against in Biological News

E-Noses: Testing their mettle against fly noses

Scientists from CSIRO's Food Futures Flagship have made a breakthrough in efforts to extend the sensory range of 'electronic noses' (e-noses) by developing a system for comparing their performance against the much-superior nose of the common house fly. "Although e-noses already have many uses s...

Test helps in fight against lung infections and for treating other life-threatening infections

Edmonton, Alberta A new test developed by Edmonton-based Innovotech™ Inc. will now allow doctors to more accurately identify the right antibiotics required to treat serious, chronic infections that are biofilm based. With more than 80 per cent of infections in the developed world caused by...

Early detection and quick response are key to defense against anthrax attack

NEW YORK (July 24, 2009) -- A large attack on a major metropolitan area with airborne anthrax could affect more than a million people, necessitating their treatment with powerful antibiotics. A new study finds that in order for a response to be effective, quick detection and treatment are essentia...

New discovery suggests trees evolved camouflage defense against long extinct predator

Many animal species such as snakes, insects and fish have evolved camouflage defences to deter attack from their predators. However research published in New Phytologist has discovered that trees in New Zealand have evolved a similar defence to protect themselves from extinct giant birds, provi...

'Invisibility cloak' could protect against earthquakes

LIVERPOOL, UK 20 July 2009: Research at the University of Liverpool has shown it is possible to develop an 'invisibility cloak' to protect buildings from earthquakes. The seismic waves produced by earthquakes include body waves which travel through the earth and surface waves which travel acr...

A 'heart healthy' diet and ongoing, moderate physical activity may protect against cognitive decline

Vienna, July 14, 2009 Eating a "heart healthy" diet and maintaining or increasing participation in moderate physical activity may help preserve our memory and thinking abilities as we age, according to new research reported today at the Alzheimer's Association 2009 International Conference on Alz...

UTSA infectious disease researchers advancing vaccine against Valley fever

San Antonio Medical mycologists in The South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases (STCEID) and the Department of Biology at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) have significantly advanced the fight against San Joaquin Valley Fever, a respiratory infection of humans, commonly ca...

Broecker: 'What we need are tougher measures against climate change'

U.S. researcher Wallace S. Broecker (Chicago, 1931), winner of the first edition of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards in the Climate Change category, published an article in Science back in 1975 with the title "Climate Change: Are We on the Brink of a Pronounced Global Warming?" ...

In the turf war against seaweed, coral reefs more resilient than expected

There's little doubt that coral reefs the world over face threats on many fronts: pollution, diseases, destructive fishing practices and warming oceans. But reefs appear to be more resistant to one potential menace seaweed than previously thought, according to new research by a team of marine sc...

DNA-Prokids: Genetic identification against traffic in human beings

This release is available in Spanish . DNA-Prokids ( http://www.dna-prokids.org ), an international project on human trafficking prevention and fight using genetic identification of victims and their relatives, was officially presented today, at the University of Granada (UGR) headquar...

Novel vaccine approach offers hope in fight against HIV

A research team may have broken the stubborn impasse that has frustrated the invention of an effective HIV vaccine, by using an approach that bypasses the usual path followed by vaccine developers. By using gene transfer technology that produces molecules that block infection, the scientists prote...

New technology shows promise against resistant staph infections

April 29, 2009 (BRONX, NY) Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have combined their revolutionary new drug-delivery system with a powerful antimicrobial agent to treat potentially deadly drug-resistant staph infections in mice. The study is published this month...

Re-awakening old genes to help in the fight against HIV

A new vaginal cream containing a reawakened protein could someday prevent the transmission of HIV. Scientists at the University of Central Florida in Orlando have revived a dormant gene found in humans and coaxed it to produce retrocyclin, a protein that resists HIV. Lead scientist Alexande...

Microparticle immune response modifier shows broad effects against recurrent or metastatic cancer

DENVER, CO and AUCKLAND, NZ (April 21, 2009) MIS416, a novel microparticle-based immune response modifier, demonstrated the ability to significantly reduce the number and size of metastatic tumors in preclinical mouse models of lung and breast cancers, Innate Therapeutics (formerly Virionyx Corpo...

truTV and Cox Offer Free Digital Fingerprinting to Help Prevent Crimes Against Children

"Digital Fingerprinting for Kids" event on April 18 at Pembroke Mall , Virginia Beach CHESAPEAKE, Va., April 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Turner Network Sales (TNS), the distribution, sales and marketing arm of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.), and truTV, are partnering with Cox Co...

Scientists identify key gene that protects against leukemia

Researchers have identified a gene that controls the rapid production and differentiation of the stem cells that produce all blood cell types -- a discovery that could eventually open the door to more streamlined treatments for leukemia and other blood cancers, in which blood cells proliferate out...

truTV and Cox Offer Free Digital Fingerprinting to Help Prevent Crimes Against Children

"Digital Fingerprinting for Kids" event on April 18 at Pembroke Mall , Virginia Beach CHESAPEAKE, Va., April 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Turner Network Sales (TNS), the distribution, sales and marketing arm of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.), and truTV, are partnering with Cox Co...

Lombardi research: Monoclonal antibodies primed to become potent immune weapons against cancer

Washington, DC - New research suggests that monoclonal antibody therapy of cancer can be improved to be much more powerful than it is today, says a researcher at Georgetown University Medical Center's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in the March 21 issue of the Lancet . "We believe that a...

'Seeing' stem cells helps in fight against peripheral arterial disease

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (March 10, 2009)Interventional radiologists are fitting together the puzzle pieces of how to use stem cells to create new or more blood vessels to treat peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in those individuals with extensively narrowed or clogged arteries. That puzzle may be closer...

Frog's immune system is key in fight against killer virus

Scientists from Queen Mary, University of London have discovered how changes to a frog's immune system may be the key to beating a viral infection which is devastating frog populations across the UK. Communities of common frogs (Rana temporaria) are being struck down by a foreign virus which i...

Scientists identify human monoclonal antibodies effective against bird and seasonal flu viruses

February 22, 2009--Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Dana-Farber), Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have reported the identification of human monoclonal antibodies (mAb) that neutralize an unprecedented range o...

Scientists identify human monoclonal antibodies effective against bird, seasonal flu viruses

February 22, 2009--Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Dana-Farber), Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have reported the identification of human monoclonal antibodies (mAb) that neutralize an unprecedented range o...

While focusing on heart disease, researchers discover new tactic against fatal muscular dystrophy

NEW YORK (Feb. 8, 2009) Based on a striking similarity between heart disease and Duchenne muscular dystrophy, researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have discovered that a new class of experimental drugs for heart failure may also help treat the fatal muscular disorder. At first gla...

Nanoemulsion potent against superbugs that kill cystic fibrosis patients

ANN ARBOR, Mich. University of Michigan scientists report highly encouraging evidence that a super-fine oil-and-water emulsion, already shown to kill many other microbes, may be able to quell the ravaging, often drug-resistant infections that cause nearly all cystic fibrosis deaths. Cystic fi...

Research model may one day 'inoculate' elderly against slip-related falls

BETHESDA, Md. (Feb 4, 2009) - Training people to avoid falls by repeatedly exposing them to unstable situations in the laboratory helped them to later maintain their balance on a slippery floor, according to new research from the Journal of Neurophysiology . The study furthered the understandi...

Structure of enzyme against chemical warfare agents determined

This release is available in German . The enzyme DFPase from the squid Loligo vulgaris , is able to rapidly and efficiently detoxify chemical warfare agents such as Sarin, which was used in the Tokyo subway attacks in 1995. A detailed understanding of the mechanism by which enzymes ca...

Implants mimic infection to rally immune system against tumors

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 22, 2009 -- Bioengineers at Harvard University have shown that small plastic disks impregnated with tumor-specific antigens and implanted under the skin can reprogram the mammalian immune system to attack tumors. The research -- which ridded 90 percent of mice of an aggre...

Researchers identify potential new weapon in battle against HIV infection

(Toronto, Ontario, Canada) January 12, 2009 -- Researchers have discovered a potentially important new resistance factor in the battle against HIV: blood types. An international team of researchers from Canadian Blood Services, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and Lund University in Swed...

Control of blood vessels a possible weapon against obesity

[PRESS RELEASE, 7 January 2009] Mice exposed to low temperatures develop more blood vessels in their adipose tissue and metabolise body fat more quickly, according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet. Scientists now hope to learn how to control blood vessel development in humans in order to ...

A protein that protects against Alzheimer's?

Research on the mechanisms involved in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, stroke, dementia, Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis, to name a few, has taken a step forward thanks to the work of biological sciences Ph.D. student Sonia Do Carmo, supervised by Professor ric Rassart of the Un...

International copper industry defines role in the fight against hospital infections

NEW YORK, NY (January 5, 2009) The copper industry is working together to answer one very important question: Can copper and copper alloys (brass and bronze) help curb the spread of bacteria that cause hospital infection? Results of laboratory testing and clinical trials indicate that they can. S...

Calcium and vitamin D may not be the only protection against bone loss

Chevy Chase, MDDiets that are high in protein and cereal grains produce an excess of acid in the body which may increase calcium excretion and weaken bones, according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism ( JCEM ). The s...

A novel target for therapeutics against Staph infection

Researchers at the Texas A&M Health Science Center Institute of Biosciences and Technology, and the University of Edinburgh have uncovered how a bacterial pathogen interacts with the blood coagulation protein fibrinogen to cause methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections, a fi...

Researchers recreate SARS virus, open door for potential defenses against future strains

CHAPEL HILL Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Vanderbilt University Medical Center have synthetically reconstructed the bat variant of the SARS coronavirus (CoV) that caused the SARS epidemic of 2003. The scientists say designing and synthesizing the virus is ...

In the war against diseases, nerve cells need their armor

In a new study, researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI), McGill University, and the Universit de Montral have discovered an essential mechanism for the maintenance of the normal structure of myelin, the protective covering that insulates and supports nerve cells (neurons). Up unti...

A new weapon in the fight against obesity and diabetes

This press release is available in French . A study appearing November 5 in the journal Cell Metabolism demonstrates that a synthetic new chemical entity protects against diet-induced obesity, improves glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity and enhances exercise endurance by enhancing ...

Severe gestational hypertension may protect against testicular cancer

PHILADELPHIA Women who experience severe gestational hypertension may give birth to boys at lower risk for testicular cancer, although the exact reasons why are still unclear, according to a paper published in the November 1, 2008, issue of Cancer Research , a journal of the American Association...

Gene against bacterial attack unravelled

Humans have an innate defence system against deadly bacteria. However, how the step from gene to anti-bacterial effect occurs in the body is not yet known. To date, B. Pseudomallei, a bacterium suitable for bioweapons, had managed to elude medics. It can remain hidden in the human body for many ...

Purple tomatoes: The richness of antioxidants against tumors

Researchers from the John Innes Centre in Norwich, Great Britain, in collaboration with other European centres participating to the FLORA project, have obtained genetically modified tomatoes rich in anthocyanins, a category of antioxidants belonging to the class of flavonoids. These tomatoes, adde...

Research identifies type of vaccine that holds promise in protecting against TB

ST. LOUIS -- Researchers are one step closer to finding a vaccine that better protects against tuberculosis. An investigational vaccine for TB tested at Saint Louis University appears likely to offer significantly better protection against the potentially fatal disease than the one in current use....