Yesterday the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) advised the government that there is no evidence the two advanced forms of IVF developed to prevent mitochondrial diseases are unsafe, recommending that research using human embryos should continue, with close monitoring of the health of children born through these two techniques, which are known as maternal spindle transfer and pronuclear transfer. At the … Continue reading From Macaques to Humans: UK regulator gives cautious thumbs up to advanced IVF techniques to prevent mitochondrial disease
Tag: mouse
Universal Meningitis B vaccine nears approval by European regulators – thank the mice (and the scientists)!
Bacterial meningitis is an infection of the fluid that is found in the spinal cord and surrounding the brain that affects thousands of people – usually children or young people – every year and can result in brain damage, hearing loss, or learning disability. In about 10% of cases the infection is fatal. One of … Continue reading Universal Meningitis B vaccine nears approval by European regulators – thank the mice (and the scientists)!
ScienceWhiskers tells the story of the mighty mouse
ScienceWhiskers is a blog dedicated to the “scientific contributions of the mouse.” The blogger, highlights a wide range of topics. Recent examples include how the brain controls eating behavior to a study that may point the way to a male contraceptive pill. It’s a relatively new blog. An entry dated August 10, 2012 welcomes readers … Continue reading ScienceWhiskers tells the story of the mighty mouse
Reprogrammed frog and mouse cells win the 2012 Nobel Prize
This morning the Nobel Assembly announced that the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine will be shared by John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka for their “discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent”. Animal research played a key role in the research honoured by the prize, specifically the studies of frogs … Continue reading Reprogrammed frog and mouse cells win the 2012 Nobel Prize
ERV blogs on GMO Herpes vs severe cancer pain
As gene therapy emerges as one of the hottest areas of medical research, one thing that is striking is how it employs viruses - sometimes very nasty viruses - to deliver the gene to where it is needed in the human body. Yesterday virologist Abbie Smith discussed another excellent example of this on the ERV blog … Continue reading ERV blogs on GMO Herpes vs severe cancer pain
Cancer Stem Cells: Mouse studies lead to paradigm shift in cancer research
For the past 15 years one of the most intriguing ideas in cancer research has been that the growth and spread of most – if not all – cancers is driven by cancer stem cells. The hypothesis is that only a tiny proportion of cancer cells, cancer stem cells, have the stem cell-like ability to … Continue reading Cancer Stem Cells: Mouse studies lead to paradigm shift in cancer research
Fighting the White Death: A new treatment for drug resistant TB
For most people born in the United States in the past half century tuberculosis (TB) is a disease you only read about in the history books, to which it was consigned by the development of antibiotics such as streptomycin in the aftermath of the second world war. However, the reality of TB in the world … Continue reading Fighting the White Death: A new treatment for drug resistant TB
Natural Antibiotic Casts a Net Against Bacteria
A "natural antibiotic" protects the body against bacteria by tangling them in a net, not poking holes in them, UC Davis researchers have found. Experiments with genetically-modified, or transgenic mice were crucial to the discovery, along with cell cultures, biochemistry and sophisticated studies of how small proteins assemble together. It's an entirely new mechanism of … Continue reading Natural Antibiotic Casts a Net Against Bacteria
Speaking of Research 