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Child Health :: U of M chosen as local lead for largest-ever National Children’s Health Study, US

The University of Minnesota has been awarded nearly $14 million dollars over five years to be a lead study center in the National Children’s Study to assess the effects of environmental and genetic factors on child and human health in the United States. The study center will manage local participant recruitment and data collection in the largest and most comprehensive study of child and human health ever conducted in the United States.

Generic Drug :: FDA to bolster generic drug program

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration outlined a program aimed at increasing the number and variety of generic drug products available to consumers and health care providers. Generic drugs generally cost less than their brand-name counterparts and competition among generics has been a key factor in lowering drug prices.

Cancer :: Cell skeleton may hold key to overcoming drug resistance in cancer

Researchers have uncovered a new way in which a cell protein protects cancer cellsfrom a wide range of chemotherapeutic drugs, identifying a possible target forimproving treatment outcomes for patients.

Malaria :: Malaria product portfolio would benefit from greater cohesion amongst stakeholders

Malaria drug and vaccine research is booming. According to a report launched today in the UK byAustralian researchers at the George Institute for International Health, 16 new malaria vaccinecandidates are now in clinical trials; six new malaria drugs are about to reach the market; and by2011 we will have up to 12 new antimalarial drug product registered.

Health :: Discovery offers hope of halting Amyotrophoic Lateral Sclerosis progression

Scientists have discovered a causal link between the gene for a small protein involved in the formation of blood vessels and the development of some forms of Amyotrophoic Lateral Sclerosis. Published in the journal Human Molecular Genetics, the findings could provide a basis for developing methods for halting the progression of some forms of the disease.

Stem Cell :: Human embryonic stem cells remain embryonic because of epigenetic factors

A human embryonic stem cell is reined in – prevented from giving up its unique characteristics of self-renewal and pluripotency – by the presence of a protein modification that stifles any genes that would prematurely instruct the cell to develop into heart or other specialized tissue.

Autism :: Simons Foundation awards Emory scientists $3M for autism gene research

The Simons Foundation has awarded scientists at Emory University School of Medicine a three-year grant of more than $3 million to uncover genes on the X chromosome that may contribute to the development of autism.

Vaccine :: UGA vet school receives $1.18 million NIH grant for rabies vaccine investigations

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health has awarded the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine a $1.18 million grant to develop rabies virus vaccines. This award is the continuation of a previous four-year $837,000 grant issued by NIAID in 2002 to initiate the study.

Cancer :: New telomere discovery could help explain why cancer cells never stop dividing

A group working at the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC) in collaboration with the University of Pavia has discovered that telomeres, the repeated DNA-protein complexes at the end of chromosomes that progressively shorten every time a cell divides, also contain RNA. This discovery, published online October 4 in Science Express, calls into question our understanding of how telomeres function, and may provide a new avenue of attack for stopping telomere renewal in cancer cells.

Cancer :: Brown researchers make major signal transduction discovery

The chemical process known as acetylation plays a central role in cytokine receptor signal transduction – a fundamental biochemical cascade inside cells that controls the activity of antiviral and tumor-suppressing genes.