Research Highlights |
Featured
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Opinion |
Let parents decide
Twenty years on from the first pregnancies after preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Alan Handyside argues that informed prospective parents are largely good guides to the use of the thriving technology.
- Alan Handyside
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News |
Children who form no racial stereotypes found
Brain disorder eradicates ethnic but not gender bias.
- Janelle Weaver
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Review Article |
Genetics, pathogenesis and clinical interventions in type 1 diabetes
- Jeffrey A. Bluestone
- , Kevan Herold
- & George Eisenbarth
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Letter |
Chemoprevention of colorectal cancer by targeting APC-deficient cells for apoptosis
Cancer 'chemoprevention' uses substances to reverse, suppress or prevent the initial phase of carcinogenesis or the progression of neoplastic cells to cancer cells. Here it is shown that treatment with TRAIL proteins and all-trans-retinyl acetate can cause the death, in vitro and in vivo, of premalignant cells deficient in the adenomatous polyposis coli gene. Normal cells are unaffected. Selectively eliminating premalignant tumour cells in this way is thus an effective method for chemoprevention.
- Ling Zhang
- , Xiaoyang Ren
- & Xiangwei Wu
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Editorial |
Buyer beware
Lack of US regulation is allowing dubious dietary supplements to be sold as life-enhancing elixirs.
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News |
US health bill promises changes for biomedical researchers
Translational work set to receive a boost.
- Meredith Wadman
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Letter |
Evidence of RNAi in humans from systemically administered siRNA via targeted nanoparticles
It has previously been shown in mice and non-human primates that systemically delivered short RNA molecules can inhibit gene expression. Here it is shown that a short interfering RNA (siRNA) can be systemically delivered, using nanoparticles, to a solid tumour in humans. The siRNA mediates cleavage of its target mRNA, thereby also reducing levels of the encoded protein. This proof-of-principle study confirms the potential of this technology for treating human disease.
- Mark E. Davis
- , Jonathan E. Zuckerman
- & Antoni Ribas
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Editorial |
Handle with care
Britain's Department of Health must respond to concerns about electronic medical records.
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News & Views |
Closing in on an oral treatment
At present, only injectable drugs are available for treating multiple sclerosis. So clinical trials indicating that the drug fingolimod might be a step towards an oral treatment for the disease are exciting indeed.
- Roland Martin
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News |
Reproducibility of brainscan studies questioned
Some magnetic resonance imaging studies could be less reliable than has been presumed.
- Richard A. Lovett
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News |
Cash crisis looms for vaccine drive
Rising demand for immunization programmes in developing countries could outstrip funding.
- Declan Butler
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News |
A direct hit for thalidomide
The drug stunts limb development in zebrafish and chicks by binding to a protein called cereblon.
- Janet Fang
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Letter |
B-cell-derived lymphotoxin promotes castration-resistant prostate cancer
In a mouse model of prostate cancer it is shown that infiltrating B cells promote tumorigenesis by secreting lymphotoxin. Lymphotoxin accelerates the emergence of castration-resistant prostate tumours in this model. Interfering with this pathway may offer therapeutic strategies for androgen-independent prostate cancer.
- Massimo Ammirante
- , Jun-Li Luo
- & Michael Karin
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News |
Blame it on the B cells
Immune cells seem to spark recurrent prostate cancer in mice.
- Brian Vastag
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News |
Hiding place for HIV revealed
The AIDS virus escapes treatment inside progenitor blood cells.
- Janet Fang
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News |
Tough lessons from Dutch Q fever outbreak
Mass cull of goats questioned as researchers race to find strain behind human cases.
- Naomi Lubick
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Research Highlights |
Molecular imaging: Tumour glows out
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Opinion |
Globe still in grip of addiction
After five years, the World Health Organization's tobacco-control treaty is starting to have an effect, but we need to tackle the smoking epidemic in the developing world, say Jonathan M. Samet and Heather L. Wipfli.
- Jonathan M. Samet
- & Heather L. Wipfli
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News |
'Seek, test and treat' slows HIV
Studies in several nations show that treating people before they fall ill can curb the spread of disease.
- Erika Check Hayden
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Research Highlights |
Genetics: Two strikes
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Technology Feature |
Probe progress
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News |
Hopes grow over potential autism treatment
Oxytocin hormone shown to improve social interaction.
- Daniel Cressey
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News |
Medical isotope supplies dwindle
Nuclear-reactor shutdowns will cripple global isotope production next month.
- Paula Gould
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Brief Communications Arising |
Chronic DLL4 blockade induces vascular neoplasms
- Minhong Yan
- , Christopher A. Callahan
- & Greg D. Plowman
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Opinion |
AIDS research must link to local policy
HIV research in South Africa is world class. To halt the country's epidemic, scientists need to shift focus from global problems to priorities at home, say Salim Abdool Karim and Quarraisha Abdool Karim.
- Salim S. Abdool Karim
- & Quarraisha Abdool Karim
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News |
Changes proposed to key psychiatry manual
Controversial revision alters diagnostic definitions.
- Heidi Ledford
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News |
Untangling HIV transmission in men
Study could put scientists on the right path to blocking the spread of new infections.
- Erika Check Hayden
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Books & Arts |
The woman behind HeLa
Steve Silberman enjoys a moving account that probes racial and ethical issues in medicine through the story of the young mother whose death from cancer led to the first immortal cell line.
- Steve Silberman
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News & Views |
Big roles for small RNAs
Embryonic stem cells can create copies of themselves, but can also mature into almost any type of cell in the body. Tiny gene regulators called microRNAs are now shown to have a role in directing these properties.
- Frank J. Slack
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News |
Brain scan allows unconscious patient to communicate
Imaging technique pierces vegetative state.
- Heidi Ledford
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News |
Cot death victims make less serotonin
Mysterious infant deaths linked to chemical deficiency.
- Heidi Ledford
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News |
Ten billion dollars pledged for 'decade of vaccines'
Gates Foundation cash could save nearly nine million children.
- Heidi Ledford
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Editorial |
Learning to share
By opening up its database of potential malaria drugs, GlaxoSmithKline has blazed a path that other pharmaceutical companies should follow.
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Research Highlights |
Vascular biology: Hearty hormones
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News & Views |
50 & 100 years ago
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Research Highlights |
Regenerative biology: New nerve cells connect
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News & Views |
Stability in times of stress
Damaged lysosomes, the principal degradative organelles, can kill a cell. A stress-induced protein controls lysosome stability, providing a potential target to treat lysosome-related diseases and cancer.
- Ibolya Horváth
- & László Vígh
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News |
Aid fund faces cash crunch
Fight against tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS under threat from success.
- Declan Butler
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News |
Head of German drug agency to leave post
Board calls time on embattled director of pharmaceutical evaluation institute.
- Quirin Schiermeier
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News |
Lawsuit rekindles gene-patent debate
Criticism of exclusive licences puts university policies in the spotlight.
- Brendan Borrell
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News |
Superbug family tree sketched out
Next-generation genome sequencing enables detailed tracking of MRSA infections.
- Lucas Laursen
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Research Highlights |
Evolutionary biology: Sperm signals
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Research Highlights |
Neuropharmacology: Beating depression
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Books & Arts |
Vision of a personal genomics future
The director of the US National Institutes of Health, Francis Collins, calls for a revolution in personalized medicine. Such advances should be shared beyond the developed world, says Abdallah S. Daar.
- Abdallah S. Daar