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Tag: "lungs" at biology news

New MRI technique shows emphysema in asymptomatic smokers

...chers found that, in general, the airspaces in the lungs enlarge with age. However, smoking compounds the problem. Dr. Fain and colleagues showed in a related study that these changes occur at a much slower rate in nonsmokers than in active smokers. "On average, active smoking accelerates emphysema-like c...

Outsmarting the smartie bug

...ing meningitis and infections of the sinuses, ear, lungs and blood. Why it switches to become invasive is not known. The team sequenced all genes required to make all 90 forms of the capsule (more than 1,800,000 letters of genetic code), determined their function and studied their evolution. The work giv...

Flu not the only germ threat this time of year

...handles all around you, and maybe in your nose and lungs too. Some of the viruses are also wafting through the air you breathe, looking to land in your eyes or nose and set up house inside your body. And those are just the respiratory germs ?never mind Strep in the throat and ears, or Norwalk viral agents ...

Forsyth scientists gain greater understanding of how embryos differentiate left from right

...s that affect the heart, the digestive system, the lungs and the brain. Building on our earlier research, we are gaining a significant understanding of asymmetry and getting closer to understanding its impact on humans. This fascinating ion pump has additional roles during development that are a goldmine o...

Scientists discover basic defect in cystic fibrosis airway glands

... produce thick, sticky mucus that builds up in the lungs and blocks the airways. This makes it easy for bacteria to grow and leads to repeated serious lung infections. The thick, sticky mucus can also block tubes in the pancreas, preventing digestive enzymes from reaching the small intestine. The disord...

Minor mutations in avian flu virus increase chances of human infection

...ic for the ?2-6 linkage on epithelial cells of the lungs and upper respiratory tract. Such interactions allow the virus membrane to fuse with the membrane of the host cell so that viral genetic material can be transferred to the cell. The switch from ?2-3 to ?2-6 receptor specificity is a critical step i...

Manipulating single cell receptor alters animal behavior

...lar level. Daniels explains that the kidneys and lungs produce enzymes that eventually provoke production of angiotensin. It previously was known that angiotensin has robust behavioral effects on animals, causing them to drink water and consume salt. It was also known that angiotensin acts on the surfa...

Liquid ventilation

... by means of our lungs. In normal development, the lungs of the foetus are filled with amniotic liquid and,...n problem that premature babies have is that their lungs are not well formed. Moreover, they often lack surfactant, a compound formed by proteins and lipids ...

Liver cancer linked to cellular repair pathway

... implicated in cancers of the pancreas, esophagus, lungs and prostate. The work by the Duke and Johns Hopkins team now adds liver cancer to the growing body of evidence suggesting these cancerous tumors are generated by stem-like cells. Stem-like cells in the liver require the Hedgehog pathway for surviva...

Wisconsin scientists discover a master key to microbes' pathogenic lifestyles

...pathogen is just a breath away. Inhaled into the lungs of a mammal, spores from a class of six related so...erent organisms to adapt to a new environment: the lungs of animals. "It is a story of how organisms are challenged in a new environment," says Klein. "They...

Group proves it's possible to grow new lung alveoli by growing new blood vessels

...iny air sacs where gas exchange occurs between the lungs and blood vessels--in tiny rat lungs. The results...aries encircles the alveoli. Oxygen flows from the lungs through ultra-fine epithelial and endothelial tissues into the blood; carbon dioxide diffuses from t...

The nude mouse tale: Omega-3 fats save the life of a terminal cancer patient

...tle weight." The cancerous tumors found in D.H.'s lungs have shrunk to 10 percent of what they were in 2000, according to last year's computed tomography (CT) scans. What worked with DH is not a common medical treatment such as chemotherapy or surgical excision. It was a nutritional intervention, drasti...

Cells from amniotic fluid used to tissue-engineer a new trachea

...DH), or a hole in the diaphragm that separates the lungs from the visceral organs. If the hole is large en...rgans can end up in the chest cavity, crowding the lungs and stunting their growth. Using mesenchymal stem cells from amniotic fluid, Fauza's team engineered...

Pillows - a hot bed of fungal spores

...ices. Invasive Aspergillosis occurs mainly in the lungs and sinuses, although it can spread to other organ...gnificance to people with allergic diseases of the lungs and damaged immune systems - especially those being sent home from hospital." Professor Ashley Wood...

Researchers discover why melanoma is so malignant

...roughout their body, spreading everywhere from the lungs to the spleen. This strongly supported the suspicion that melanoma is so metastatic in part due to properties intrinsic to melanocytes themselves, and not simply because it is external and thus uniquely exposed to environmental stresses. For the ...

New factor implicated in allergy and asthma attacks

...ll culture and, in experiments with mice, in their lungs and airway lining fluid. The resulting oxidative s...se that prevent or inhibit oxidative stress in the lungs induced by this enzyme. Past studies report contradictory results concerning the effectiveness of a...

Smoking damages key regulatory enzyme in the lung

...owler said. So reduced levels of MAO A in smokers' lungs may be a significant factor contributing to some o...n blood pressure and pulmonary function. Smokers' lungs also held onto the tracer chemical much longer than nonsmokers, and the delivery of tracer into the ...

Anthrax stops body from fighting back, study shows

...f the inhaled anthrax bacteria had spread from the lungs into the bloodstream, which is unusual, Southwick said. This led researchers to believe anthrax may be impairing the cells' ability to move and fight off the offending bacteria, an idea that hadonly been studied once before years earlier. Using blo...

Gene therapy reverses genetic mutation responsible for heart failure in muscular dystrophy

...s of heart failure such as liver problems, swollen lungs and a severe buildup of fluid in the chest and peritoneal cavities. Perhaps even more impressive was the improvement in endurance and lifespan of the treated versus the untreated hamsters. The AAV-8-treated hamsters were able to run the same distanc...

New antibody shows promise as cure for anthrax

...siding in typical reservoirs for the bacteria, the lungs and spleen. Iverson cautions it's not yet clear that this antibody treatment is as effective as the IgG antibody produced by Elusys, and that he and his collaborators are doing more studies to confirm that. The researchers also plan to conduct addi...

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