Tobacco in Biological News

Women more vulnerable to tobacco carcinogens, new results show

Women may be more vulnerable than men to the cancer-causing effects of smoking tobacco, according to new results reported this week at the European Multidisciplinary Conference in Thoracic Oncology (EMCTO), Lugano, Switzerland. Swiss researchers studied 683 lung cancer patients who were referr...

Novel bioreactor enhances interleukin-12 production in genetically modified tobacco plants

WORCESTER, Mass. Dec. 3, 2008 Interleukin-12 is a naturally occurring protein essential for the proper functioning of the human immune system. Having either too much or too little interleukin-12 may play a role in the development of many diseases, including some cancers and auto-immune disorders...

Infection blocks lung's protective response against tobacco smoke

An infection that often goes undetected can block the lung's natural protective response against tobacco smoke, according to researchers at National Jewish Health. The findings, recently published online and scheduled to appear in the October issue of Infection and Immunity, suggest one mechanis...

UT researchers find link between advertising and increased tobacco use among India's youth

HOUSTON (May 2, 2008)As the westernization of India accelerates, tobacco advertising and marketing have been linked to increased tobacco use by urban Indian children as young as 11, according to a study by researchers at The University of Texas School of Public Health. The study, Associations ...

Does the desire to consume alcohol and tobacco come from our genetic makeup?

Austin, TX Alcohol and smoking can be harmful, if not deadly. While the desire for these substances can be due to environmental cues, genomic factors also play an important role. The etiology of these desires is multifactorial and a result of complex interactions with the environment. Adoption an...

Scientists discover how cigarette smoke causes cancer: Study points to new treatments, safer tobacco

Everyone has known for decades that that smoking can kill, but until now no one really understood how cigarette smoke causes healthy lung cells to become cancerous. In a new research report published in the March 2008 print issue of The FASEB Journal ( http://www.fasebj.org ), researchers from the...

Re-analysis of cigarettes confirms tobacco companies increased addictive nicotine 11 percent

A reanalysis of nicotine yield from major brand name cigarettes sold in Massachusetts from 1997 to 2005 has confirmed that manufacturers have steadily increased the levels of this agent in cigarettes. This independent analysis, based on data submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Public Healt...

Global study shows all tobacco bad for the heart

A major Canadian-led global study has found all forms of tobacco exposure, whether that be smoking, chewing or inhaling second hand smoke, increase the risk of heart attack. The study by professors Salim Yusuf and Koon Teo of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University and ...

Human albumin from tobacco plants

Human serum albumin (HSA) is the intravenous protein most commonly used in the world for therapeutic ends. It is employed to stabilise blood volume and to avoid risk of a heart attack, its administration in operating theatres being almost a daily occurrence. It is used for haemorrhages, burns, surg...

Environmental tobacco smoke linked to behavior problems in children and pre-teens

A new Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study shows that exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, even at extremely low levels, is associated with behavior problems in children and pre-teens. While the study examined 5 to 11 year olds with asthma, the findings most likely could be ext...

Effective, safe anthrax vaccine can be grown in tobacco plants

Enough anthrax vaccine to inoculate everyone in the United States could be grown inexpensively and safely with only one acre of tobacco plants, a University of Central Florida molecular biologist has found. Mice immunized with a vaccine produced in UCF professor Henry Daniell's laboratory through...

Scientists turn tobacco against cancer

Scientists at Jefferson Medical College are using tobacco plants to produce monoclonal antibodies -- tiny guided protein missiles -- that can target and hunt down cancer cells. The plants promise to provide a cheaper, faster method of producing anticancer antibodies, raising hopes that the technolo...

Any exposure to tobacco smoke during pregnancy is risky

A re-examination of data from earlier studies suggests that exposure to second-hand smoke during pregnancy can be just as detrimental to a developing fetus as primary exposure through maternal smoking, according to a recent paper from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. ...

Growing evidence of marijuana smoke's potential dangers

...ess that question by comparing marijuana smoke vs. tobacco smoke in terms of toxicity to cells and to DNA. Sc...ed significantly more damage to cells and DNA than tobacco smoke, the researchers note. However, tobacco smoke caused chromosome damage while marijuana did...

Race/ethnicity, family income and education associated with sugar consumption

...rol Module (CCM) is included to obtain information pertinent to cancer researchers. The 2005 CCM consisted of questions about diet, physical activity, tobacco use, sun exposure, cancer screening, genetic testing and family history of cancer. A limited number of questions about diet were included to allow cha...

Test detects molecular marker of aging in humans

...y correlated both with chronological age and with certain behaviors such as tobacco use and physical inactivity, which are known to accelerate the aging proces...with age. In addition, increased levels were independently associated with tobacco use and physical inactivity as well as with biomarkers of human frailty. ...

American Chemical Society weekly presspac -- June 10, 2009

...hly journal. Rajinder Singh and colleagues note that toxic substances in tobacco smoke can damage DNA and increase the risk of lung and other cancers. Howev...re especially concerned about the toxicity of acetaldehyde, present in both tobacco and marijuana. However, it has been difficult to measure DNA damage from ac...

Skin color clue to nicotine dependence

...d Behavior . To investigate the factors linking tobacco use, nicotine exposure, and skin pigmentation, the...ct of nicotine that can be used as a biomarker for tobacco use. King and colleagues surmise that nicotine's half-life may, along with tobacco toxicants, be extended due to the accumulation in ...

Children's National experts present at Pediatric Academic Societies' Annual Meeting

...e and successful program that targets childhood obesity in the Latino community. Dana Best, MD , discusses additional findings for how second-hand tobacco smoke affects childrenspecifically a marked reduction of antioxidant levels. In the spring of 2009, Children's National Medical Center's Emergency D...

New diagnostic advance seen for head, throat cancer

...ers of the oral cavity and pharynx alone accounted for 35,310 new cases in the United States and 7,590 deaths. They have been linked to such things as tobacco use and alcohol consumption. "Serious head and throat cancer is pretty common, and mortality rates from it haven't improved much in 20 years, despi...

New mediator of smoking recruits

...elated interstitial lung diseases," appears in the May 2009 issue of The American Journal of Pathology . Nearly one billion people worldwide smoke tobacco products. Long-term exposure to compounds found in smoke can lead to both cardiovascular and lung disease. Although lung exposure to cigarette smoke...

Free online toolkit provides standard measures for genome and population studies

...tional attainment; anthropometrics, or measurements of the human body and its proportions such as height, weight and waist circumference; and alcohol, tobacco and other substances, with measures such as alcohol maximum drinks in 24 hours , and nicotine dependence. In addition to measures under each categ...

Smoke from cigarettes, cooking oil, wood, shift male cardiovascular system into overdrive

... NEW ORLEANS (April 17, 2009) Secondhand tobacco smoke and smoke from cooking oil and wood smoke af...cky. The study confirmed previous findings that tobacco smoke could possibly harm cardiovascular function....oil and wood smoke) men respond to environmental tobacco smoke with a greater increase in indexes of sympat...

Smoke from cigarettes, cooking oil, wood, shift male cardiovascular system into overdrive

... NEW ORLEANS (April 17, 2009) Secondhand tobacco smoke and smoke from cooking oil and wood smoke af...cky. The study confirmed previous findings that tobacco smoke could possibly harm cardiovascular function....oil and wood smoke) men respond to environmental tobacco smoke with a greater increase in indexes of sympat...

Researchers identify specific lung cancer susceptibility gene

...e the disease progresses." According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related disease and death. Although tobacco smoke is the primary environmental cause of the disease, science has shown there is also a strong genetic component to the disease. "This study re...

Annual Michael & Susan Dell lectureship in child health

...ild Health program (CATCH). CATCH is a Texas Education Agency-approved program designed to promote physical activity, healthy food choices and prevent tobacco use in elementary school children. The CATCH program, which began as a successful research study, is currently being implemented in 97 Travis County e...

2009 AIBS Media Award

... since joining the magazine in 1989. During that time, Carey has written articles on everything from sequencing the human genome and global warming to tobacco regulation and election technology. His stories have won journalism awards from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the De...

Changes in gene may stunt lung development in children

... know SOD3 protects the lung against injury caused by chemicals in cigarette smoke, and it could be a link between childhood exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and poor lung development," said Dr. Leikaf. In the future it might be possible to identify at-risk children and to develop a medication that wo...

Scots and Irish at greater risk of drink-related death, study shows

...new policy, research and practical action to help address these differences." Alcohol is thought to cause as much death and disability worldwide as tobacco use or high blood pressure. In England alone, alcohol misuse is estimated to costs more than 20 billion a year. ...

Tobacco makes medicine

... tobacco isn't famous for its health benefits. But now scie...tists have succeeded in using genetically modified tobacco plants to produce medicines for several autoimmune...rsity of Verona, they set out to create transgenic tobacco plants that would produce biologically-active inte...

Novel electric signals in plants

...stitute for Chemical Ecology in Jena. The novel "system potential" was detected in five different plant species, among them agricultural crops like tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), maize (Zea mays), barley (Hordeum vulgare), and field bean (Vicia faba). ...

Chantix side effects no worse with depression history

...for clinicians to follow the FDA's advice of closely monitoring patients on this drug." Varenicline is the latest drug the FDA has approved to help tobacco users quit. It seems more effective than other cessation medications, McClure explained, but post-marketing surveillance and case reports have raised ...

1 drug may help people both lay down the drink and put out the cigarette

...or alcohol use disorders, and as a potential dual treatment for alcohol and tobacco use disorders," said Sherry McKee, associate professor of psychiatry at the...more likely to meet criteria for alcohol use disorders. Diseases related to tobacco use are the leading causes of death in alcoholics. "A medication such a...

Brupbacher prize to Nubia Munoz and Sir Richard Peto

...ad to sickness and mortality of extraordinary proportions. He estimates that in India in the year 2010, about 930,000 adults will die because of their tobacco consumption, 70% of them being between 30 and 69 years of age. Not least of all the work performed by Sir Richard Peto has resulted in an increasing n...

Cold Spring Harbor Protocols features stem cell differentiation, plant RNAi methods

...r the down-regulation of genes in plants. The most effective means of accomplishing this gene silencing is through the use of viral vectors, with the tobacco Rattle Virus (TRV) providing the most robust results. "Virus-Induced Gene Silencing as a Tool for Delivery of dsRNA into Plants" outlines a simple pr...

Human DNA repair process recorded in action

... Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Jan. 13. Human DNA is under constant assault from harmful agents such as ultraviolet sunlight, tobacco smoke and a myriad of chemicals, both natural and man-made. Because damage can lead to cancer, cell death and mutations, an army of proteins and enzym...

Nicotine activates more than just the brain's pleasure pathways

... was put on the mice's tongues. Looking ahead, Oliveira-Maia said that drugs thath block the nAChR receptors are now being used in the treatment of tobacco addiction, mainly because of their effects on the central nervous system, "but it is possible they could also modify the sensory effects of cigarette ...

DNA repair patterns may predict risk of pancreatic cancer

...780 people without cancer. DNA repair is the guardian of the genome. When DNA repair failed to fix the DNA damages caused by exogenous agents such as tobacco carcinogens or endogenous agents such as reactive oxygen species, there is an increased chance of getting cancer. Researchers found that the pre...

In lung cancer, silencing one crucial gene disrupts normal functioning of genome

...port finding a strong link between modification of the key gene, MTHFR, and tobacco use by lung cancer patients even if the patient had smoked for a short per...age," he said. "While there is evidence that the mutations induced by these tobacco carcinogens do play an important role in cancer development, our study reve...

Life Sciences Discovery Fund awards health research program grants

...tions comes from Washington's allocation of bonus payments under the Master tobacco Settlement, revenues arising from multi-state litigation with tobacco product manufacturers. This group of awardees is the fourth to be funded b...