http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Researchers at National Jewish Health have discovered that a naturally occurring lipid in the lung can prevent RSV infection and inhibit spread of the virus after an infection is established. RSV is the major cause of hospitalization for children in the first two years of life, and is increasingly recognized as a dangerous pathogen in adults with chronic lung diseases, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals. Currently, there is no effective vaccine for the virus. http://www.physorg.com/news180633898.html Medicine & Health Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:40:01 EST news180633898 Scientists are adding additional brush strokes to the revolutionary new image now emerging for star-shaped cells called astrocytes in the brain and spinal cord. Their report, which suggests a key role for astrocytes in morphine's ability to relieve pain and cause addiction, appears online in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research. http://www.physorg.com/news179585968.html Chemistry Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:10:16 EST news179585968 (PhysOrg.com) -- Cell-culture studies looking into how compounds in cinnamon extract affect brain cells are being conducted by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists. The researchers have reported findings that the compounds studied prevented isolated brain cells from swelling, one of the many abnormal conditions resulting from traumatic brain injury and stroke due to impaired blood flow to the brain. http://www.physorg.com/news177098493.html Medicine & Health Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:20:07 EST news177098493 Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a key molecular player in guiding the formation of synapses - the all-important connections between nerve cells - in the brain. This discovery, based on experiments in cell culture and in mice, could advance scientists' understanding of how young children's brains develop as well as point to new approaches toward countering brain disorders in adults. http://www.physorg.com/news174223835.html Medicine & Health Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:33:06 EST news174223835 A team led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers has developed an innovative way to culture liver cells for drug toxicity screening. In a report to be published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that has been released online, the investigators describe how liver cells grown in a high-oxygen environment and in a culture medium free of animal-derived serum quickly begin to function as they do within the liver. http://www.physorg.com/news171127242.html Medicine & Health Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:10:04 EST news171127242 A small molecule earlier found to have both anti-fat and anti-cancer abilities works as a literal turnoff for fat-making genes, according to a new report in the August 28th issue of the journal Chemistry and Biology, a Cell Press journal. http://www.physorg.com/news170594640.html Chemistry Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:24:34 EST news170594640 For cancer drug developers, finding an agent that kills tumor cells is only part of the equation. The drug must also spare healthy cells, and - ideally - its effects will be reversible, to cut short any potentially dangerous side effects. http://www.physorg.com/news168774413.html Chemistry Thu, 06 Aug 2009 11:00:03 EST news168774413 (PhysOrg.com) -- Italian and U.S. biologists this week report that a little-understood protein previously implicated in a rare genetic disorder plays an unexpected and critical role in building and maintaining healthy cells. Even more surprising, their report in the journal Nature shows that the protein, called "atlastin," does its work by fusing intracellular membranes in a previously undocumented way. http://www.physorg.com/news168095363.html Chemistry Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:00:04 EST news168095363 A new vaginal cream containing a reawakened protein could someday prevent the transmission of HIV. http://www.physorg.com/news160129458.html Medicine & Health Tue, 28 Apr 2009 09:24:40 EST news160129458 Mutations that help HIV hide from the immune system undermine the virus's ability to replicate, show an international team of researchers in the April 13 issue of the Journal of Experimental Medicine. The study was published online on March 23. http://www.physorg.com/news158831276.html Medicine & Health Mon, 13 Apr 2009 08:48:22 EST news158831276 A particular nuclear hormone receptor called DAF-12 and molecules called microRNAs in the let-7 family form a molecular switch that encourages cells in the larvae of a model worm to shift to a more developed state, said a consortium led by researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears online today in the journal Science. http://www.physorg.com/news157901074.html Medicine & Health Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:25:08 EST news157901074 Engineers at Purdue and Stanford universities have created stretchable electrodes to study how cardiac muscle cells, neurons and other cells react to mechanical stresses from heart attacks, traumatic brain injuries and other diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news151852545.html Technology Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:16:29 EST news151852545 (PhysOrg.com) -- In work that could expand the frontiers of genetic engineering, MIT chemists have, for the first time, genetically altered a plant to produce entirely new compounds, some of which could be used as drugs against cancer and other diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news151593785.html Chemistry Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:23:49 EST news151593785 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have developed a new type of property-changing polymer: It is water-repellent at 37°C, which makes it an ideal culture substrate for biological cells. At room temperature it attracts water, allowing the cells to be detached easily from the substrate. http://www.physorg.com/news139500643.html Biology Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:10:43 EST news139500643