ALSO NOTED: Successful test of new AIDS drug; Mass. starts to dole out stem cell money; Texans set to vote on cancer research f

More Research

French researchers say they have successfully tested a new drug--IDC16--that interferes with a human splicing protein that plays a critical role in the development of AIDS. Report

More than half of all drugs given to patients work by targeting a particular type of "docking station," or receptor, found on body cells, to steer the cell's machinery toward healing an illness. Researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine and the Scripps Research Institute have determined what one of those receptors looks like at the molecular level, giving them the keys to greater control of the process. Release

Researchers say that the insular cortex in the brain could play a key role in controlling addictive behavior. Damage to the insula has already been linked to a higher rate of people giving up smoking, making a link that could help drug developers in their search for new therapies. Report

The NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has awarded a $51 million grant to fund a five-year project by Scripps' Immunology Department to analyze immune responses to a range of pathogens that includes influenza. Report

U.S. scientists have found a link between a virtually unknown signaling molecule and neuron health that affects such diseases as Alzheimer's. University of Michigan researchers led by graduate student Yanling Zhang, postdoctoral fellow Sergey Zolov and Professor Lois Weisman connected the loss of the molecule to massive neurodegeneration in the brain. Release

Stem Cell Research

The publicly funded Massachusetts Life Sciences Center has handed out $8 million to set up a stem cell bank and registry. These are the first moves in an effort to compete with California on encouraging the research field. Report

A New Jersey appeals court has cleared the way for a public vote on a $450 million program to fund stem cell research. Report

A new study from the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation concludes that the Id1 protein controls the proliferation of adult stem cells. Report

Cancer Research

The debate over a $3 billion program to support cancer research is heating up in Texas as the vote on the amendment looms. Report

Researchers at the University of Georgia Cancer Center have synthesized a carbohydrate-based vaccine that--in mice--has successfully triggered a strong immune response to cancer cells. Release

The University of Ulster and the Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston have joined forces to create a 3D model of the mammary gland in order to better understand cancer cells. Report

Scientists at Sunnybrook have new information that may help to improve the use of anti-cancer drugs designed to block the growth of new blood vessels in tumors, a process called angiogenesis that is critical to tumor growth. While these antiangiogenic drugs are effective, at present there are no reliable methods for determining whether they are working, if the right dose is used, or if a patient will benefit (or not) from treatment. Release

Canada has launched a country-wide translational research initiative aimed at cancer therapies. Report

In a new study, researchers at Jennerex Biotherapeutics have focused on the development of a new virotherapy with antitumor effects in animals. Report

Genetics

Previously hidden obesity-related genes have been uncovered from old experiments by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. The finding suggests that useful information about many medical disorders may be languishing in mountains of discarded data. Release

Clarient has named Michele Hibbard, Ph.D., a veteran clinical molecular biologist and cytogeneticist, to the newly created position of director of genetics. Release