New vaccine-design approach targets HIV and other fast-mutating viruses
A team led by scientists from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) has unveiled a new technique for vaccine design that could be particularly...
View ArticleInnate immune system can kill HIV when a viral gene is deactivated
Human cells have an intrinsic capacity to destroy HIV. However, the virus has evolved to contain a gene that blocks this ability. When this gene is removed from the virus, the innate human immune...
View ArticleGenome study reveals human-to-human spread of multidrug resistant...
Using DNA tracking of an outbreak among cystic fibrosis patients at a treatment centre in the UK, the scientists identified frequent patient-to-patient transmission despite stringent infection control...
View ArticleStudy redefines the 'optimal time for delivery'
(HealthDay)—The number of fetal deaths that could be avoided by delivery is greater than the number of neonatal deaths that would be anticipated by delivery around 37 to 38 weeks' gestation, according...
View ArticleThe risk of autism is not increased by 'too many vaccines too soon'
Although scientific evidence suggests that vaccines do not cause autism, approximately one-third of parents continue to express concern that they do; nearly 1 in 10 parents refuse or delay vaccinations...
View ArticleResearchers discover that errors in RNA splicing lead to a class of...
(Medical Xpress)—Researchers have found that missteps in a basic cellular process, RNA splicing, is the culprit behind a class of rare neurological disorders manifested by intellectual disability and...
View ArticleAir pollutants linked to higher risk of birth defects, researchers find
(Medical Xpress)—Breathing traffic pollution in early pregnancy is linked to a higher risk for certain serious birth defects, according to new research from the Stanford University School of Medicine.
View ArticleSmoking immediately upon waking may increase risk of lung and oral cancer
The sooner a person smokes a cigarette upon waking in the morning, the more likely he or she is to acquire lung or oral cancer, according to Penn State researchers.
View ArticleMonosaturated fats reduce metabolic syndrome risk
Canola oil and high-oleic canola oils can lower abdominal fat when used in place of other selected oil blends, according to a team of American and Canadian researchers. The researchers also found that...
View ArticleEpilepsy sends differentiated neurons on the run
(Medical Xpress)—The smooth operation of the brain requires a certain robustness to fluctuations in its home within the body. At the same time, its extraordinary power derives from an activity...
View ArticleHigher activity levels may protect children from stress
(HealthDay)—Children with lower levels of daytime physical activity (PA) have higher hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis (HPAA) activity in response to psychosocial stress, suggesting that PA...
View ArticleFringe therapy may help heart patients, study finds
A treatment that removes heavy metals from the body has long been touted as an alternative therapy to combat hardening arteries. Now a 10-year, $31 million clinical trial has found that chelation...
View ArticleEstrogen plus progestin use linked with increased breast cancer incidence and...
Estrogen plus progestin use is linked with increased breast cancer incidence. In addition, prognosis is similar for both users and nonusers of combined hormone therapy, suggesting that mortality from...
View ArticleBreakthrough in deafness and ovarian failure syndrome
(Medical Xpress)—Researchers from Manchester Biomedical Research Centre at Saint Mary's Hospital and the University of Manchester have identified a new gene, which increases our understanding of the...
View ArticleMobile app turns iPhone into a biologically inspired hearing aid
Researchers at the University of Essex have developed a free mobile app that turns an iPhone or iPod into a hearing aid that could revolutionise the future for people with hearing loss.
View ArticleThe visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation
(Medical Xpress)—It has long been held that in a new environment, visual adaptation should improve visual performance. However, evidence has contradicted this expectation: Adaptation sometimes not only...
View ArticleTwo in China first known deaths from H7N9 bird flu
Two Shanghai men have died from a lesser-known type of bird flu in the first known human deaths from the strain, and Chinese authorities said Sunday that it wasn't clear how they were infected, but...
View ArticleStudy finds immunity protein that ramps up inflammation, and agents that can...
Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have discovered a new biological pathway of innate immunity that ramps up inflammation and then identified agents that can block it,...
View ArticleResearchers discover new clues about how amyotrophic lateral sclerosis develops
Johns Hopkins scientists say they have evidence from animal studies that a type of central nervous system cell other than motor neurons plays a fundamental role in the development of amyotrophic...
View ArticleOne in five US teenage boys diagnosed ADHD, report says
Nearly one in five American teenage boys is diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, marking a dramatic rise in the past decade, the New York Times reported on Monday.
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