Cures

Finding Cures For Tropical Diseases: Is Open Source An Answer?

There's aparadigm in life science and drug development : only "lucrative""markets" get exploited by R&D companies. In many occasions I'veseen very promising drugs candidates or related research get cannedbecause no money was to be made with it, even if millions would havebeen saved worldwide. The usual strategy to avoid this fate is to finda drug candid...

Gene Therapy Cures Inherited Liver Disease In Rats

A single dose of gene-virus combination cured rats of a inherited liver disease in which lack of a gene causes the accumulation of bilirubin –which, untreated, results in jaundice and brain damage, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in a report in the Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences. "This is the first time this disease (Crigler-Najjar syndrome) has been complete...

Promising new West Nile therapy cures disease in mice

West Nile virus alarmed Americans when it made its first U.S. appearance in New York City in 1999. It has since spread from coast to coast, sickened more than 16,000 Americans and killed more than 600. As the virus spread, medical investigators hastened research to develop an effective vaccine or therapy. None currently exist, but a newly published paper by researchers at Washington University in...

Gene therapy cures inherited liver disease in rats

A single dose of gene-virus combination cured rats of a inherited liver disease in which lack of a gene causes the accumulation of bilirubin –which, untreated, results in jaundice and brain damage, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in a report in the Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences. "This is the first time this disease (Crigler-Najjar syndrome) has been complet...

Searching the depths of the straits of Florida for disease cures

On Monday, the Harbor Branch drug discovery group will begin a 2-week expedition to explore the Straits of Florida in search of organisms that produce chemicals with the potential to cure diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's. The work will include the first submersible exploration of the remote Cay Sal Bank, which encompasses a number of small, uninhabited islands 30 miles north of Cuba. Cay S...

From one cell, many possible cures

A single cell with the potential to repair damaged heart muscle tissue . . . regenerate injured bone . . . create new cartilage or skin . . . even reverse nerve damage. Human stem cells offer tremendous hope for the development of revolutionary medical treatments for these and a variety of other human health problems. Up until now, however, stem cell research has been slowed by ethical con...

Sea urchin genome suprisingly similar to man and may hold key to cures

Sea urchins are small and spiny, they have no eyes and they eat kelp and algae. Still, the sea creature’s genome is remarkably similar to humans?and may hold the key to preventing and curing several human diseases, according to a University of Central Florida researcher and several colleagues. UCF Professor Cristina Calestani was part of the Sea Urchin Genome Sequencing Group, which recent...

Radiation therapy combo cures prostate cancer long-term

Seventy-four percent of men treated with a combination of radiation seed implants and external beam radiation therapy for prostate cancer are cured of their disease 15 years following their treatment, according to a study released today in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of ASTRO. This study was conducted by the physicians at the Seattl...