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. While interferon gamma sounds like an outer space weapon, it's actually a hormone produced by our own bodies, and it holds great promise to repair bones affected by osteoporosis. In a new study published in the journal Stem Cells, researchers from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre explain that tweaking a certain group of multipotent stem cells (called mesenchymal stem cells) with interferon (IFN) gamma may promote bone growth. http://www.physorg.com/news155395155.html Medicine & Health Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:19:48 EST news155395155 A new comprehensive review by researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI), McGill University and the University of Cambridge, England provides vital insights into the neurological basis of addiction by investigating Parkinson's disease patients, who in some instances develop various addictions when undergoing medical treatment. The review, published in this week's (February 25) issue of the scientific journal Neuron, illustrates that persistently elevated levels of dopamine in the brain promote the development and maintenance of addictive behaviours. http://www.physorg.com/news154787820.html Medicine & Health Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:37:49 EST news154787820 (PhysOrg.com) -- McGill University chemistry professor Chao-Jun (C.J.) Li is known as one of the world leading pioneers in green chemistry, an entirely new approach to the science which eschews the use of toxic, petrochemical-based solvents in favour of basic substances like water and new ways of making molecules. http://www.physorg.com/news154708602.html Chemistry Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:38:32 EST news154708602 (PhysOrg.com) -- McGill University and Douglas Institute scientists have discovered that childhood trauma can actually alter your DNA and shape the way your genes work. This confirms in humans earlier findings in rats, that maternal care plays a significant role in influencing the genes that control our stress response. http://www.physorg.com/news154627743.html Medicine & Health Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:09:31 EST news154627743 For more than 40 years, the prevailing explanation of why we get old has been tied to what is called oxidative stress. This theory postulates that when molecules like free radicals, oxygen ions and peroxides build up in cells, they overwhelm the cells` ability to repair the damage they cause, and the cells age. http://www.physorg.com/news154117063.html Biology Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:18:36 EST news154117063 The development of cancerous tumours is highly dependent on the nutrients the tumours receive through the blood. The team of Dr. Janusz Rak, of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) at the Montreal Children's Hospital, including Dr. Khalid Al-Nedawi and Brian Meehan, has just discovered a new mechanism that tumours use to stimulate the growth of the blood vessels that feed them. http://www.physorg.com/news153575307.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:49:11 EST news153575307 Lack of sleep is a common complaint but for many, falling asleep involuntarily during the day poses a very real and dangerous problem. A new study from the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) at McGill University demonstrates interestingly, that sleep-wake states are regulated by two different types of nerve cells (neurons), melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) neurons and orexin (Orx) neurons, which occupy the same region of the brain but perform opposite functions. http://www.physorg.com/news152383053.html Medicine & Health Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:38:01 EST news152383053 Patients who are infected with the latent form of tuberculosis (TB) show no symptoms and are not contagious, yet they pose the biggest challenge when it comes to controlling the disease. The latest study by Dr. Dick Menzies of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) describes a new potential treatment for this particular form of TB. The paper based on this study was recently published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. http://www.physorg.com/news151854703.html Medicine & Health Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:56:47 EST news151854703 (PhysOrg.com) -- A McGill-led study has found that the perception of speech sounds is modified by stretching facial skin in different directions. Different patterns of skin stretch affect how subjects perceive different words. http://www.physorg.com/news151689168.html Medicine & Health Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:53:40 EST news151689168 Imagine being forced to say no to a child crying for more food at supper. Sadly, Margie Fischer doesn't have to imagine it; that was normal life at her family's dinner table for years. Her daughter Maggie, now 20, suffers from phenylketonuria (PKU), a genetic disease that means her body can't tolerate anything more than a low-protein diet. http://www.physorg.com/news151160672.html Medicine & Health Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:04:32 EST news151160672 Researchers at McGill University, the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI MUHC) and the McGill University and Génome Québec Innovation Centre, along with colleagues at other Canadian and Belgian institutions, have discovered DNA variations in a gene that increases susceptibility to developing Crohn's disease. Their study was published in the January issue of the journal Nature Genetics. http://www.physorg.com/news150646381.html Medicine & Health Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:13:01 EST news150646381 Recent animal studies have shown that clioquinol - an 80-year old drug once used to treat diarrhea and other gastrointestinal disorders - can reverse the progression of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases. Scientists, however, had a variety of theories to attempt to explain how a single compound could have such similar effects on three unrelated neurodegenerative disorders. http://www.physorg.com/news150483871.html Chemistry Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:04:31 EST news150483871