A claim frequently made by animal rights activists is that by paying for animal research charities and other funding bodies are diverting money from other areas such as clinical research. However the reality is that clinical and animal scientists work together to understand what is going wrong in disease and to illuminate previously unknown aspects … Continue reading Synergy
Tag: paul browne
Fighting the Flu
Unless you have been living as a hermit in a cave* for the past week you will be aware that the world's medical services are on high alert following the emergence of swine flu in Mexico, a new strain of the Influenza A/H1N1 virus that has now killed more than 160 people. While there is … Continue reading Fighting the Flu
Progress towards a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe inherited muscular dystrophy that causes progressive muscle degeneration which eventually leads to loss of the ability to use muscles and death, and every year tens thousands of children are born afflicted with the disease. It is caused by mutations in the DMD gene that encodes dystrophin, a protein … Continue reading Progress towards a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Restoring science to its rightful place
Yesterday President Barack Obama took a decision that the scientific community has been eagerly awaiting ever since he was sworn in last January, when he issued an executive order ending the severe restrictions that President George W. Bush imposed on federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research eight years ago. This was however not … Continue reading Restoring science to its rightful place
A passive defence against the flu?
Influenza is a disease that kills hundreds of thousands of people every year, and periodically causes global pandemics that kill many millions. There are three major types, A, B and C that can infect humans, although the A is responsible for the most cases and deaths. Within influenza A virus there are two major groups, … Continue reading A passive defence against the flu?
Shedding some light on the dark side of stem cells
In recent weeks we have discussed the potential of stem cells in developing new therapies, but stem cells also have a more sinister side. Over the past decade scientists have become increasingly interested in the possibility that in many, perhaps most, cancers there is a small population of cells that are the only tumour cells … Continue reading Shedding some light on the dark side of stem cells
A new era for embryonic stem cells
As the new president takes office and the scientific community eagerly awaits the announcement of the reversal of the ban on federal funding of most research involving human embryonic stem cells (hESC's), there's news that the FDA has approved the first ever trial of a treatment based on hESC's for severe spinal cord injury. This … Continue reading A new era for embryonic stem cells
Fighting the scourges of humanity
The past week has seen some interesting news on efforts to combat three diseases that blight the lives of millions in the world today. The most exciting news was that in two studies (1,2) published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine the malaria vaccine RTS,S passed a major milestone in its development … Continue reading Fighting the scourges of humanity
Speaking of Research 