news 2013

Scientists have developed a device that can take a "biopsy" of a living cell, sampling minute volumes of its contents without killing it. Much research on molecular biology is carried out on populations of cells, giving an average result that ignores the fact that every cell is different. Techniques for studying single cells usually destroy them, making it impossible to look at changes over time.

AUSTIN, Texas — For the first time, researchers have demonstrated that resveratrol - which is abundantly available in red wine and also found in grapes, peanuts and berries - can ease some of the negative effects on the immune system caused by a diet high in fat. "In preclinical studies, resveratrol has been shown to be beneficial in slowing the aging process and inhibiting some of the deleterious effects linked to obesity," says Christopher Jolly, associate professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin.

Mutations in a gene causing mixed neurological and muscular disease in children have been found for the first time. Researchers at UCL and the University of Leeds have identified an entirely novel mechanism responsible for a childhood onset neuromuscular diseases with associated brain involvement. The research identified mutations of the gene MICU1 in a group of children affected by this previously undescribed condition, and provides the first evidence that a defective MICU1 gene can cause disease 'in man'.

17 Dec 2013 A study by Manchester scientists backs preventative surgery to improve survival for women who are at greater risk of getting ovarian cancer and suggests it appears helpful for women at risk of getting breast cancer because of genetic faults. Women who carry, a fault in one of two high-risk genes known as BRCA1 or BRCA2, have an increased risk of dying from breast and/or ovarian cancer.

HERSHEY, Pa. Measuring changes in certain proteins - called biomarkers - in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis may better predict the progression of the disease, according to scientists at Penn State College of Medicine. ALS is often referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurological disease in which the brain loses its ability to control movement as motor neurons degenerate.

Chemists at Umeå University have been able to trace narcotics substances and prescription drugs in measurements of wastewater from 33 Swedish sewage treatment plants. Cocaine, amphetamine, and methamphetamine, in measurable concentrations, were found in a total of half of the locations. When a person consumes a drug it is excreted through the digestive system, either unchanged or as metabolites through the body and ends up in the wastewater.

Liz Banks-Anderson (Media office) 8344 4362/ 0481 013 333 Robyn Riley Royal Women's Hospital  83435 2953/ 0419 255 118 In a world-first study, led by the University of Melbourne and the Royal Women's Hospital, researchers have found garlic does not significantly reduce vaginal candida (thrush). Led by University of Melbourne PhD candidate Cathy Watson also of the Royal Women's Hospital, This study is the first to investigate the effect of oral garlic on vaginal colonisation of candida and provides another link in the chain of investigation of complementary and alternative therapies.

Using a cell's own internal machinery, Yale researchers have produced proteins not found in nature that can cause cancer in mice, they report Dec. 16 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study not only sheds light on the way cancers may form, but also illustrates a new and efficient method to produce novel proteins that can be used for a variety of research, industrial, and medical purposes.

The full paper can be found here: http://eurheartj.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/12/15/eurheartj.eht539.full (external site, html) Doctors are encouraging people to take advantage of Christmas gatherings with relatives to discuss family medical histories to help tackle ill-health.

As many as one in four women prisoners in England and Wales self-harm every year, with women in prison four times more likely to self-harm than men. The findings come from the largest ever study of self-harm in prisons led by Dr Seena Fazel and Professor Keith Hawton from the University of Oxford. The researchers examined the prevalence of self-harm in all prisoners in England and Wales between 2004 and 2009 and the results are published in the medical journal The Lancet .

13 December 2013 Everyone has their own theory about how to best relieve the pain of a jellyfish sting, however a team of University of Sydney researchers has examined a host of often-used methods to determine which is the most effective. Their research, published in the Cochrane Library this week, has revealed that the best way to relieve the pain of a sting is not vinegar as commonly thought, but hot water immersion.

UAlberta researcher lends expertise to discovery of biomarker that can pinpoint risk more than a decade before diabetes sets in. Peter Light lent his expertise to an international research team that discovered a simple blood test could pinpoint patients at risk of developing diabetes. Medical researchers with the University of Alberta played an important role in a Massachusetts General Hospital-led discovery that a blood test could pinpoint those at risk of developing diabetes—more than 10 years before the onset of the disease.

University of Washington Posted under: Health and Medicine , News Releases , Research , Science , Technology Scientists have discovered a second code hiding within DNA. This second code contains information that changes how scientists read the instructions contained in DNA and interpret mutations to make sense of health and disease.

New gene-editing system enables large-scale studies of gene function. Since the completion of the Human Genome Project, which identified nearly 20,000 protein-coding genes, scientists have been trying to decipher the roles of those genes. A new approach developed at MIT, the Broad Institute, and the Whitehead Institute should speed up the process by allowing researchers to study the entire genome at once.

A research team from The University of Nottingham has helped uncover a second rare genetic mutation which strongly increases the risk of Alzheimer's disease in later life. In an international collaboration, the University's Translational Cell Sciences Human Genetics research group has pinpointed a rare coding variation in the Phospholipase D3 (PLD3) gene which is more common in people with late-onset Alzheimer's than non-sufferers.

Professor Jay Hinton: "These findings show that salmonella goes through a complex choreography of different stages while infecting different parts of our bodies” Scientists have used a new method to map the response of every salmonella gene to conditions in the human body, providing new insight into how the bacteria triggers infection.

Sleep, or the lack of it, seems to affect just about every aspect of human physiology. Yet, the molecular pathways through which sleep deprivation wreaks its detrimental effects on the body remain poorly understood. Although numerous studies have looked at the consequences of sleep deprivation on the brain, comparatively few have directly tested its effects on peripheral organs.

The G8 summit has announced today the launch of a £4 million research project about improving life with dementia. This new project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and National Institute for Health Research hopes to answer some key questions: How can people with dementia be supported to live well?  What affects their ability to do this and when should support be offered to help people live well with this challenging disease?

First, the number of chromosomes in a cell changes, then an avalanche of further mutations occur that transform the cell into a cancer cell, according to a well-known - but untested - theory. A research group at Lund University in Sweden has now shown that the theory is not correct and constitutes a dead end for research.

11 December 2013 It is well known that type 2 diabetes raises the risk of dementia. The reasons for this are less clear, but one explanation could be insulin resistance in the brain, according to Malin Wennström, a researcher at Lund University’s Molecular Memory Research Unit. She has received EUR 700,000 from the Swedish Research Council to investigate her theory.