Immunology

Muscular Dystrophy Defect Turned On And Off In Experiment

Myotonic dystrophy is an inherited disorder, the most common form of a group of conditions called muscular dystrophies that involve progressive muscle wasting and weakness. Myotonic dystrophy type 1 is caused a type of RNA defect known as a "triplet ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 29 2013 - 1:21pm

Western Alaska Identified As Potential Hot Spot For Avian Flu Transmission

Birds in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta of western Alaska have been discovered having low-pathogenic avian influenza viruses with Eurasian genes, supporting the hypothesis that the area is a potential point of entry for foreign animal diseases such as the more ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 7 2013 - 7:45pm

Industrial Farm Workers Carry Drug-Resistant Bacteria Associated With Livestock

The noses of industrial livestock workers in North Carolina contained drug-resistant bacteria- livestock-associated Staph- while the noses of antibiotic-free livestock workers did not, according to a new paper.  Workers were not experiencing Staph infecti ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 7 2013 - 9:34pm

Toxoplasmosis: Parasites In Poop Potential Public Problem?

It was once believed that crazy ladies acquired a lot of cats. Then it was discovered that a lot of cats instead created crazy ladies; cat poop is laden with an infectious parasite known as Toxoplasma gondii, a protozoan that has recently caused toxoplasm ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 9 2013 - 4:38pm

Black-Legged Ticks Linked To Encephalitis

Tick-borne illnesses are on the rise, or at least better reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lyme disease leads the pack, with some 35,000 cases reported annually but in the Northeast, the black-legged ticks (Ixodes scapularis ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 15 2013 - 1:33pm

Science Kaiju: Bacteriophages Versus Superbugs

Our digestive system is home to trillions of bacteria which battle for our health. Sometimes they help us digest food and something they battle harmful microbes. When we take antibiotics to combat bacterial infections, beneficial bacteria can also be kill ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 18 2013 - 11:06am

THC In Cannabis Does Not Slow Multiple Sclerosis Progression

The main active constituent of cannabis- tetrahydrocannabinol or THC- has not shown to be effective in slowing the course of progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). The CUPID (Cannabinoid Use in Progressive Inflammatory brain Disease) study was carried out b ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 23 2013 - 10:34am

No Link Between Mercury In Fish And Autism (Again)

Concerned parents have been worried about the potential impact of exposure to low levels of mercury on the developing brain, such as when pregnant women consume fish, and that has led to claims that the chemical may be responsible for behavioral disorders ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 23 2013 - 11:28am

Stem Cell Gene Therapy May Prevent Inherited Childhood Dementia Disease

Stem cell gene therapy has been used to treat a fatal genetic brain disease- Sanfilippo, which in human children causes progressive dementia and death- in mice for the first time.  The researchers are hoping to begin a clinical trial within two years. ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 24 2013 - 10:17am

KCNK3 Gene Implicated In Pulmonary Hypertension

Researchers have identified new genetic mutations in the gene KCNK3 that can cause pulmonary arterial hypertension, a rare fatal disease characterized by high blood pressure in the lungs. The KCNK3  mutations appear to affect potassium channels in the pul ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 25 2013 - 10:32am