NewScITech

Mice whose brains had atrophied like those of Alzheimer’s disease patients regained long-term memories and the ability to learn after living in an enriched environment, researchers at MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory report in the April 29 advance online edition of Nature. The same results also were achieved with a new experimental class of drugs. Read the rest of this entry »

The remains of an ancient HIV-like virus have been found in rabbits. Scientists at Oxford University discovered the unique lentivirus, part of a family of viruses closely related to HIV, ‘fossilised’ inside the genome of the European rabbit. The discovery, reported this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, promises to change how scientists think about the evolution of viruses including HIV. Read the rest of this entry »

Frog skin and human lungs hold secrets to developing new antibiotics, and a technique called solid-state NMR spectroscopy is a key to unlocking those secrets. Read the rest of this entry »

When it comes to lowering cholesterol levels, garlic stinks, according to a new study from the School of Medicine. Read the rest of this entry »

New drugs could be discovered much faster thanks to a screening process developed by scientists at the University of Oxford. The process is over 1500 times faster than current techniques. It works by searching a database of molecules for those with a similar shape to known drugs; as molecules with similar shapes are likely to have similar properties. The new method could bring huge benefits for the pharmaceutical industry and have many other uses including creating a new breed of Internet search engine. Read the rest of this entry »

A big problem facing Americans and Europeans is the dangerous rise in blood pressure with age, increasing their risk of heart disease and diabetes. Kuna Indians living off the Caribbean coast of Panama don’t have that problem. Norman Hollenberg, a professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School, is convinced that it’s because they drink more than five cups of cocoa a day. Read the rest of this entry »

Two enzymes in meningitis bacteria which prevent the body from successfully fighting off the disease, and make the infection extremely virulent, have been identified in new research published today. Read the rest of this entry »

Bacteria have two major enemies: antibiotic drugs and bacteriophage viruses, which infect and kill them. The two disparate threats may have something in common. New research from Rockefeller University has found that certain bacteria have gained a gene that protects them from both toxic drugs and infectious viruses at the same time. Because it helps the bacteria fight viral infection, the gene is beneficial even to those bacteria that have never been exposed to antibiotics, and as a result may be contributing to a faster-than-expected spread of antibiotic resistance. Read the rest of this entry »

Bioengineers and public health researchers have developed a novel spray-drying method for preserving and delivering the most common tuberculosis (TB) vaccine. The low-cost and scalable technique offers several potential advantages over conventional freezing procedures, such as greater stability at room temperature and use in needle-free delivery. The spray-drying process could one day provide a better approach for vaccination against TB and help prevent the related spread of HIV/AIDS in the developing world. Read the rest of this entry »

A clinical trial has for the first time proven that an antibody called J591 specifically targets an antigen found in high amounts on both prostate tumors and on blood vessels of all solid tumors, according to a study by medical researchers at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City. Read the rest of this entry »

The health of female prisoners who are drug users tends to improve during their time in prison, an Oxford University study has found. Read the rest of this entry »

Changing the way women are treated for breast cancer could improve their overall chance of survival, according to research published today in the Lancet. The new paper shows that switching to a drug called exemestane, two to three years after commencing standard therapy with the drug tamoxifen, can cut the risk of death for certain women by a further 17% compared with using tamoxifen alone. Read the rest of this entry »

MIT researchers have identified a critical defense mechanism that tumor cells employ to survive the toxic effects of chemotherapy–knowledge that could very soon lead to more effective cancer treatments. Read the rest of this entry »

As carbon-based life forms, humans and other animals, invariably, are treated for disease with the help of carbon-based medicines. Read the rest of this entry »

Many cancers arise due to defects in genes that normally suppress tumor growth. Now, for the first time, MIT researchers have shown that re-activating one of those genes in mice can cause tumors to shrink or disappear. Read the rest of this entry »