Health and Medicine

HIV selectively inserts itself into active areas of a host cell’s genome, Salk Institute researchers have found for the first time. The fact that the virus hooks itself up to areas of the cell’s genome that are busy expressing themselves may help explain why HIV can replicate, or reproduce itself, so rapidly. The findings are being published as the cover article in the Friday, August 23, issue of the journal Cell.

“HIV seems to be targeting not just genes, but active genes,” said

A researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine is discovering how a gene known as E1A, found in a virus responsible for the common cold, renders tumor cells vulnerable to destruction.

“By explaining how E1A works, we hope to develop novel strategies to make human immunological defenses against tumors, as well as chemotherapy and radiation therapy, more effective in combating cancer,” said Dr. James Cook, chief of infectious diseases and a member of the UIC Cancer

Carbohydrate activates body’s defenses, causing inflammation

Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) have shown that certain types of naturally occurring carbohydrates in the body may cause rheumatoid arthritis, a debilitating, painful disease affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

Although there have been promising advances in treating the symptoms of arthritis, the exact causes of arthritic inflammation, swe

A new study by scientists at The Wistar Institute links the genes responsible for neurofibromatosis, a common neurological disorder, to a protein thought to play a role in Alzheimer’s disease.

In establishing a connection between the two diseases, the research opens new lines of thinking for investigators studying both diseases, while also providing basic biological insights into vital cellular processes. A report on the study was published electronically on August 20 in the Journal of

Daily consumption of whole grains has been associated in a number of studies with reductions in risk for ischemic stroke, coronary artery disease, and type 2 diabetes. The cereal fiber found in whole grains slows digestion, producing a greater feeling of fullness and helping to prevent obesity, a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes. In a long-term study of male health professionals published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Fung et al. found that men who ate several servings of whole

Milk is an essential source of minerals, vitamins, energy, and protein in children. The reasons young children avoid drinking cow milk include lactose intolerance or a parent’s lifestyle choice. A recent study published by Black et al. in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition compared New Zealand children who were long-term “milk avoiders” with children who habitually drank milk, by evaluating the daily calcium intake, bone mineral content, bone size, stature, and skeletal size of both grou