For people with asthma, those who are obese are nearly five times more likely than their non-obese peers to be hospitalized for asthma, new research indicates.

University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers have discovered a key biochemical link in the process by which the Ebola Zaire virus infects cells - a critical step to finding a way to treat the ...

So-called 'intelligent' computer-based methods for classifying patient samples, for example, have been evaluated with the help of two methods that have completely dominated research for 25 years. Now Swedish researchers at Uppsala university are revealing that this methodology is worthless when it comes to practical problems. The article is published in the journal Pattern Recognition Letters.

Cancer cells have multiple ways to avoid apoptosis, programmed cell death the means by which organisms deal with defective cells. One defense is to produce quantities of phosphatic acid, a phospholipid constituent of cellular membranes. Unlike other phospholipids, phosphatidic acid also acts as a signaling molecule for cells promoting cellular growth and preventing apoptosis.

By introducing a genetic switch in mice it is possible to increase or decrease the production of specific protein molecules in their kidneys. Thus, researchers can study the influence of specific proteins on disease development. scientists of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ), Heidelberg university Hospitals and other research institutes have published this model of investigating severe kidney diseases in the latest issue of Nature Medicine.

Mammalian fatty acid synthase is one of the most complex molecular synthetic machines in human cells. It is also a promising target for the development of anti-cancer and anti-obesity drugs and the treatment of metabolic disorders. Now researchers at ETH Zurich have determined the atomic structure of a mammalian fatty acid synthase. Their results have just been published in science magazine.

Scientists from the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) have determined the 3D structure of a key protein component involved in enabling "epigenetic code" to be copied accurately from cell to cell. Epigenetic code is a series of chemical switches that is added onto our DNA in order to ensure that the cells in our body can form different types of tissue, for example liver and skin, despite having identical DNA genetic code.

Variation in the gene for one of the receptors for the hormone vasopressin appears to be associated with how human males bond with their partners, according to an international team of researchers. The researchers found that the "334" allele of a common AVPR1A variation, the human version of avpr1a studied in voles, seemed to have negative effects on men's relationship with their spouses.

SalmonellaCredit: Janice Carr/CDC The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that around 80 million people a year in the U.S. alone contract food poisoning or...

Scientists have uncovered new evidence that strengthens the link between a host-cell gene called Apobec3 and the production of neutralizing antibodies to retroviruses.