Research Focus

Cheap Treatment for Sleeping Sickness

Researchers are preparing for clinical trials of the first inexpensive oral treatment for Trypanosomiasis, the parasitic disease commonly known as sleeping sickness that is transmitted to humans by the tsetse fly. Sleeping sickness affects at least 30,000 people each year in central Africa but surveillance is difficult due to its rural distribution. Without treatment the disease is lethal,...

Chemical in Apple Peel Strengthens Muscle

An apple a day really does keep the doctor away according to a new study in mice. A constituent of apple peel called ursolic acid has been found to reduce muscle wasting, also known as muscle atrophy, and promote muscle growth. Muscle atrophy affects most people at some point during their lives, either through aging or during illness. Mice that received ursolic acid in their diet had larger...

CJD Research Potential for Alzheimer’s

Researchers working on treatments for the brain disorder Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) may have found a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists discovered that two antibodies, which have been investigated for their potential in treating CJD, may also impact Alzheimer's disease. The antibodies, ICSM 18 and 35, have been found to block the accumulation of the protein 'amyloid...

Enzyme Reduces Cancer Spread

Researchers have identified a protein trigger for tumor inflammation. Chronic inflammation is known to help tumors to grow and spread. By inhibiting this particular protein, scientists were able to decrease tumor growth and stop cancer progression in mice. The presence of cancer cells in the body often stimulates an immune response. This response can be beneficial but it often results in the...

Gene Repair Treats Hemophilia

About one in 30,000 boys are born with a defective gene that causes hemophilia B. Their blood does not clot, leaving them vulnerable to excessive bleeding. Currently treatment requires patients to have regular transfusions of blood clotting factors. Scientists have corrected a similar defective gene in mice, raising the possibility of new therapies that can target and repair this and other...

Heart Repair Initiated in Mice

Human hearts cannot repair themselves after a heart attack damages heart muscle. However zebrafish hearts can, and the human heart itself is capable of significant growth early in life, so scientists are seeking ways of stimulating human cells to repair the damage to heart muscle caused by heart attacks. Scientists have recently found that adult mouse hearts contain stem cells in the...

New Mouse Model for Hepatitis C

The hepatitis C virus infects in the region of 170 million people around the world and creates an increased risk of cirrhosis, liver failure and cancer. Because the hepatitis C virus only infects humans and chimpanzees it has been difficult to develop vaccines and other treatments. Now scientists have introduced two human genes into mice which make the mice cells produce 'entry factors' that...

Protein Linked to Cancer

Research in mice has shown how over expression (over production) of a small protein allows cancer cells to divide. Normally, when a cell's DNA is damaged, the cell has mechanisms to recognize this damage and prevent the damaged cell from replicating further. One such mechanism is called the intra-S-phase checkpoint. In breast and other cancers there is often an over production of a protein...

Protein Suppression Stops Leukemia Growth in Mice

Leukemia causing stem cells have been eliminated in mice by suppressing two proteins. Cancer stem cells are thought to be responsible for relapses in leukemia. The findings could lead to new treatments to prevent this. Researchers bred GM mice that didn't producing two naturally occurring proteins, called Bmi1 and Hoxa9. The lack of these proteins stopped leukemia developing in the mice. The...

Reversing Rett Syndrome in Mice

New research using mouse models has shown that glial cells, which protect and support neurons in the brain, play a central role in preventing the severe symptoms of Rett Syndrome. Rett Syndrome is a debilitating autism spectrum disorder that occurs almost exclusively in girls and symptoms are visible by 18 months. Loss of speech, motor control and repetitive hand movements are characteristic...

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