Until recently physicians have had to rely on time-consuming and uncertain behavioural examinations to diagnose the onset of brain diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's and schizophrenia.
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Computers make sense of experiments on human disease
Increased use of computers to create predictive models of human disease is likely following a workshop organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF), which urged for a collaborative effort between specialists in the field. Human disease research produces an enormous amount of data from different sources such as animal models, high throughput genetic screening of human tissue, and in vitro laboratory experiments. This data operates at different levels and scales including genes, molecules, cells, tissues and whole organs, embodying a huge amount of potentially valuable insight that current computer modelling approaches often fail to exploit properly.
New candidate genes for schizophrenia identified
Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disease characterized by disorganized behavior, delusions and hallucinations. Sadly, there is no clear understanding of its cause.
Helping Lost Neurons Find Their Way
Spinal cord injuries are often a worst-case diagnosis for people who suffer accidents because they may mean permanent disability. Unlike a broken leg or pulled muscle, spinal cord injuries do not heal themselves over time.
Scientists trace extensive networks regulating alternative RNA splicing
RNA targets of tissue-specific splicing factors Fox-1 and Fox-2 are successfully predicted
Two professors at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have succeeded in tracing intricate biochemical networks involving a class of proteins that enable genes to express themselves in specific tissues at particular moments in development.
Gene enhancer in evolution of human opposable thumb
Scientists have discovered a gene enhancer, known as HACNS1, that may have contributed to the evolution of the uniquely opposable human thumb, and possibly also modifications in the ankle or foot that allow humans to walk on two legs, according to a paper published in
Science on Sept. 5, 2008.
New methods identify and manipulate 'newborn' cells in animal model of Parkinson's disease
When cells in the brain are lost through disease or injury, neighboring cells begin to divide and multiply, but only a few areas in the brain are able to produce new neurons. Patients with Parkinson's disease suffer degeneration of certain neurons that reside in an area of the brain called the substantia nigra and project into the striatum. Many of the newborn cells in these areas have not been well described because of limitations of methods used to characterize them.
Drugs to inhibit blood vessel growth show promise in rat model of deadly brain tumor
In a landmark study, Medical College of Wisconsin researchers in Milwaukee report that drugs used to inhibit a specific fatty acid in rat brains with glioblastoma-like tumors not only reduced new blood vessel growth and tumor size dramatically, but also prolonged survival. The study is the featured cover story of the August, 2008
Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism.
When neurons fire up: Study sheds light on rhythms of the brain
In our brains, groups of neurons fire up simultaneously for just milliseconds at a time, in random rhythms, similar to twinkling lightning bugs in our backyards. New research from neuroscientists at Indiana University and the University of Montreal provides a model -- a rhyme and reason -- for this random synchronization.