E. coli protein troika discovered to be essential to survival
Scientists in Canada, the UK and the US have for the first time found a link between three proteins in Escherichia coli (E. coli) that are necessary for the bacterium's survival. Because one of the genes is also present in the human genome, the findings have implications for the study of essential processes in humans as well. The study was published in the Journal of Bacteriology.
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EU project tackles pain relief without the side effects
The EU-funded SOS (Safety of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) project is working to provide medical professionals with guidance on the risks (both cardiovascular and gastrointestinal) associated with certain painkillers. Ultimately, the project results should help to better protect patients against these side effects. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) help reduce pain and inflammation, and are commonly given to sufferers of arthritis and other degenerative joint diseases.
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Study sheds light on vitamin D's anti-cancer properties
A new EU-funded study increases our understanding of vitamin D's apparent anti-cancer properties. The findings support the need for further clinical trials examining the potential of the active form of vitamin D3 to prevent and treat colon cancer.
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EU-funded study reveals schizophrenia triggers
An international team of researchers has pieced together the puzzle of the genetics of schizophrenia. Published in the journal Nature, their findings bring to light a number of new 'common single-letter variants' in the sequence of the human genome linked to disease risk.
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Experts call for antibiotic prescribing practices to be standardised across Europe
EU-funded researchers have identified wide variations in the way antibiotics are prescribed across Europe. In some countries, just 20% of patients who go to their doctor with a cough are give antibiotics, while in other countries this figure is close to 90%. Furthermore, results from the study showed that taking antibiotics appeared to have little effect on patients' recovery times.
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EU-funded study shows that cannabis can damage DNA
Researchers in the UK have found evidence that smoking cannabis can damage human DNA in ways that could potentially increase the risk of developing cancer. The findings, published in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology, are an outcome of the ECNIS (Environmental cancer risk, nutrition and individual susceptibility) Network of Excellence, funded with EUR 11 million under the 'Food Quality and Safety' Thematic area of the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) to study how diet and hereditary factors can influence environmental cancer risk.
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New zebrafish model offers new insights into skin cancer
Scientists in the UK and Switzerland have identified a signalling pathway, PI3K (phosphoinositide 3-kinase) that shows promise as a target for treating aggressive skin cancer. Their results, based on a study of the see-through zebrafish, are published in the journal Disease Models and Mechanisms.
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