Scientists have discovered that at the same time the immune system is vigorously attacking invading viruses or bacteria, it is unexpectedly reducing its production of a particular type of factor that directs the movement of immune cells.
Can a genetic signature identify the origin of a human stem cell line? Scientists report that a widely available method for comprehensive genetic analysis can help distinguish the type of human embryo that stem cells come from.
Ionizing radiation, toxic chemicals, and other agents continually damage the body’s DNA, threatening life and health: unrepaired DNA can lead to mutations, which in turn can lead to diseases like cancer. Intricate DNA repair mechanisms in the cells’ nuclei are constantly working to fix what’s broken, but whether the repair work happens “on the road” ? right where the damage occurs ? or “in the shop” ? at specific regions of the nucleus ? is an unanswered question.
Researchers at the University of York are using an understanding of the special cells that line the bladder to develop ways of restoring continence to patients with serious bladder conditions, including cancer.
In the American government?s biodefense efforts, the potential for terrorists to cause a deadly anthrax outbreak remains a significant concern, six years after the letter attacks that shook the nation shortly after 9/11.
Lupus is an autoimmune disease which produces antibodies causing injuries to the body?s cells and tissue. It makes the immune system go out of control and the organism attack healthy cells instead of the germs on them.
In the first study to directly compare men and women with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and severe emphysema, researchers have found that there are marked differences between the sexes.
Anorexia nervosa is a disorder with a grim reputation. Even experts say that anorexia is often devastatingly chronic and carries high mortality rates. However, these views are highly biased. A study recently conducted in Finland among young women uncovers a completely different side to anorexia.
Returning to the classroom after a three-month break signals that summer is drawing to a close. For children and teens, the end of summer also means an end to the long daylight hours that allows them to stay out later, as well as the long lazy mornings of ?sleeping in?.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator William R. Jacobs and colleagues have produced a genetically altered strain of tuberculosis (TB) that elicits a stronger immune response than the current vaccine, bacillus Calmette-Gu?rin (BCG).