experiments have shown that while exercise does not extend lifespan, caloric restriction does by subtly changing the metabolic system...
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...
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Mental Health
Reproductive Health