Research team corrects mistake on protein linked with cancer
A previously held belief about the behaviour of a human protein that is linked to the formation of cancer is being challenged. The study in question, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, will lead to new research into ways to prevent the protein from 'turning on' genes that are involved in the process of abnormal cell production.
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European Physicians Want Information about Company's Patient Education Sites
About three-quarters of online European physicians want sales representatives to let them know about their company's patient education websites so they can recommend them to their patients, according to the Taking the Pulse® Europe v9.0 study from pharmaceutical and healthcare market research company Manhattan Research. The study looks at the online activities and behaviors of physicians in Germany, Spain, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
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New Genetic Markers Discovered for Diabetes Traits
The work of an international team of scientists has helped unravel the biological blueprint of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Funded in part by the EU, the two major parallel studies were conducted by researchers representing more than 100 institutes and using genetic data from over 100,000 individuals. The discovery of common genetic variants associated with T2D risk and blood glucose levels is published in two corresponding reports in Nature Genetics.
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Online Video a Viable Way to Reach European Physicians in 2010
Nearly half of online physicians in Western Europe watch online video for professional purposes, according to the latest Taking the Pulse® Europe v9.0 study from pharmaceutical and healthcare market research company Manhattan Research. Online video adoption has grown steadily over the past three years, jumping from only 28% of online European physicians using for professional purposes in 2006 to 46% in 2009. Online physicians in Western Europe are even more likely to use online video as part of their clinical research than SMS/text messaging, blogs, or chatrooms/message boards.
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Study uncovers costs of drug resistance for bacteria
Developing resistance to certain antibiotics may come at a price for the bacteria, new Swedish research suggests. Sara Thulin Hedberg of Örebro University studies the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis, one of the main causes of meningitis. She found that bacteria that are resistant to the drug rifampicin do not reproduce as fast as non-resistant bacteria and are not as good as infecting people. She hopes that her findings, which form part of her doctoral dissertation, will lead to the development of new, more effective antibiotics.
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Cigarettes and sunlight leave their mark on cancer genomes
Details of the first ever cancer genome sequences are released in two papers published online by the journal Nature. The studies reveal that the genetic sequence of the lung cancer cell line bears all the hallmarks of DNA damage caused by tobacco smoke, while many of the mutations in the melanoma tumour are characteristic of the kind of damage inflicted on DNA by exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light.
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EUR-2-million grant for biofilm research
The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded an Advanced Investigator Grant to a scientist at the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, to fund a new project studying bacterial biofilms. The project was selected for funding from 1,584 proposals and 513 projects in the life sciences field.
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