August 2009 Archives

A team of French scientists have found the dose of DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) that is just right for preventing cardiovascular disease in healthy men. The new research is published in the September Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Journal.

Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley and Tel-Aviv University have devised a mathematical formula that can be used to protect genetic privacy while giving researchers access to raw data. The report is published in this month's issue of Nature Genetics.

Companies are increasingly offering genetic tests directly to consumers to assess their risk for illnesses such as breast cancer or diabetes. These tests have raised concerns over whether people will receive adequate counseling -- given that the tests are not administered by health care providers -- and whether consumers' genetic information will be kept private, among other issues. (Live audio webcast available)

Even as White House attempts to speed up production and distribution of an H1N1 flu vaccine Dr. Thomas Frieden the new head of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the vaccine won't be ready until mid-October.

A new study has found important mechanism used in setting up the communications network of connections in the brain. The results of the study could help adults suffering from brain injuries and possibly help early diagnosis and treatment schizophrenia, autism or other developmental disorders.

President Barack Obama made health care his top domestic priority at Senator Kennedy's urging. With the death of Senator Kennedy a blow has been dealt in the political battle which is now raging over health care reform.

The World Health Organization chief is urging governments to prepare for a likely second wave of H1N1 outbreak.

Telemedicine and e-Health, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. has published a feature article titled Twittering Telemedicine in the Medical Connectivity section of the latest issue. The article reports that Twitter is emerging as a potentially valuable means of real-time, on-the-go communication of health care information and medical alerts.

GeneRef began as Genomics: A Global Resource in 1997. Through the last 12 years it has been affiliated with the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), then the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and is now an independent site owned and operated by SpaceRef Interactive Inc. Keith Cowing one of the original founders of Genomics: A Global Resource is now the Editor-in-Chief of GeneRef.

The World Health Organization (WHO) today released guidelines for the use of antivirals in the management of patients infected with the H1N1 pandemic virus commonly known as Swine Flu. If states in part that healthy patients who don't have complications do not need to be treated with antivirals like Tamiflu.

Leading Canadian researchers, under the auspices of the Canadian Forest Health Genomics Initiative, and jointly supported by Canada's six regional genome centres, have authored a strategy paper describing the opportunities for and potential benefits arising from employing genomics research to better manage forest health. Genomics research and the enabling resources it creates can help address some of the major threats and challenges - including invasive and indigenous insect pests, invasive plants and climate change - now faced by the stewards of the country's forests and associated industries.

High Hopes for a New Kind of Gene

In a beautifully written article in the July 2009 issue of Smithsonian magazine writer Sylvia Pagan Westphal describes the research of Dr. Carlo Croce, head of Ohio State University's Human Cancer Genetics Program.

At Virginia Hospital Center, treating disease doesn't require a patient-or a room.

When Cathy Turner looked at the blood sugar readings she had just taken, she was shocked. It read over 400, four times the average fasting level. She told the woman, an employee of an Arlington Virginia business she was visiting, that the test results called for a trip to her doctor.

University College London (UCL) scientists announced today that new research shows that Microscopic magnetic particles can be used to bring stem cells to sites of cardiovascular injury. This is a new method designed to increase the capacity of cells to repair damaged tissue.

A single cell in a 1-millimeter nematode worm is providing valuable new clues into cancer's deadliest behavior -- its ability to put down roots in new tissues after spreading throughout the body.

Lawmakers reaped health lobby dollars, The News & Observer

Drug makers, insurance companies and health providers have chosen carefully in deciding where to put their campaign dollars in North Carolina. North Carolina's lawmakers in Washington have received millions of dollars from health-related companies in the past three campaigns, according to a new analysis by Democracy North Carolina, a government watchdog group.

Cost of Decoding a Genome Is Lowered, New York Times

A Stanford engineer has invented a new technology for decoding DNA and used it to decode his own genome for less than $50,000. he engineer, Stephen R. Quake, says the low cost "will democratize access to the fruits of the genome revolution" by enabling many labs and hospitals to decode whole human genomes.

A new report titled "Revitalizing Asia's Irrigation: To Sustainably Meet Tomorrow's Food Needs", was presented today at 2009 World Water Week in Stockholm by the International Water Management Institute and warns that without water reform Asia could face a food shortage by 2050.

In a new approach to an effective "electronic tongue" that mimics human taste, scientists in Illinois are reporting development of a small, inexpensive, lab-on-a-chip sensor that quickly and accurately identifies sweetness -- one of the five primary tastes. It can identify with 100 percent accuracy the full sweep of natural and artificial sweet substances, including 14 common sweeteners, using easy-to-read color markers.

In a paper title Genetic variation in IL28B predicts hepatitis C treatment-induced viral clearance published online in the Journal Nature researches report that they have identified a gene that predicts a response to treatment for Hepatitis C.

Biologist Phong Tran who is Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Associate has discovered a new mechanism in cell division which has implications for understanding aberrant chromosome's role in cancer according to the Penn Study.

Researchers from Norfolk State University, Purdue University and Cornell University have unveiled the tiniest laser called the Spaser. Applications including superfast computers, advanced sensors and imaging that are potentially 10 times more powerful that today's could be the result with this new innovation.