Using tiny gold particles and infrared light, MIT researchers have developed a drug-delivery system that allows multiple drugs to be released in a controlled fashion.

A recent multi-center prospective study found that calibrating medications based on daily monitoring of the fractional exhaled nitric oxide and symptoms in asthmatic children showed no significant improvement over medicating based on daily symptom monitoring alone.

Mice exposed to low temperatures develop more blood vessels in their adipose tissue and metabolise body fat more quickly, according to a new study. Scientists now hope to learn how to control blood vessel development in humans in order to combat obesity and diabetes.

Anti-inflammatory drugs affect the cells taking part in inflammatory processes, but also those that do not. This is why it is important to develop specific anti-inflammatory drugs which affect healthy cells. With this aim in mind, a team of scientists is working on analogues of the C1P molecule.

Researchers have studied the origin of the mutation that causes Fatal Familiar Insomnia (FFI). In the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country there is a high rate of carriers of this mutation — 50%of all the cases registered in the whole of Spain.

A pilot trial of an oral drug therapy called fenobam has shown promising initial results and could be a potential new treatment option for adult patients with Fragile X syndrome. Findings of the open label, single-dose study are to be published in the Journal of Medical Genetics.

There is no cure for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a genetic disorder that causes the weakening of muscles and is the leading genetic cause of infant death, but researchers have discovered a new therapeutic target that improves deteriorating skeletal muscle tissue caused by SMA. The new therapy enhanced muscle strength, improved gross motor skills and increased the lifespan in a SMA model.

Human calmodulin-like protein (CLP) is found in many cell types including breast, thyroid, prostate, kidney, and skin.

The novel design of a deep muscle along the spinal column called the multifidus muscle may in fact be key to spinal support and a healthy back, according to researchers. Their findings about the potentially important "scaffolding" role of this poorly understood muscle has been published on line in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.

A special issue of American Journal of Medical Genetics: Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics presents a comprehensive overview of the latest progress in genetic research of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Scientists have found a more efficient way to create induced pluripotent stem cells using a single virus vector instead of multiple viruses in the reprogramming process. The ability to combine four vectors into single "stem cell cassette" containing all four genes using a combination of 2A peptides and IRES dramatically improves iPS cell production efficiency -- 10 times higher than previously reported studies.

A new study shows the resistance of the avian flu virus to a major class of antiviral drugs is increasing through positive evolutionary selection, with researchers documenting the trend in more than 30 percent of the samples tested.

Chronic drinking is a known risk factor for colorectal cancer, possibly due to the creation of acetaldehyde by the alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme. New findings show that individuals with a polymorphism of the ADH1C gene produce more acetaldehyde when they drink, which creates a higher risk for colorectal cancer.

Researchers have determined that a mutation in a gene known for its role in defending the lungs against invading pathogens is responsible for some inherited cases of a lethal lung disease affecting older adults. The same mutation may also be associated with lung cancer, the researchers said.

Researchers dusted wild deer mice with fluorescent pink, blue, green, yellow and orange talcum powders to show which rodents most often fought or mated with others and thus were most likely to spread deadly hantavirus. The study identified bigger, older mice as the culprits.

About 1,100 people each year die in the UK from lung cancer related to indoor radon, but current government protection policies focus mainly on the small number of homes with high radon levels and neglect the 95 percent of radon-related deaths caused by lower levels of radon, according to a study.

A compound designed to prevent chest pains in heart patients has shown promising results in animal studies, say scientists. Researchers have shown that the novel compound F15845 has anti-angina activity and can protect heart cells from damage without the unwanted side effects often experienced with other drugs.

Dystonia is a neurological disorder characterized by involuntary abnormal muscle constrictions. The mechanism has not been well understood. Now, a Japanese research team has found that the decreased activity of the basal ganglia is the main cause of abnormal muscle constrictions of dystonia using a mouse model.

Learning how leukemia takes over privileged niches within the bone marrow is helping researchers develop treatment strategies that could protect healthy blood-forming stem cells and improve the outcomes of bone marrow transplantation for leukemia and other types of cancer.

Scientists have discovered an unexpected cause for the fatal seizures seen in mice with viral meningitis, according to a study published in the journal Nature. The finding may lead to a new way of thinking about how the human immune system responds to viral diseases.