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Moffitt-USF head toward first human trials of anti-cancer drug that targets protein AKT

H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, working in partnership with the University of South Florida (USF), has discovered a new use for an old, previously discredited anti-cancer drug that could add another weapon in the arsenal against several cancers, including tumors of the breast, ovary, colon, skin and prostate. The compound, tricirbine, was tested at various cancer cen...

Researchers make headway in mystery of migraines

Scientists at the MUHC have made progress in understanding what causes migraines. The research, published in the new issue of the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), reveals how gene mutations known to cause a form of inherited migraine--the kind that cause debilitating headaches and light flashes known as auras--target a cellular process involved in brain cell communication....

How satellite tracking revealed the migratory mysteries of endangered Atlantic loggerhead turtles

Their journeys are among the longest in the animal kingdom and they have largely remained a mystery until now. An international team of scientists led by the University of Exeter have uncovered the migratory secrets of endangered loggerhead turtles in West Africa and the results could have huge implications for strategies to protect them. In a paper in the journal Current Biology, Dr Brend...

Compound from Chinese medicine shows promise in head and neck cancer

A compound derived from cottonseed could help improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy at treating head and neck cancer, researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have found. The findings, which appear in the July issue of the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, could lead to a treatment that provides an effective option to surgically removing the cancer, he...

When in danger humans are similar to a deer in the headlights

Standing still when a threat is detected is a defensive, protective reaction. This ancestral and automatic behavior allows the prey to stay unnoticed by a potential predator. A new study published in Psychophysiology finds that humans, like many other complex animals, freeze when encountering a threat. The mere picture of an injured or mutilated human induces this reaction. When viewing these unp...

Fossil find: 'Godzilla' crocodile had head of a dinosaur, fins like a fish

At the southern tip of South America , they found fossils of an entirely new specie...

New technique puts brain-imaging research on its head

It's a scene football fans will see over and over during the bowl and NFL playoff seasons: a player, often the quarterback, being slammed to the ground and hitting the back of his head on the landing. Sure, it hurts, but what happens to the inside of the skull? Researchers and doctors long have relied upon crude approximations made from test dummy crashes or mathematical models that infe...

Hooked on fishing, and we're heading for the bottom, says scientist

The world has passed "peak fish" and fishermen's nets will be hauling in ever diminishing loads unless there's political action to stem the global tide of over fishing, says a fisheries expert based at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Daniel Pauly says the crisis in the world's fisheries is less about scientific proof than about attitude and political will. And, he says, the world'...

Ahead of the game

The disappearance of Neanderthals is frequently attributed to competition from modern humans, whose greater intelligence has been widely supposed to make them more efficient as hunters. However, a new study forthcoming in the February issue of Current Anthropology argues that the hunting practices of Neanderthals and early modern humans were largely indistinguishable, a conclusion leading to a di...

Researchers use dirt to stay one step ahead of antibiotic resistance

Dirt may be a key to how bacteria that infect humans develop a resistance to antibiotic drugs. In an article in the January 20 issue of the journal Science, McMaster University researchers say that study of bacteria found in dirt may be the key in identifying how and why antibiotic resistance happens in bacteria that infect people, predicting future clinical problems, and testing new antib...

Ten years later, Dolly is still making headlines

The lead researcher for the team who - 10 years ago - created the cloned sheep "Dolly," will kick off the 2006 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists' (AAPS) National Biotechnology Conference in Boston, June 18-21. At the meeting, nearly two-thousand of the world's leading scientists will discuss a variety of critical issues affecting pharmaceutical biotechnology including Biogenerics...

Stormy days ahead for coral reefs

The increasing violence of storms under global climate change will have major effects on coral reefs ?and has important implications for their future management. A scientific team from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS) at James Cook University has produced the world's first engineering model to predict how much damage a reef is likely to suffer when confronted wi...

Planning ahead: Having the healthiest baby possible

Women who improve their own health before pregnancy have a better chance of delivering a robust, healthy baby. Three important measures include: Protecting one's health through supplements such as folic acid, vaccinations for Rubella, Hepa...

Good times ahead for dinosaur hunters, according to U of Penn scientist's dinosaur census

The golden age of dinosaur discovery is yet upon us, according to Peter Dodson at the University of Pennsylvania. In a forthcoming issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Dodson revises his groundbreaking 1990 census on the diversity of discoverable dinosaurs upward by 50%, offering a brighter outlook about the number of dinosaurs waiting to be found. His findings also add...

It's in your head: The brain's own globin defends you from shock and stroke

The next generation of treatments for shock or stroke could be based on a protein that is already in our heads ?neuroglobin. In a review article to be published in the November issue of The FASEB Journal, scientists from University of Rome describe this protein, which may be the key to unlocking new therapies to minimize brain damage and improve recoveries for patients. The Italian researc...