Monthly Archives: August 2007

Research investigators have identified molecular changes in multiple myeloma cells that activate an important biological pathway associated with cell growth and survival, thereby revealing potential new targets for drugs to treat this cancer. The researchers, led by a team from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, have shown that malignant cells in multiple myeloma frequently harbor mutations that activate what is called the NF-kappaB signaling pathway, which plays a key role in promoting cell growth and preventing programmed cell death. The results of this research appear in the August, 2007, issue of Cancer Cell. Continue reading →

Recent research has suggested that the immune system’s overreaction to certain “bird flu” strains such as H5N1 may be the key to their lethal effects. A new study may have scientists rethinking the idea. Continue reading →

A new study reports that a person is more likely to become obese if a close friend or family member has put on some pounds, even if the friend or relation lives many miles away. Continue reading →

A pair of large-scale genetic studies has revealed 2 genes that influence the risk of getting multiple sclerosis (MS). The findings could shed new light on what causes MS and point the way toward potential treatments. Continue reading →

Dr. Kenner C. Rice ? whose research has led to the development of compounds or medications that have the potential to treat or prevent drug addiction ? has been selected to receive the 2007 Smissman Award presented by the American Chemical Society (ACS). Dr. Rice, chief of the Chemical Biology Research Branch of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), will be recognized at the ACS national meeting in August. Continue reading →

Preparing vaccines and therapeutics that target a future mutant strain of H5N1 influenza virus sounds like science fiction, but it may be possible, according to a team of scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and a collaborator at Emory University School of Medicine. Success hinges on anticipating and predicting the crucial mutations that would help the virus spread easily from person to person. Continue reading →

Finding out whether that unusual sore in your mouth is cancerous should become a lot faster and easier in the years ahead. Scientists supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), part of the National Institutes of Health, have engineered the first fully automated, all-in-one test, or lab on a chip, that can be programmed to probe cells brushed from the mouth for a common sign of oral cancer. Continue reading →

By the time they reached adulthood, graduates of an intensive early childhood education program for poor children showed higher educational attainment, lower rates of serious crime and incarceration, and lower rates of depressive symptoms than did non-participants in the program, reported researchers in a study funded in part by the National Institutes of Health. Continue reading →

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced the launch of a new community education program, which broadens the Institute’s national stroke education campaign Know Stroke. Know the Signs. Act in Time. to promote stroke awareness among Hispanics in the United States. Continue reading →

Brain areas that control attention were thinnest in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/healthinformation/adhdmenu.cfm) who carried a particular version of a gene in a study by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
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