Scientists at the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center have scientifically validated for the first time that stem cells in umbilical cord blood can infiltrate damaged heart tissue and transform themselves into the kind of heart cells needed to halt further damage. Read the rest of this story »

In a recent finding that broadens our understanding of axon loss in neurodegenerative disorders, researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) have shown that a spontaneous dominant mutation has a protective effect on axons in an mouse model of Parkinson’s disease. Read the rest of this story »

Researchers at Yale have found that decreased activity in muscle mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cell, may be a major factor in the development of type 2 diabetes in young, lean offspring of parents with the disease. Read the rest of this story »

The European Commission has given Europe a huge boost in the field of Structural Genomics, awarding the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and its partners 10 Million Euro for an integrated project called “BIOXHIT.” Read the rest of this story »

Emerging new technology is allowing scientists to monitor the movements and behavior of marine life over the entire vast expanses of Earth’s oceans and thus improve conservation efforts. And that technology demands more expansive and cooperative ways of doing research as well as better ways to analyze the exploding amounts of information, Duke University investigators say. Read the rest of this story »

Marvin Gaye wailed in the ’60s hit “Heard it through the Grapevine,” that we’re supposed to believe just half of what we see. But a new collaborative study involving a biomedical engineer at Washington University in St. Louis shows that sometimes you can’t believe anything that you see. Read the rest of this story »

Researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the University of Rome “La Sapienza” have found a way to restore some of the “regenerative” ability of tissues, which happens naturally in animals at the embryonic stage of development, but is lost shortly after birth. The scientists’ work, published this week in PNAS, gives new insight into how stem cells can be mobilized across the body, and how they take on specialized functions in tissue. Read the rest of this story »

The discovery that cystic fibrosis (CF) patients have an imbalance of fatty acids in their tissues could help pave the way for a new treatment of this genetic disease that affects approximately 30,000 people nationwide. Read the rest of this story »

An antibody plucked from a “library” of human antibodies has powerfully blocked infection by the SARS virus in laboratory tests, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report. This discovery could expedite the development of an antibody drug for the prevention or early treatment of SARS, which killed nearly 800 people in a global outbreak last year. Read the rest of this story »

The Rutgers-based Protein Data Bank (PDB) has begun the year with a commitment of a record $30 million in federal support for the next five years. This computer library of molecular structures is one of the world’s most critical resources for solving the mysteries of human disease. Read the rest of this story »