New, simpler optical method to diagnose TB

October 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A research group in the US has come up with a new way to use light to trace tuberculosis (TB) bacteria in fluids. Diego Krapf, professor at Colorado State University, who led the research, says it is a technique that can be used to detect TB in the developing world, where it is most prevalent.

October 9th, 2009 TORONTO - Canadian researchers have found that some hidden prostate cancer tumours cannot be diagnosed with the current procedures. Researchers at Toronto University say their findings explain why some men with elevated prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels who are carefully monitored and undergo repeated negative biopsies still develop aggressive prostate cancer.

October 5th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study suggests radiofrequncy-tonsillotomy, a procedure that helps surgeons reduce the size of the tonsillar tissue rather than remove the tonsils entirely, to be an effective and safe method of treating children with symptoms of enlarged tonsils. Presented at the 2009 American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) Annual Meeting and OTO EXPO in San Diego, the study involved 167 children under the age of 15 years, who had undergone radiofrequency surgery for symptoms of tonsillar hypertrophy-such as snoring, nocturnal sleep apnea, dysphagia, or speech impairment.

October 5th, 2009 LONDON - Scientists have come up with a new way to watch bacteria as they swim, which is expected to eventually help trap Escherichia coli bacteria and modify the microbes' environment without hindering the way they move. The new approach uses optical traps, microfluidic chambers and fluorescence to get an improved picture of how E.

September 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have come up with two new blood tests that can make it simpler and cost effective to diagnnose gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. A research team led by Joost Louwagie, from the company OncoMethylome Sciences in Liege, Belgium collected blood before surgery from 193 patients known to have colorectal cancer, as well as from 688 controls undergoing colonoscopy for cancer screening.

September 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A single shot of vaccine might soon be efficient enough to provide protection against rabies, say researchers. The team led by Dr James McGettigan, assistant professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University showed that a replication-deficient rabies virus vaccine that lacks a key gene called the matrix (M) gene induced a rapid and efficient anti-rabies immune response in mice and non-human primates.

September 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A previously unknown substance in spinal fluid- a beta-amyloid protein called Abeta16-could be used as a marker to diagnose Alzheimer's disease, say Gothenburg researchers. The findings, described in a thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, will also be useful in research into new medications.

September 14th, 2009 WASHINGTON - New research suggests that "teachable software", designed to mimic the human brain, may help diagnose cardiac infections in a non-invasive manner. Endocarditis -- an infection involving the valves and sometimes chambers of the heart -- can be a problem in patients with implants.

September 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists from University of Michigan have developed a new method to monitor early sign of oxidative stress that triggers cancer spread. Lead researcher Kate Carroll suggests that being able to monitor a marker of oxidative stress that is associated with the activation of tumor cell growth pathways, particularly at an early stage, and then tailor treatments accordingly would allow for more targeted studies and might improve the odds of success with antioxidants and pro-oxidants.

September 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - An international team of scientists has decoded the full genetic sequence, or genome, of Phytophthora infestans, which is a water mold that causes the serious potato disease known as late blight or potato blight. The genome resulted from a large international effort to understand the genetics of a plant disease that has evaded many control efforts.

September 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers at Michigan Technological University have identified three genes that play a major role in the most common type of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), generally known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The team of mathematicians, led by Shuanglin Zhang, isolated the genes from the many thousands scattered throughout human DNA.

September 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine can prevent some forms of breast cancer in women and save thousands of lives each year, suggested an Australian study. Researchers at the University of New South Wales used genetic probes to test cancerous breast cells, and found several strains of HPVs, which are known to have a high risk of initiating cancer of the cervix.

September 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Johns Hopkins engineers have come up with a new computational method that can help scientists to sift through hundreds of genetic mutations to highlight the DNA changes that are most likely to promote cancer. The computational method is called CHASM, short for Cancer-specific High-throughput Annotation of Somatic Mutations.

August 31st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers at the University of California (UC), Berkeley, have created the world's smallest semiconductor laser, capable of generating visible light in a space smaller than a single protein molecule, an invention that breaks new ground in the field of optics. The UC Berkeley team not only successfully squeezed light into such a tight space, but found a novel way to keep that light energy from dissipating as it moved along, thereby achieving laser action.

August 31st, 2009 LONDON - Counting copies of duplicated genome sequences and doing initial analyses of their contents are possible with the aid of a new computational method, according to a study. Led by scientists at the University of Washington (UW), the study suggests that the number of copies of particular DNA segments can differ from one person to the next.