Direct conversion of cell types could offer safer, simpler treatments than stem cells. Human skin cells can be transformed into blood without first being sent through a primordial, stem-cell-like state, according to a ground-breaking study. The breakthrough, published online today in Nature1, follows work earlier this year showing that fibroblast cells from mouse skin, treated with the right cocktail of chemicals, can be transformed into neurons2 and heart muscle3. However, it is the first study to accomplish this feat with human cells, and the first to create progenitor cells — in this case...

We are a step closer to a cancer vaccine that “could revolutionise treatment”, The Daily Telegraph has reported. The newspaper said that scientists “have discovered how tumour cells protect themselves from the body’s natural defences”. This news is based on early research that looked at why some cancer may be resistant to the body’s immune response. The researchers found that stromal cells, which form the connective tissue of tumours, may act to suppress the immune system’s response to tumours. In the study, researchers took genetically modified mice and selectively knocked...

Boston-led study is part of vaccine search By Stephen Smith For decades, they lived a mystery: Why were they able to survive with the AIDS virus, free of symptoms and the need for potent drugs, while so many others with the same germ turned deathly ill? Their innate ability to keep HIV infections in check intrigued researchers, who suspected these people, known as “controllers,’’ might carry clues to designing effective vaccines after nearly 30 years of frustration. Now, an international team of researchers, led by specialists in Boston, has cracked these HIV survivors’ genetic code, sifting...

New synthetic surface helps maintain pluripotence Human pluripotent stem cells, which can differentiate into any other kind of body cell, hold great potential to treat a wide range of ailments, including Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis. However, scientists who work with such cells have had trouble growing large enough quantities to perform experiments. And should a promising treatment be developed, researchers would have concerns about testing it, because most materials now used to support the growth of human stem cells include cells or proteins derived from mouse embryos. These...

Scans show a ‘disconnect’ in brain areas linked to language in people with the disorder, researchers say (HealthDay News) — People with a common genetic variant that’s associated with autism have a “disconnect” between their frontal lobe and other areas of the brain important for language, brain scans show. The disconnect may help explain some of the language and communication difficulties that are characteristic of autism, researchers report in the Nov. 3 issue of Science Translational Medicine. About one-third of all people carry the variant of the CNTNAP2...

The best way to stave off a cold this winter is to exercise regularly, researchers have found They discovered that people who exercised for at least five days a week and felt fit cut the chances of having a cold by almost half (43 to 46 per cent). Taking regular exercise also cut the severity of symptoms, according to the study, published today (Tues) in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. American researchers at Appalachian State University in North Carolina based their findings on 1,000 adults aged up to 85, whose respiratory health was tracked fro 12 weeks during the autumn and winter...

Why swallow your vitamins when you can huff them? That’s the general thinking behind the world’s first breathable vitamin, called LeWhif Vitamin, which launched in the UK earlier this month and is expected to hit the US market this week. The creation of Harvard biomedical engineer David Edwards, inventor of inhalable insulin, inhalable chocolate and inhalable coffee, LeWhif Vitamin is a lipstick-like delivery device that works a lot like a miniature pipe, only instead of inhaling smoke with each toke, you inhale a fine powder of healing supplements (a sort of anti-smoke) that dissolves in...

Barbers who offer BP checks help customers beat hypertension, study finds TUESDAY, Oct. 26 (HealthDay News) — Offering black men blood pressure checks while they’re having their hair cut could help them keep hypertension at bay, a new study finds. This could be a new way to help reduce rates of uncontrolled high blood pressure, one of the leading causes of premature disability and death among black men in the United States. “Compared with black women, men have less frequent physician contact for preventive care and thus substantially lower rates of hypertension detection, medical...

A birth control gel that is applied to the skin could offer woman an alternative to the Pill, say experts presenting latest trial data. Used once daily, it delivers hormones to prevent a pregnancy in the same way as oral contraceptives do. Early studies show the gel is effective and well tolerated, with none of the typical side effects associated with the Pill, like weight gain and acne. The Nestorone gel is being developed with drug firm Antares Pharma. Researchers told the American Society for Reproductive Medicine how they hope to bring the product to market if clinical trial results continue...

A woman’s ability to conceive in early middle age may be influenced by her blood type, according to research. The US study of 560 women undergoing fertility treatment found that those with type “O” blood had chemical signs linked to low egg numbers. There is no clear explanation for the results, presented to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine conference in Denver. Approximately 44% of the UK population has type “O” blood. The researchers, from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, and Yale University, looked at the levels of a chemical called...