Scientists find novel way of boosting newborns’ immune responses

October 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Natural killer (NK) cells, part of our immune system, kill cells infected with a given virus. Researchers have now found that the cells also help keep T-cells from over-responding.

September 27th, 2009 LONDON - A new study in Vietnam has found that parasitic gut worms like the hookworm might help in the treatment of asthma and other allergies. Infection with hookworm and other parasitic worms is endemic in Vietnam, but rates of asthma and other allergies are low.

August 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists from Imperial College London have found that parasite leishmania tricks immune system to let it enter the body and cause skin infection. Leishmaniasis is an infection caused by Leishmania parasites that cause disfiguring and painful skin ulcers, and in severe cases the infection can also spread to the internal organs.

July 31st, 2009 LONDON - Scientists are planning to cheer up Britons next week with the help of an online psychological experiment. Starting Monday, the experiment will be conducted for five days.

June 18th, 2009 LONDON - Two new structures, belonging to the oldest branch of the human immune system, have revealed how it fights invading microbes while avoiding problems of the body attacking itself. Both structures involve a central component of an enzyme important to the complement system of the immune response.

June 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Environmental contaminants have led to an increase in birth weight and frequency of genital malformations in male newborns (e.g., un-descended testes) as well as a decrease in male fertility, according to a study. The scientists behind this study say that the growing presence of contaminants in the environment leads to reduced male hormone action, which in turn causes the above problems.

May 28th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers at the University of Missouri, US, have identified important suppressors that negatively regulate the responses of the immune system in the plant species Arabidopsis thaliana, which would allow breeders to create better yielding crop plants. "The immune system provides plants with strong protection from pathogens," said Walter Gassmann, associate professor of plant sciences in the MU Christopher S.

May 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists from University of Florida have shed light on how small pox affects immune system. The research team have come across a particular interaction between the proteins produced by smallpox virus in concert with human proteins that disables one of the body's first responders to injury - inflammation.

May 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers are closing in on how smallpox virus go about their deadly business of sabotaging our immune system. These findings may reveal as much about our immune system as they do about one of the world's most feared pathogens.

May 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers are closing in on how smallpox virus go about their deadly business of sabotaging our immune system. These findings may reveal as much about our immune system as they do about one of the world's most feared pathogens.

May 5th, 2009 WASHINGTON - With the swine flu turning into a global pandemic, scientists have now discovered important clues about why influenza is more severe in some people than it is in others. Researchers at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have shown that the influenza virus can actually paralyse the immune systems of otherwise healthy individuals, which could lead to severe secondary bacterial infections, such as pneumonia.

May 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Spring season is often accompanied by allergies and increased problems for asthmatic people. Now, American scientists have identified a previously unknown cellular switch that turns allergies and asthma both on and off.

April 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study from University of Nottingham has revealed that louse infestation can dampen mammalian immune reactions. The finding means that the epidemic of allergic disorders in modern, urban people might be due to our having rid ourselves of lice and worms.

March 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Inspired by detectives on TV shows who often spray crime scenes with a compound called luminol to make the blood glow, researchers are using the same compound to mark sites where the immune system attacks the body's own tissues, causing auto-immune diseases. The study authors from Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) in St.

March 28th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Genes from fireflies and jellyfish are virtually shedding light on possible causes of infertility and auto-immune diseases in humans. Auto-immune diseases are those in which something goes wrong with your immune system and it attacks healthy cells and tissues and makes you sick.