By redesigning the shell of Ebola, Purdue University researchers have transformed the feared virus into a benevolent workhorse for gene therapy – and as one of the first gene bearers that can be inhaled rather than injected, it might prove valuable in the fight against lung disease.

While replacing the infection-causing genes inside an ordinarily harmful retrovirus with helpful genetic material is a relatively common research practice, David Sanders and his colleagues have gone a step beyond

Ebola shares a closer relationship with several bird viruses than was previously thought, bolstering the case for a common ancestor and hinting that birds might carry the deadly virus, a Purdue University research team reports.

David Sanders and his research group have discovered that the outer protein shell of Ebola has a biochemical structure similar to several retroviruses carried by birds. As scientists had known previously of genetic similarity among the viruses, this discovery makes a

A study of airflow in pipes may help solve a mystery concerning the ears of fast-swimming sharks. The results could also lead to new audio technologies, according to an engineer at Ohio State University.

Konrad Koeltzsch, a postdoctoral researcher in chemical engineering and the Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at Ohio State, and his colleagues investigated grooves in sharkskin called riblets.

Koeltzsch began to study sharkskin while he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Dresden Uni

A rare type of the disease found mainly in Bedouins may provide insight into anemia

A combined effort between scientists at Schneider Children’s Medical Center of Israel, Tel Aviv University, and the Weizmann Institute of Science has led to the discovery of a gene responsible for a type of anemia primarily found in a number of Bedouin families, called congenital dyserythropoietic anemia-1 (CDA-1). The findings, published in the December issue of The American Journal for Human Gen

Huge data sets examined interactively yet remotely

A surgeon in New York who wants the opinion quickly of a specialist in Los Angeles probably would send medical MRI [magnetic resonance imaging] files as e-mail attachments or make them accessible in Internet drop zones. Unfortunately for patients on operating tables, extremely large files may take a half-hour to transmit and require a very large computer ( perhaps not available ) to form images from the complicated data. Additionally,

Scientists from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins and Northwestern University have found a new target to squeeze off a tumor’s blood supply. Research published in the December 17 issue of Cancer Cell shows how a common cancer-causing gene controls the switch for tumor blood vessel growth known as angiogenesis.

Recent evidence has shown that this gene, called Id1, is important for angiogenesis, a factor in cancer progression because it provides a needed blood source to tumor cel