GBP Health / Biotech News 06-14-2010:
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EurekAlert - Biology:
Public Release: 14-Jun-2010
ChemBioChem
Study shows adding UV light helps form 'Missing G' of RNA building blocks
For scientists attempting to understand how the building blocks of RNA originated on Earth, guanine has proven to be a particular challenge. By adding UV light to a model prebiotic reaction, researchers have discovered a route by which guanine could have been formed.
National Science Foundation, NASA, European Space Agency
Contact: Abby Vogel Robinson
abby@innovate.gatech.edu
404-385-3364
Georgia Institute of Technology Research News
Public Release: 13-Jun-2010
European Human Genetics Conference 2010
Should the results of individual genetic studies be disclosed to participants?
Individual results of genetic research studies should not be disclosed to participants without careful consideration. The view held by many ethicists that individual genetic research findings should always be reported to participants involved in genetic research studies was perhaps misguided and can lead to misunderstanding.
Contact: Mary Rice
mary@mrcommunication.org
European Society of Human Genetics
Public Release: 13-Jun-2010Nature Medicine
Mass. General researchers develop functional, transplantable rat liver grafts
A team led by researchers from the Center for Engineering in Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital has developed a technique that someday may allow growth of transplantable replacement livers. In their report to be published in Nature Medicine, the investigators describe using the structural tissue of rat livers as scaffolding for the growth of tissue regenerated from liver cells introduced through a novel reseeding process.National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Shriners Hospitals for Children
Contact: Sue McGreevey
smcgreevey@partners.org
617-724-2764
Massachusetts General Hospital
Public Release: 11-Jun-2010European Human Genetics Conference 2010
Sense of smell holds the key to diagnosis and treatment in early stage Parkinson's disease
A fast, simple and noninvasive test of the ability to smell may be an important tool to screen people who are likely to develop Parkinson's disease, in which motor symptoms only become evident at a later stage of the disease.
Contact: Mary Rice
mary@mrcommunication.org
European Society of Human Genetics
Public Release: 11-Jun-2010Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
OU researchers find way to prevent blindness in research model for retinitis pigmentosa
Researchers at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center have found a way to use a radical new type of gene therapy to prevent blindness caused by retinitis pigmentosa, giving hope to the estimated 100,000 Americans who suffer from this debilitating disease.NIH/National Eye Institute, Foundation Fighting Blindness
Contact: Diane Clay
diane-clay@ouhsc.edu
405-271-2323
University of Oklahoma
Public Release: 10-Jun-2010Cell
Researchers discover how mutations in presenilin gene cause early onset Alzheimer's disease
Researchers have discovered how mutations in the presenilin 1 gene cause early-onset Alzheimer's disease. The finding, reported online in the journal Cell, opens the door to developing novel treatments for this form of the mind-robbing disease and for the more common, late-onset form that develops later in life and affects millions of people worldwide.National Institutes of Health, Alzheimer's Association
Contact: Dorie Klissas
dorie.klissas@nyumc.org
212-404-3555
NYU Langone Medical Center / New York University School of Medicine
Source - Science Daily:
Please note : Due to the format restrictions of Science Daily articles, you must click on the URL (web address) below the article summary , rather than the article title.
Molecular Imaging Allows Individualized 'Dose Painting' for Head and Neck Cancers
June 14, 2010 — According to new research, a multi-tracer molecular imaging technique using positron emission tomography (PET) provides detailed information about the physiological processes of cancerous tumors -- ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100607142055.htm
Virus Infection May Trigger Unusual Immune Cells to Attack Nerves in Multiple Sclerosis
June 14, 2010 — A virus infection can incite the body to attack its own nerve tissue by activating disease-fighting cells with receptors for both virus and nerve proteins. The dual-receptor finding suggests how ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100611093613.htm
Tumor Virus Is Best Predictor of Throat Cancer Survival
June 14, 2010 — A new study shows that the presence of human papilloma virus (HPV) in tumors is the most important predictor of survival for people with throat cancer. The study is the first to demonstrate that HPV ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100607165730.htm
Molecular Imaging 'Probes' Pinpoint Prostate Cancer
June 14, 2010 — Molecular imaging has a powerful new weapon in the fight against prostate cancer. Research demonstrates how a novel peptide-targeted imaging agent could help clinicians detect a biological process ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100607142011.htm
Diabetic Potential to Create Own Insulin: Type 1 Diabetes Patients Attempt to Replenish Beta Cells
June 14, 2010 — Results of new research reveal that the insulin-producing beta cells can proliferate in patients recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and suggest that, in the future, an intervention might be ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100614102008.htm
Alzheimer’s Brain Protein May Provide Target for Treating Mental Retardation
June 13, 2010 — From the perspective of neuroscientists, Alzheimer's disease and Down syndrome have at least one thing in common: patients with both diseases have an accumulation of ²-amyloid protein in their ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100611223124.htm
Obstacles to Stem Cell Therapy Cleared
June 13, 2010 — Researchers in Sweden have come up with a new technique to prevent tumors developing in connection with stem cell ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100608211604.htm
Monoclonal Antibodies: Short-Term Therapy for Long-Term Treatment of Chronic Viral Infections?
June 12, 2010 — Monoclonal antibodies are the largest class of biotherapeutic drugs. When administered to infected organisms to blunt the propagation of pathogenic viruses, they may also induce a long-lasting and ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100611124651.htm
Helping Hearts, Spinal Cords and Tendons Heal Themselves
June 11, 2010 — A Canadian researcher is hoping that in about 10 years a tendon, spinal cord or heart valve will be able to regenerate itself after an injury or disease. The chemical engineer is currently trying to ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100608182651.htm
Diabetes May Double Cancer Risk in Women
June 10, 2010 — A new study finds that type 2 adult-onset diabetes has a surprisingly positive effect on reducing the rate of prostate cancer in men, but may double the risk of female genital and other cancers. The ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100610125631.htm
Source - Health Day:
Health Highlights: June 11, 2010
- Genetic Tests Must Be Approved By FDA
- Drug Companies to Share Alzheimer's Data
- Ikea Recalls Millions Of Window Blinds
- High Meat Diet Linked To Early Periods: Study
- Passport Gender Can Be Changed Without Surgery: U.S. Officials
FDA Panel Endorses 1st Oral Drug for Multiple Sclerosis
But concerns about side effects led experts to vote for post-market study of lower-dose pill
Source - Yahoo Biotech News:
Micromet's Blinatumomab Induces Durable Remissions in Patients with Relapsed Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma- PR Newswire - 2 hours, 29 minutes ago
Micromet, Inc. today announced the presentation of updated results from a Phase 1 trial of the Company's lead product candidate blinatumomab in patients with relapsed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma . A high objective response rate was maintained among patients treated with blinatumomab using an adapted schedule, comparable to that previously reported in patients receiving constant dosing. Blinatumomab is the first in a new class of agents called BiTE® antibodies, designed to harness the body's T cells to kill cancer cells.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Signs Agreements with ICON and PAREXEL to Support Greater Efficiencies in Clinical Development- Business Wire - 2 hours, 0 minutes ago
PRINCETON, N.J.----Bristol-Myers Squibb Company today announced that it has signed agreements with ICON and PAREXEL, two leading providers of clinical development services to the biopharmaceutical industry, for joint strategic, operational and capability support of the company’s clinical development program.
Human Genome Seeks FDA Approval- Zacks.com - Fri Jun 11
HGSI recently submitted a Biologics License Application to the FDA seeking marketing approval for its potential blockbuster lupus drug candidate, Benlysta.
Source - Google Health News:
OU researchers develop therapy to treat eye disease
Oklahoma Daily
A new type of gene therapy developed by OU Health Science Center researchers is giving hope to patients plagued by inherited eye diseases. ...
Gene Therapy for Retinitis Pigmentosa May Prevent Blindness
eMaxHealth
Scientists have discovered how to deliver gene therapy directly to the cells affected by this eye disease and thus prevent blindness. ...
Fighting an invisible killer
The Australian
New Australian animal studies suggest gene therapy may benefit people with forms of the disease. That's important as at present drug-based treatments are ...
Rare genetic patterns found to be associated with autism suggest gene therapy ...
New York Daily News
BY Rosemary Black The discovery of genetic variations associated with autism could allow autistic children to be diagnosed sooner and treated earlier. ...
Gene Therapy: Over 2024 Clinical Trials Completed Says New Market Report
PRLog.Org (press release)
Gene therapy can be broadly defined as the transfer of defined genetic material to specific target cells of a patient for the ultimate purpose of preventing ...
Source - Medical News Today :
Cancer Survivors Skipping Care Because Of Money Worries, US
A new nationwide study in the US found that worry about costs is preventing many cancer survivors from getting the medical care they need: the researchers said the study raises concerns about the long-term health and wellbeing of cancer survivors. You can read about the study, led by Dr Kathryn E Weaver, an assistant professor in the Division of Public Health Sciences at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in the 14 June online issue of Cancer, the journal of the American Cancer Society.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/191736.php
A New Therapy Paradigm For Prostate Cancer Founded On Clinical Observations
UroToday.com - In the February 15, 2010 issue of Clinical Cancer Research, Drs. Eleni Efstathiou and Christopher Logothetis present their paradigm regarding the prostate cancer (CaP) tumor microenvironment and how it contributes to CaP progression and response to therapy. They propose that the tumor microenvironment in CaP may account for the stage-dependent chemotherapy-response profile seen in CaP. They discuss how CaP progresses through a microenvironment-dependent state in which initially the prostate epithelial cells interact with the surrounding stromal tissue in a paracrine fashion but eventually advance to a microenvironment-independent or autocrine state. This may in part explain why earlier use of chemotherapy in CaP progression has not shown definitive benefit but there is response in later stages when the tumor is autocrine. Clinical observations support targeting the organ-specific microenvironment to alter disease outcome.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/191578.php
City of Hope researchers received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct the first-in-human study of a neural stem cell-based therapy targeting recurrent high-grade gliomas, the most aggressive type of brain tumor. Karen S. Aboody, M.D., associate professor in City of Hope's Department of Neurosciences, leads the research team that developed this treatment strategy. Jana Portnow, M.D., assistant professor and assistant director of the Brain Tumor Program at City of Hope, is the principal investigator for the clinical trial. An estimated 22,500 Americans are diagnosed with malignant primary brain tumors annually, and more than 12,900 die each year from the disease. While survival rates vary with the type of brain tumor, median survival for glioblastoma, the most common type of glioma in adults, is only about 15 months. These tumors are highly invasive and ultimately resistant to current methods of treatment such as surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. One significant obstacle to curing brain tumors is the presence of the blood-brain barrier which can prevent chemotherapy agents from entering into the brain and reaching effective concentrations at tumor sites.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/191367.php
Source - MIT's Technology Review :
How to Make an Artificial Cell
http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/25539/?a=f
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