Healthcare :: Diagnostic waiting times fall further – UK
Health Minister Andy Burnham today welcomed the progress that has been made in reducing diagnostic waiting times.
Step
Flu :: U.S. and Mexico Pledge Increased Cooperation in Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Along Border
The United States and M?xico today announced the signing of an agreement to boost cooperation on pandemic influenza preparedness among the six Mexican states and four U.S. states that share the international boundary.
DNA :: Scientists find new way to manipulate DNA
Polymers, large molecules comprised of chains of repeating structures, are used in everything from the coatings on walls of ships and pipes to reduce flow drag to gene therapy.
Listening to gunshots may save lives and wildlands
By analyzing sound, Montana State University electrical engineering professor Rob Maher’s research could lead to systems that detect snipers and provide environmental monitoring of wildlands.
Newly identified strains of Chlamydia trachomatis could produce new diseases
A new study led by a scientist at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) is the first to conclude that Chlamydia trachomatis is evolving at a rate faster than scientists first thought or imagined. Chlamydia trachomatis is a bacterium that is the leading cause of sexually transmitted diseases and the second leading cause of blindness worldwide.
Flu :: U of S Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization team discovers key step in flu virus replication
As public health officials around the world keep a nervous eye on the spread of avian influenza, the University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) has uncovered a key step in how the influenza virus causes infection.
Silver bullet – UGA researchers use laser, nanotechnology to rapidly detect viruses
Using nanotechnology, a team of University of Georgia researchers has developed a diagnostic test that can detect viruses as diverse as influenza, HIV and RSV in 60 seconds or less. In addition to saving time, the technique — which is detailed in the November issue of the journal Nano Letters — could save lives by rapidly detecting a naturally occurring disease outbreak or bioterrorism attack.
Imaging :: New imaging techniques pinpoint heart structure and function
An important first step in using new approaches to treating patients with heart failure – a condition that affects nearly 5 million Americans – requires scientific understanding of the relationship between the form of the heart and function, according to Bijoy K. Khandheria, M.D., FASE, FESC, FACC, chair of the Division of Cardiology at Mayo Clinic in Arizona.
Sticky proteins provide new insight into drug action
How drugs such as adrenalin do primarily one thing — in this case, increase the heart rate — now makes more sense to scientists.
Collagen :: Math model could aid study of collagen ailments for cures to osteoporosis and scurvy
An MIT researcher’s mathematical model explains for the first time the distinctive structure of collagen, a material key to healthy human bone, muscles and other tissues. The new model shows collagen’s structure from the atomic to the tissue scale. An improved understanding of nature’s most abundant protein could aid the search for cures to such ailments as osteoporosis and scurvy, all recognized as arising from diseased collagen.