Springtime may be just what the doctor orders for individuals suffering from dry eye condition, a disorder resulting from insufficient tear production or altered tear film composition. According to a study published in Investigative Ophthalmology & …
While lab tests and imaging can sometimes help diagnose juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), a physical examination and thorough patient history are the most valuable tools in identifying this disease. According to a new literature review from the J…
A group of researchers led by scientists from the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech have developed a new technology that detects distinct genetic changes differentiating cancer patients from healthy individuals and could serve…
A systematic review of medical evidence has determined drug-eluting stents (DES) outperform bare metal stents (BMS) for revascularization of chronic total occlusions. Researchers found coated stents reduce restenosis and target revascularization, of…
Researchers at National Jewish Health and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have discovered a new method to fight bacterial infections associated with contact lenses. The method may also have applications for bacterial infe…
New Rochelle, NY, January 25, 2011 — Give caffeine to cells engineered to produce viruses used for gene therapy and the cells can generate 3- to 8-times more virus, according to a paper published in Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journ…
Rodents get a bad rap as vermin and pests because they seem to thrive everywhere. They have been one of the most common mammals in Africa for the past 50 million years.
From deserts to rainforests, rodents flourished in prehistoric Africa, m…
A new genetic biomarker that indicates an increased risk for developing breast cancer can be found in an individual’s “junk” (non-coding) DNA, according to a new study featuring work from researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) a…
New research shows that anti-microbial medications are a common cause of drug-induced liver injury (DILI) leading to acute liver failure (ALF), with women and minorities disproportionately affected. While ALF evolves slowly, once it does occur a spo…
Turning up the heat might be the best thing for athletes competing in cool weather, according to a new study by human physiology researchers at the University of Oregon.
Published in the October issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology, the pape…
Treating precancerous breast cells with chemopreventive agents like tamoxifen limits the development of breast cancer in genetically predisposed women, according to a new study. Precancerous breast cells may also provide an effective mechanism for screening new and current chemopreventive agents, the study found.
Texas researchers have developed a vaccine in mice against the deadly toxin Ricin, which has been used in the past as a biological weapon. Ricin is a protein produced by castor beans, making it one of the simplest and cheapest bioweapons to produce. Ricin can be administered in foods, water and through the air, and a single Ricin molecule inside a cell is enough to shut down protein synthesis and kill it. But researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas say that by removing snippets of the Ricin DNA, they were able to develop two strains of mutated Ricin that stimulate an immune response in mice, but cause no harm. The researchers say they believe one or both of the strains would be safe for use in humans. According to the UT team, Iraq is known to have stockpiles of Ricin as part of its bioweapons program, while at least one group associated with Al Qaeda is thought to have experimented with the toxin.