For more than 25 years, stem cells have been defined based on what they can become: more of themselves, as well as multiple different specialized cell types. But as genetic techniques have become increasingly powerful, many scientists have sought a more molecular definition of stem cells, based on the genes they express.
Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) breast cancer specialists are using a new way to treat patients by delivering a one-time dose of radiation during surgery. The procedure, called intraoperative radiation therapy, takes less than an hour and eliminates the need for further radiation treatments.
For the first time an important diagnostic test for cancer has been miniaturized and automated onto a microfluidic chip by a team of University of Alberta researchers in Edmonton, Canada.
A team from Sandia National Laboratories research team led the effort to computerize a new FDA program so that it will be distributed as widely as possible.The downloadable program, called “CARVER + Shock,” provides a series of interactive questions. The program helps companies of any size determine vulnerabilities along their food-processing chain.
Acute heart attacks can be successfully treated through a multidisciplinary team approach involving emergency medical services, emergency physicians, cardiologists and specialty centres, according to a study conducted by Dr. Jacobus S. de Villiers and colleagues in Calgary.
Scientists have found a novel signaling pathway in cells that is altered by genetic mutations recently identified in Parkinson disease development. These new findings show how the mutations affect cellular function and could provide a target for drug therapies to treat the disease.
University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine professor and researcher Alan Solomon, M.D., director of the Human Immunology and Cancer/Alzheimer?s Disease and Amyloid-Related Disorders Research Program, led a team that discovered a link between foie gras prepared from goose or duck liver and the type of amyloid found in rheumatoid arthritis or tuberculosis.
A new initiative from Columbia University Medical Center will be the first to target chronic oral health problems in sub-Saharan Africa, where the vast majority of chronic diseases are left undetected and untreated. The initiative is the result of an anonymous $1.5 million gift to support the Millennium Villages, which aims to fight extreme poverty and related challenges such as disease, hunger and lack of access to water and sanitation though scientifically sound and sustainable interventions. A third of the gift will be devoted to supporting the oral health program.
Fifteen top international specialists in this field will gather from 25-27 June for a conference entitled, ?Inflammation and Chronic Disease?, part of the ?Barcelona BioMed? conference series organised by the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) and the Fundaci?n BBVA.
A unique nanoparticle made in a laboratory at the University of Central Florida is proving promising as a drug delivery device for treating glaucoma, an eye disease that can cause blindness and affects millions of people worldwide.