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. Prions are causing fatal and infectious diseases of the nervous system, such as the mad cow disease (BSE), scrapie in sheep or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. Scientists of Helmholtz Zentrum München and Technische Universität München, Germany, have now succeeded in elucidating another disease mechanism of prion diseases: The prion-infected cell changes its gene expression and produces increased quantities of cholesterol. Prions need this for their propagation. http://www.physorg.com/news177760967.html Chemistry Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:03:51 EST news177760967 NYU Langone Medical Center scientists and their collaborators at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., have discovered an unexpected cause for the fatal seizures seen in mice with viral meningitis, an infection of the central nervous system, according to a study published in the journal Nature. The finding may lead to a new way of thinking about how the human immune system responds to viral diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news149180532.html Medicine & Health Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:02:12 EST news149180532 People who manage to control HIV on their own are providing scientists with valuable information about how the immune system eliminates virus-infected cells. A new study, published in the December 4th issue of Immunity, a Cell Press publication, identifies specific characteristics of the immune cells that successfully destroy HIV-infected cells and may drive strategies for developing the next generation of HIV vaccines and therapies. http://www.physorg.com/news147616847.html Medicine & Health Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:40:47 EST news147616847 Some people may be naturally resistant to infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The results of a study conducted by Dr. Nicole Bernard of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) bring us closer to a genetic explanation. Her study findings were published on July 16 in the journal AIDS. http://www.physorg.com/news135433274.html Medicine & Health Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:21:14 EST news135433274