Health and Medicine

Combining the tumor suppressing Rb2 gene with doses of gamma radiation speeds up the ability of tumor cells to die, according to a study by researchers at Temple University’s College of Science and Technology.

The results of the study, “pRb2/p130 promotes radiation-induced death in glioblastoma cell line HJC12 by p73 upregulation and Bcl-2 downregulation,” appear in the August 29 issue of Oncogene (Vol. 21, Issue 38).

In the study, which was started at Thomas Jefferson Universi

Angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels, is important in the healthy body for healing wounds and, in females, for the monthly reproductive cycle and during pregnancy. It is controlled in the body through the use of the body’s own angiogenesis inhibitors and stimulators. In certain diseases the body is unable to control blood vessel growth. In diseases such as cancer, diabetic blindness and psoriasis, excessive angiogenesis is occurring; and in diseases such as coronary artery disease and stroke

Early Detection of Alzheimer’s Could Lessen the Impact

Incidence of Alzheimer’s Disease is expected to increase as the population of elderly grows. Early diagnosis and treatment will be the key to lessening the disease’s worst effects, but, how to spot the disease before its symptoms become serious (and harm is already done) is a challenge for health professionals. A new study by psychologists Konstantine K. Zakzanis, Ph.D., and Mark Boulos, B.Sc., of the University of

Undergoing anaesthesia may be more like falling asleep than we once thought, according to new research from Imperial College London and Harvard Medical School, USA.

Researchers report today in the journal Nature Neuroscience how two of the most widely used anaesthetics, pentobarbital and propofol induce sleep by mimicking the natural process of falling into a deep sleep.

Using behavioural studies and molecular imaging techniques in rats, the team of basic scientists and clinicians

In a powerful demonstration of how animal research can help humans, a pair of scientific teams is reporting the discovery of defects in a deafness gene in mice that led to the identification of similar genetic defects in people with hearing loss.

The findings, published in two new papers, may eventually lead to a screening test and therapy for families affected by one type of inherited hearing loss.

The discoveries also bring scientists closer to understanding the intricate choreo

Testing pregnant women for gestational diabetes at 16-weeks of pregnancy is a more efficient way to screen for the disease than the current method of screening women during their third trimester, said Gerard Nahum, M.D., an associate clinical professor at Duke University Medical Center’s department of obstetrics and gynecology.

The earlier tests, Nahum said, allow women at highest risk for gestational diabetes to be identified and treated earlier, possibly heading off complications in both