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. Research at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute into the mechanics of how two types of white blood cells grow and die is fundamentally changing the development of computer models that are used to predict how immune system cells respond to a pathogenic threat. http://www.physorg.com/news167390887.html Medicine & Health Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:50:01 EST news167390887 From the start of the HIV epidemic, it appeared that some of the people who were infected with the virus were able to ward off the fatal effects of the disease longer than others. Recent studies have begun to unravel the cause of this phenomenon, and new research suggests that African Americans with the disease have a unique survival advantage if they have both a low white blood cell count (known as leukopenia) and a genetic variation that is found mainly in persons of African ancestry. This study was prepublished online on July 20, 2009, in Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology. http://www.physorg.com/news167327532.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:30:01 EST news167327532 California and Arizona researchers have identified a gene variant that carries nearly twice the risk of developing an increasingly common type of blood cancer, according to a study published online today by the science journal Nature Genetics. http://www.physorg.com/news167314531.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:16:02 EST news167314531 (PhysOrg.com) -- Anthrax, long feared for its potential as a biological weapon, has lost some of its mystery. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, in collaboration with scientists at the University of Chicago, have determined the structure of a protein crucial to the virulence of anthrax bacteria. http://www.physorg.com/news166803334.html Chemistry Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:16:12 EST news166803334 The anti-inflammatory drug indomethacin could hold promise as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease, says a Saint Louis University doctor and researcher. http://www.physorg.com/news166290087.html Medicine & Health Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:00:01 EST news166290087 New research describes a molecular tool that shows great promise as a therapeutic for human acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a notoriously treatment-resistant blood cancer. The study, published by Cell Press in the July 2nd issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell, describes exciting preclinical studies in which a new therapeutic approach selectively attacks human cancer cells grown in the lab and in animal models of leukemia. http://www.physorg.com/news165756607.html Medicine & Health Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:30:25 EST news165756607 A human growth factor that stimulates blood stem cells to proliferate in the bone marrow reverses memory impairment in mice genetically altered to develop Alzheimer's disease, researchers at the University of South Florida and James A. Haley Hospital found. The granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (GCSF) significantly reduced levels of the brain-clogging protein beta amyloid deposited in excess in the brains of the Alzheimer's mice, increased the production of new neurons and promoted nerve cell connections. http://www.physorg.com/news165684042.html Medicine & Health Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:21:17 EST news165684042 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have discovered that babies born by planned Caesarean section experience changes to the DNA pool in their white blood cells, which could be connected to altered stress levels during this method of delivery. The findings, presented in the July issue of the scientific journal Acta Paediatrica, may be a part of an explanation for why babies born by Caesarean section have an increased risk of developing certain disease in later life. http://www.physorg.com/news165508836.html Medicine & Health Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:40:01 EST news165508836 (PhysOrg.com) -- It is now possible to engineer tiny containers the size of a virus to deliver drugs and other materials with almost 100 percent efficiency to targeted cells in the bloodstream. http://www.physorg.com/news165158410.html Nanotechnology Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:20:47 EST news165158410 New research which suggests a direct link between smoking and brain damage will be published in the July issue of the Journal of Neurochemistry. Researchers, led by Debapriya Ghosh and Dr Anirban Basu from the Indian National Brain Research Center (NBRC), have found that a compound in tobacco provokes white blood cells in the central nervous system to attack healthy cells, leading to severe neurological damage. http://www.physorg.com/news164973127.html Medicine & Health Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:52:31 EST news164973127 Despite great strides in treating childhood leukemia, a form of the disease called T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) poses special challenges because of the high risk of leukemic cells invading the brain and spinal cord of children who relapse. Now, a new study in the June 18, 2009, issue of the journal Nature by scientists at NYU School of Medicine reveals the molecular agents behind this devastating infiltration of the central nervous system. The finding may lead to new drugs that block these agents and thus lower the risk of relapse. http://www.physorg.com/news164464446.html Medicine & Health Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:10:05 EST news164464446 (PhysOrg.com) -- University of New Mexico Cancer Center researchers have identified a genetic mutation underlying one of the most common childhood cancers, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The discovery could lead to more effective treatments for a subset of ALL patients who experience minimal benefit with current therapies by using drugs that are already in clinical trials for similar blood diseases in adults. http://www.physorg.com/news163263827.html Medicine & Health Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:04:46 EST news163263827 Researchers at McGill University and the University of Pennsylvania have discovered that a widely used anti-diabetic drug can boost the immune system and increase the potency of vaccines and cancer treatments. Their findings will be published June 3 in the journal Nature. http://www.physorg.com/news163253883.html Medicine & Health Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:18:27 EST news163253883 When you were a kid your mom poured it on your scraped finger to stave off infection. When you got older you might have even used it to bleach your hair. Now there's another possible function for this over-the-counter colorless liquid: your body might be using hydrogen peroxide as an envoy that marshals troops of healing cells to wounded tissue. http://www.physorg.com/news163253821.html Medicine & Health Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:17:33 EST news163253821 (PhysOrg.com) -- Research from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine has found that a less toxic, solvent-free chemotherapy drug more effectively prevents the progression of metastatic breast cancer and has fewer side effects than a commonly used solvent-based drug. http://www.physorg.com/news162572989.html Medicine & Health Tue, 26 May 2009 16:10:27 EST news162572989 Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have found that an approved drug for treating rheumatoid arthritis reduces severe illness and death in mice exposed to the Influenza A virus. Their findings suggest that tempering the response of the body's immune system to influenza infection may alleviate some of the more severe symptoms and even reduce mortality from this virus. http://www.physorg.com/news162560620.html Medicine & Health Tue, 26 May 2009 12:44:08 EST news162560620 A main reason why viruses such as HIV or hepatitis C persist despite a vigorous initial immune response is exhaustion. The T cells, or white blood cells, fighting a chronic infection eventually wear out. http://www.physorg.com/news161454772.html Medicine & Health Wed, 13 May 2009 17:33:37 EST news161454772 A new phase III clinical trial of early stage breast cancer patients has shown that a molecule designed to home in on nearby lymph nodes is just as accurate as current techniques, but faster, more specific and easier to use. http://www.physorg.com/news160994755.html Medicine & Health Fri, 08 May 2009 09:47:03 EST news160994755 Chronic inflammation, which is at the root of multiple diseases, links periodontal disease to increased incidence of cardiovascular disease. http://www.physorg.com/news160752916.html Medicine & Health Tue, 05 May 2009 14:35:36 EST news160752916 How do white blood cells - immune system 'soldiers' - get to the site of infection or injury? To do so, they must crawl swiftly along the lining of the blood vessel - gripping it tightly to avoid being swept away in the blood flow - all the while searching for temporary 'road signs' made of special adhesion molecules that let them know where to cross the blood vessel barrier so they can get to the damaged tissue. http://www.physorg.com/news160649845.html Medicine & Health Mon, 04 May 2009 10:02:28 EST news160649845 Scientists believe they may have found a preventative therapy for Type 1 diabetes, by making the body's killer immune cells tolerate the insulin-producing cells they would normally attack and destroy, prior to disease onset. http://www.physorg.com/news160218116.html Medicine & Health Wed, 29 Apr 2009 10:02:16 EST news160218116 (AP) -- The nation's richest prize in medicine and biomedical research was awarded Friday to three immune system researchers for work that led to new treatments for rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes. http://www.physorg.com/news159796774.html Medicine & Health Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:00:04 EST news159796774 University of British Columbia researchers have discovered a "molecular key" that could help increase the success of blood stem cell transplants, a procedure currently used to treat diseases such as leukemia, Hodgkin's lymphoma and aplastic anemia. http://www.physorg.com/news159630432.html Medicine & Health Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:47:31 EST news159630432 Bioinformatics researchers from UC San Diego just moved closer to unlocking the mystery of how human cells switch from "proliferation mode" to "specialization mode." This computational biology work from the Jacobs School of Engineering's bioengineering department could lead to new ideas for curbing unwanted cell proliferation -including some cancers. This research, published in Nature Genetics, could also improve our understanding of how organs and other complex tissues develop. http://www.physorg.com/news159467954.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Apr 2009 17:39:38 EST news159467954 Scientists at the University of California, San Diego and the Moores UCSD Cancer Center have evidence of a potential new biomarker to predict the aggressiveness of an often difficult-to-treat form of leukemia. They found that high levels of a particular enzyme in the blood are an indicator that chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) - the most common form of adult leukemia - will be aggressive and in need of immediate treatment. http://www.physorg.com/news159374196.html Medicine & Health Sun, 19 Apr 2009 15:36:57 EST news159374196 (PhysOrg.com) -- In a finding that could change the way breast cancer is treated, researchers at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center have identified a new marker for breast cancer metastasis. http://www.physorg.com/news159121757.html Medicine & Health Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:29:58 EST news159121757 Docosahexanoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 fatty acid found in fish oils, has been shown to reduce the size of tumours and enhance the positive effects of the chemotherapy drug cisplatin, while limiting its harmful side effects. The rat experiments, described in BioMed Central's open access journal Cell Division, provide some support for the plethora of health benefits often ascribed to omega-3 acids. http://www.physorg.com/news157869567.html Medicine & Health Thu, 02 Apr 2009 05:40:43 EST news157869567 Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have deciphered a key sequence of events governing whether the stem cells that produce red and white blood cells remain anchored to the bone marrow, or migrate into the circulatory system. http://www.physorg.com/news157201946.html Biology Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:13:03 EST news157201946 When locked in mortal combat with infection, some mature white blood cells have a formidable weapon: they literally cast a DNA net -called a neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) -that captures and kills bacteria that invade the human body. But the ability to form this "death" NET is missing in the white blood cells of newborn infants, born either at term or prematurely, and that, in part, may explain why millions of newborns worldwide are at higher risk for a potentially deadly blood infection, University of Utah medical researchers have discovered. http://www.physorg.com/news156762861.html Medicine & Health Fri, 20 Mar 2009 10:15:17 EST news156762861 Scientists studying chronic myeloid leukemia, more commonly known as CML, are one step closer to decoding the `genetic signature` of stem cells in this disease. They`ve identified a marker in a tiny but powerful subset of leukemia cells that could enable scientists to halt cancer cell growth in CML, and perhaps in other forms of cancer. http://www.physorg.com/news155929069.html Medicine & Health Tue, 10 Mar 2009 18:38:35 EST news155929069