news archive genetic news - October 21, 2003

October 21, 2003

your information resource in human molecular genetics

-	Doubt Cast on Adult Stem-Cell Plasticity Studies Researchers have demonstrated that adult bone marrow cells can fuse with other cells in the body.
-	A Genetic Basis For Individual Memory Differences People with an unusual variant of one neurotransmitter receptor have worse memory than those with the more common variant.
-	Fighting Fever Treatments for fever without the adverse side effects of current medication may be on the horizon.
-	DNA Vaccine Could Slow Leukemia Progression A DNA vaccine can slow disease progression and prolong survival in a mouse model of leukemia.
-	Malaria Parasite Takes Advantage Of Liver The parasite that causes malaria exploits one of the body's own chemicals to cause infection.
-	Pulsed Drug Delivery From Polymers Scientists report a novel polymer-based pulsed drug delivery system designed to release accurate doses of drugs from an implant at predetermined times.
-	Defect In Killer Cells Explains Rare Genetic Disease Sscientists show that the protein AP-3, a mutant of which is present in individuals with Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome type 2 (HPS2), is required by T cells to kill infected cells.
-	Different Ways To Present A Virus Scientists show that the ability of specialized immune cells to pick up viral particles from their surroundings and use them to alert other immune cells is an important element in fighting viral infections.
-	Gene Influencing Susceptibility To Asthma Identified Scientists report the identification of a genetic variant that is associated with susceptibility to the disease.
-	RNA May Boost Rogue Prions The studies help elucidate the mechanisms behind prion diseases, such as bovine spongiform encephalitis (BSE) and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).