$2 million grant aids study of lung cancer in people who never smoked

DALLAS July 21, 2009 Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center are among an elite group of cancer scientists to share a $2 million grant to find biomarkers for lung cancer that develops in people who have never smoked. The National Cancer Institute's Early Detection Research Network (EDRN...

Nonstick and laser-safe gold aids laser trapping of biomolecules

Biophysicists long for an ideal materialsomething more structured and less sticky than a standard glass surfaceto anchor and position individual biomolecules. Gold is an alluring possibility, with its simple chemistry and the ease with which it can be patterned. Unfortunately, gold also tends to b...

Google Earth aids discovery of early African mammal fossils

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---A limestone countertop, a practiced eye and Google Earth all played roles in the discovery of a trove of fossils that may shed light on the origins of African wildlife. The circuitous and serendipitous story, featuring University of Michigan paleontologists Philip Gingerich, ...

A diet rich in calcium aids weight loss

Qubec City, March 12, 2009 Boosting calcium consumption spurs weight loss, according to a study published in the most recent issue of the British Journal of Nutrition , but only in people whose diets are calcium deficient. Angelo Tremblay and his team at Universit Laval's Faculty of Medicine ...

Evolutionary biologist will study HIV with grant from AIDS research foundation

AUSTIN, TexasDr. Sara Sawyer will use a $120,000 grant from the Foundation for AIDS Research (amFAR) to study how the HIV virus and the cells it attacks have evolved together over time. The goal of her research is to discover new targets for drugs. When HIV infiltrates cells, the virus hijacks ...

Execretion analysis aids primate social studies

The arrival of molecular genetic analysis of both genes and hormones is providing scientists unexpected and unprecedented information about animals -- provided the researchers can find ways to get acceptable samples, said Duke University biology professor Susan Alberts. When researchers first g...

Mouse model developed at UT Southwestern mimics hyperglycemia, aids in diabetes research

DALLAS June 2, 2008 UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have genetically engineered a laboratory mouse in which pancreatic beta cells can regenerate after being induced to die. The new animal model's regenerative ability may provide future insights into improved treatments of diabetes, wh...

Compound has potential for new class of AIDS drugs

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Researchers have developed what they believe is the first new mechanism in nearly 20 years for inhibiting a common target used to treat all HIV patients, which could eventually lead to a new class of AIDS drugs. Researchers at the University of Michigan used computer models t...

Gene's 'selective signature' aids detection of natural selection in microbial evolution

Scientists at MIT have come up with a mathematical approach for analyzing a protein simultaneously in a set of ecologically distinct species to identify occurrences of natural selection in an organisms evolution. The new method determines the selective signature of a gene, that is, the pattern...

Computer-based tool aids research, helps thwart questionable publication practices

DALLAS Jan. 23, 2008 A new computer-based text-searching tool developed by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers automatically and quickly compares multiple documents in a database for similarities, providing a more efficient method to carry out literature searches, as well as offering sc...

Women with AIDS face cervical cancer threat

Lusaka, ZambiaAccording to a report issued last week by UNAIDS, access to antiretroviral therapy is beginning to reduce AIDS mortality worldwide. But Dr. Groesbeck Parham, gynecologic oncologist and Director of the Cervical Cancer Prevention Program at the Center for Infectious Disease Research i...

New class of drug offers hope to treatment-resistant AIDS patients

Athens, Ga. For the estimated millions of AIDS patients worldwide who are resistant or are developing resistance to currently available medicines, a discovery by a University of Georgia researcher may offer a new treatment option by targeting a previously elusive enzyme in the complex retrovirus ...

MIT aids creation of neural prosthetic devices

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--MIT researchers have developed a new algorithm to help create prosthetic devices that convert brain signals into action in patients who have been paralyzed or had limbs amputated. The technique, described in a paper published as the cover article in the October edition of the ...

UC Davis researchers exploring gene therapy to fight AIDS

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) The apparent success of a case in which German doctors cured a man of AIDS using a bone marrow transplant comes as no surprise to Gerhard Bauer, a UC Davis stem cell researcher. Bauer has been working for more than 10 years on a similar cure for AIDS based on replacing the de...

Why some primates, but not humans, can live with immunodeficiency viruses and not progress to AIDS

Key differences in immune system signaling and the production of specific immune regulatory molecules may explain why some primates are able to live with an immunodeficiency virus infection without progressing to AIDS-like illness, unlike other primate species, including rhesus macaques and humans...

Fine-tuning lasers to destroy blood-borne diseases like AIDS

Physicists in Arizona State University have designed a revolutionary laser technique which can destroy viruses and bacteria such as AIDS without damaging human cells and may also help reduce the spread of hospital infections such as MRSA. The research, published on Thursday November 1 in the ...

UMass Medical School researchers receive $8.5M grant award to fight AIDS

WORCESTER, Mass. As the HIV/AIDS epidemic continues around the globe laying claim to more than 25 million lives and infecting over 39 million, researchers continue to search for both a cure and improved treatments for those suffering with this disease. Now the leading cause of death worldwide amo...

HIVMA opposes The Gambia's unproven AIDS remedy

Leading HIV experts are alarmed that the government of The Gambia is encouraging citizens living with HIV to stop taking antiretroviral medications in order to try an unproven herbal remedy. The HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) calls on President Yahya Jammeh to cease his unproven claims that the t...

UCLA AIDS Institute researchers find a peptide that encourages HIV infection

UCLA AIDS Institute researchers have discovered that when a crucial portion of a peptide structure in monkeys that defends against viruses, bacteria and other foreign invaders is reversed, the peptide actually encourages infection with HIV. The findings, published in the April issue of AIDS Resea...

Cow protein aids in treatment of gastrointestinal disorder

Recent evidence suggests that therapy currently used to treat Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, a major cause of upper gastrointestinal disorders, is unsuccessful in around 25 percent of cases. A new study, published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, finds that adding a bovine p...

30+ AIDS vaccine clinical trials in 24 countries, research occurring on every continent

The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative's (IAVI) January 2007 Annual Issue of VAX, an editorially independent bulletin on AIDS vaccine research published by IAVI, reports that 13 new preventive AIDS vaccine trials were initiated in eight countries around the world in 2006. There are now more than...

Scientists unveil piece of HIV protein that may be key to AIDS vaccine development

In a finding that could have profound implications for AIDS vaccine design, researchers led by a team at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have generated an atomic-level picture of a key portion of an HIV surface prot...

Molecular 'marker' on stem cells aids research, perhaps therapies

A sugar molecule present on embryonic stem cells also has been found on the surface of a type of adult stem cell, a discovery that may help researchers isolate and purify adult stem cells for use in therapies aimed at bone healing, tendon repair and cartilage regeneration, researchers at UT Southwe...

To slow AIDS in Russia, treat HIV-positive addicts, Stanford study says

The key to combating AIDS in Russia may be to treat HIV-infected drug users. A new model estimating the spread of HIV in Russia suggests that treating injection drug users with antiretroviral medication will slow transmission of the virus among the general population. The study, which will ap...

Wild gorillas carriers of a SIV virus close to the AIDS virus

In 2005, 40.3 million people in the world, including 25.8 million in Sub-Saharan Africa, were living with HIV. The question of the origin of HIV-1, responsible for the AIDS pandemic, has been stimulating the scientific community for many years. Some months ago, the team of Martine Peeters, direct...

New HIV statistics indicate increasing toll of AIDS on African American community

The country's leading African-American lawmakers, civil rights leaders and medical experts today called on the federal government to adopt and implement a new blueprint to address the HIV/AIDS crisis in the African-American community. The plan is outlined in a new report, African-Americans, Health...

Study offers innovative profile of enzyme that aids tumor growth

"Using a combination of enzyme activity and metabolite profiling, we determined that this protein-whose function was previously unknown-serves as a key regulator of a lipid signaling network that contributes to cancer," said Benjamin F. Cravatt, a Scripps Research professor and a member of its Skag...

New study calculates millions of years saved in lives of AIDS patients

This year, the U.S. federal government will spend $21 billion for HIV/AIDS research, treatment, prevention, and related activities. Is this enormous expenditure paying off? A study published in the July 1 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online, indicates that it is--and m...

New licensing agreement to maximize AIDS drug development

Longtime collaborators CONRAD and the Biosyn Division of Cellegy Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced a non-exclusive licensing agreement to research and develop Biosyn-patented microbicides for the prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. The three microbicides covered unde...

Viral 'fitness' explains different resistance patterns to aids drugs

Some HIV medications lead to the development of drug-resistant HIV when patients take as few as two percent of their medications. For other medications, resistance occurs only when patients take most of their pills. These differences appear to be explained by the different levels of viral "fitness"...

Polymer aids in blood clotting, pointing way to new treatment

A serendipitous comparison prompted by an old scientific image and involving an ancient but understudied molecule may lead to a new treatment strategy for injuries or illnesses in which blood clotting is paramount to survival. In a paper to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy ...

Study shows AIDS drugs cost-effective, care underfunded

New research shows that highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is very cost-effective, despite the high price tag. However, the study also shows that reimbursement to physicians treating patients with HIV is critically low, threatening patients' access to care. The study findings are reported...

Infant transplant patients resist infections that kill adult AIDS patients

Investigators have discovered that some type of protective system goes into action in some cases when a baby's immune system is deficient. This discovery indicates a hidden safety net that might have far-reaching consequences for treating diseases of the immune system such as AIDS. The Mayo Clinic-...

2005 AIDS figures released by WHO and UNAIDS

Editor : Be sure to check out the complete report on the HIV situation worldwide , available in several languages. There is new evidence that adult HIV infection rates have decreased in certain countries and that changes in behaviour to prevent infection—such as increased use of condoms, delay ...

A new step towards an AIDS vaccine

Progressive disease after HIV infection is inversely correlated with the presence of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs), a subset of the dendritic cell family and the major producers of type 1 interferon in the body. High numbers of pDCs is related to successful control of HIV. In a paper appear...

Study uncovers placental microtransfusions lead to transmission of AIDS virus during childbirth

Transmission of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, from pregnant women to their infants sometime during childbirth is a huge international problem, studies have shown. Between 25 percent and 35 percent of babies born to untreated HIV-infected mothers become infected themselves. That's a half millio...

New classification of eukaryotes has implications for AIDS treatment, agriculture and beyond

New classification conveys important information about the biochemistry and metabolism of disease-causing organisms. The new classification recognizes 6 major clusters of organisms, rather than the 4 traditional Kingdoms. Here are three examples. 1) Pneumocystis, an opportunistic pathogen causin...

UF scientist finds unexpected link between cat and human AIDS viruses

Emerging relationships between the two viruses could one day lead to a vaccine for human A University of Florida researcher has discovered an unexpected link between the viruses that cause feline and human AIDS: Cats vaccinated with an experimental strain of the human AIDS virus appear to be at ...

FDA approves child-friendly AIDS medicine

A new website with a Global Information System will provide valuable information for assessing environmental hazards caused by Hurricane Katrina. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), one of the National Institutes of Health, created the website to provide the most up-to-...

President Bush's cut to AIDS prevention in Africa would be devastating

Twenty-eight years after intense selective logging stopped in the region now known as Uganda's Kibale National Park, the red-tailed guenon (Cercophithecus ascanius) is a primate still in decline. The logging practice, scientists report in a new study, changed the ecological balance for these monkey...