Activated Genes Suppress Cancer in Mice
May 23, 2012
A team of scientists has developed a promising new strategy for "reactivating" genes that cause cancer tumors to shrink and die.
What Baboons Can Teach Us about Social Status
May 23, 2012
A study by Univ. of Notre Dame biologist Beth Archie and colleagues from Princeton and Duke Universities finds that high-ranking male baboons recover more quickly from injuries and are less likely to become ill than other males.
Diabetes Drug Target Identified in Mice
May 23, 2012
Research from the Univ. of Cincinnati (UC) points to the naturally produced protein apolipoprotein A-IV (apoA-IV) as a potential target for a new diabetes therapeutic.
Surgical Removal of Abdominal Fat Reduces Skin Cancer in Mice
May 23, 2012
In animal studies Rutgers scientists have found that surgical removal of abdominal fat from mice fed a high-fat diet reduces the risk of ultraviolet-light induced skin cancer
Stress-resistant Cells in Mice Reduce Heart Damage after Chemo
May 23, 2012
Blocking a protein in the heart that is produced under stressful conditions could be a strategy to prevent cardiac damage that results from chemotherapy, a study suggests.
Abandoned Sleep Drug Inhibits Cancer in Mice
May 23, 2012
An inexpensive “orphan drug” used to treat sleep disorders appears to be a potent inhibitor of cancer cells, according to a study led by scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Somark Launches New TriCell Technology for the Labstamp System
May 22, 2012
Somark Innovations, Inc., a life sciences technology company focused on improving identification methods and processes for research animals, has announced the introduction of TriCell ink slide technology for its LabstampTM System at the 59th Annual Meeting of Japanese Association for Laboratory Animal Science (JALAS), taking place in Beppu in Ohita, Japan from May 24–26, 2012.
Quantum Dots Appear Safe in Study on Primates
May 22, 2012
A pioneering study to gauge the toxicity of quantum dots in primates has found the tiny crystals to be safe over a one-year period, a hopeful outcome for doctors and scientists seeking new ways to battle diseases like cancer through nanomedicine.
Rare Neurons Discovered in Monkey Brains
May 22, 2012
Henry Evrard, neuroanatomist at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, Germany, now discovered that the von Economo neuron (VEN) occurs also in the insula of macaque monkeys.
Colon Cancer Placed in Mice Leads to Personalized Treatment
May 22, 2012
The Stem Cells and Cancer Research Group headed by Dr. Héctor Palmer at the Vall d’Hebrón Institute of Oncology (VHIO) has identified the molecular mechanisms that determine patients’ response to certain drugs used in clinical trials for colon cancer treatment.
Rheumatoid Arthritis Target Found in Knockout Mice
May 22, 2012
A study led by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery identifies the mechanism by which a cell signaling pathway contributes to the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Arthritis Drug Effective Against Global Parasite in Animal Studies
May 22, 2012
A team of researchers from UCSF and UC San Diego has identified an approved arthritis drug that is effective against amoebas in lab and animal studies, suggesting it could offer a low-dose, low cost treatment for the amoebic infections that cause human dysentery throughout the world.
We Can Learn a Lot from Other Species
May 21, 2012
Researchers at the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics and the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute have confirmed the long-held belief that studying the genes we share with other animals is useful.
Songbirds' Learning Hub in Brain Offers Insight Into Motor Control
May 21, 2012
Scientists at UCSF have shown that a key brain structure acts as a learning hub, receiving information from other regions of the brain and figuring out how to use that information to improve its song, even when it’s not directly controlling the action.
Babies’ Susceptibility to Colds Linked to Immune Response at Birth
May 21, 2012
Innate differences in immunity can be detected at birth, according to new research at Washington Univ. School of Medicine in St. Louis. And babies with a better innate response to viruses have fewer respiratory illnesses in the first year of life.
Fasting Mice Overcome Harmful Effects of a High-fat Diet
May 21, 2012
Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have found that regular eating times and extending the daily fasting period may override the adverse health effects of a high-fat diet and prevent obesity, diabetes and liver disease in mice.
Zebrafish Help to Understand Psychiatric Disorders
May 21, 2012
Scientists at Queen Mary, Univ. of London have shown that zebrafish could be used to study the underlying causes of psychiatric disorders.
Algae Vaccine Blocks Malarial Transmission in Mice
May 21, 2012
Biologists at the Univ. of California, San Diego have succeeded in engineering algae to produce potential candidates for a vaccine that would prevent transmission of the parasite that causes malaria.
UK Retains Strict Animal Testing Regime
May 18, 2012
The UK says it will retain stricter animal testing standards than required by a new European Union Directive.
Unravelling How Tadpole Locomotion Starts
May 18, 2012
Scientists at the Univ. of Bristol have shed new light on one of the great unanswered questions of neuroscience: how the brain initiates rhythmic movements like walking, running and swimming.
Alzheimer’s Gene Causes Brain’s Blood Vessels to Leak, Die
May 18, 2012
A well-known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease triggers a cascade of signaling that ultimately results in leaky blood vessels in the brain, allowing toxic substances to pour into brain tissue in large amounts.
Microscope Looks into Cells of Living Fish
May 18, 2012
Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, and the American National Institutes of Health (NIH) have now developed a new method to visualize cell structures of an eighth of a micrometer in size in living fish larvae.
Zebrafish Gene Related to Autism, Schizophrenia and Obesity Isolated
May 18, 2012
What can a fish tell us about human brain development? Researchers at Duke Univ. Medical Center transplanted a set of human genes into a zebrafish and then used it to identify genes responsible for head size at birth.
Vegetable Substance Affects Implanted Breast Cancer
May 18, 2012
Apigenin, a natural substance found in grocery store produce aisles, shows promise as a non-toxic treatment for an aggressive form of human breast cancer, following a new study at the Univ. of Missouri. MU researchers found apigenin shrank a type of breast cancer tumor that is stimulated by progestin.
Mystery Gene Causes Anxiety in Mouse Strains
May 17, 2012
A novel mechanism for anxiety behaviors, including a previously unrecognized inhibitory brain signal, may inspire new strategies for treating psychiatric disorders, Univ. of Chicago researchers report.