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Study reveals why certain drug combinations backfire
Nov. 12, 2009 - Researchers have discovered why certain combinations of drugs are actually less effective together than one of the drugs alone. Specifically, antibiotic drugs that block DNA replication work poorly with drugs that block protein synthesis.
Researchers identify promising therapeutic target for central nervous system injuries
Oct. 15, 2009 - Following a central nervous system injury, scar tissue releases molecules that keep neurons from passing, so they cannot restore motor and sensory function. Researchers have identified where these inhibitory molecules bind to the surface of neurons, exposing a novel therapeutic target.
Costs of expanding healthcare coverage partly offset by future Medicare savings
Oct. 5, 2009 - The costs of universal coverage are partly offset by later savings in Medicare. New research found that individuals who lacked health insurance at some point between the ages of 51 and 64 cost Medicare more than those who had continuous coverage in the years prior to Medicare eligibility. On average, those who were previously uninsured cost Medicare an additional $1,000 annually per person when compared with those who had been consistently covered. Had they been insured they would have likely cost Medicare less.
Message from HMS Dean Flier: Professor shares 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
(Includes video)
Oct. 5, 2009 - Today we are honored by the thrilling news that Jack Szostak, HMS professor of Genetics at Massachusetts General Hospital, has received the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, along with Elizabeth Blackburn and Carol Greider, for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.
Ophthalmologist receives Alpert Prize for preventing blindness in diabetic patients
(Includes video)
Sept. 29, 2009 - Lloyd M. Aiello, an HMS clinical professor of ophthalmology at Joslin Diabetes Center's Beetham Eye Institute, will receive the 2008/2009 Warren Alpert Foundation Prize.
Video: Peering Inside a Tumor (Requires QuickTime Player)
Sept. 15, 2009 - Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology researchers develop a new imaging technique that allows labs to visualize tumors inside animal models.
Diabetes drug kills cancer stem cells in combination treatment in mice
Sept. 14, 2009 - In tumors formed by human breast cancer cells in mice, a diabetes drug was more effective than chemotherapy alone in prolonging remission. Mice appeared tumor-free for the two months after treatment before the end of the experiment. The drug, metformin, appears to selectively kill cancer stem cells in culture dishes and in mice.
Scientists get first close look at stimulated brain
Aug. 26, 2009 - With the aid of optical imaging technology, researchers have for the first time been able to see how neurons react to electrical stimulation. The neural response to electrical currents isn't localized, as some had previously thought. Rather, electrical stimulation activates a scattered and widely distributed set of neurons.
Study reveals new metabolic safeguards against tumor cells
Aug. 19, 2009 - Researchers have found a new mechanism by which the body kills potential tumor cells. When cells separate from their normal environment -- a common event during tumor formation -- they develop certain metabolic disabilities that prevent them from becoming cancerous. While some tumor genes can help these cells escape such defects, the researchers also found that antioxidant treatment can restore normal metabolic activity in these detached, homeless cells, giving them a second chance to survive and potentially become cancerous.
Common allergy drug reduces obesity and diabetes in mice
July 26, 2009 - Two new studies connect the immune system with obesity and type 2 diabetes. In the first study, researchers used two common over-the-counter allergy medications known to stabilize a group of inflammatory immune cells to reduce obesity and symptoms of type 2 diabetes in mice. In the second study, researchers found that a kind of regulatory white blood cell once thought to manage only immune cells also controls inflammation in non-obese fat tissue. Fat tissue from both obese, insulin-resistant mice and people are marked by a dramatic absence of this cell type.
Researchers rapidly turn bacteria into biotech factories
July 26, 2009 - Using a novel cell programming method that retools evolution to generate genetic diversity at an unprecedented rate, a research team turned self-serving bacteria into efficient factories for making a variety of compounds, accomplishing in just three days a feat that would take biotech companies many months--or years. The transformed bacteria produced five times more lycopene (an anti-cancer antioxidant) than the original bacteria.
New pheromone helps female flies tell suitors to 'buzz off'
July 16, 2009 - Using a new form of high-resolution laser mass spectrometry, researchers scanning the surface of fruit flies discovered a previously unidentified pheromone--CH503--that contributes to the anti-aphrodisiac effects observed in female fruit flies after copulation.
Hydrogen peroxide marshals immune system
June 3, 2009 - Using the zebrafish as an animal model, researchers have discovered that the body uses hydrogen peroxide to sound the alarm when a tissue has been injured. As a direct result of this hydrogen-peroxide red alert, white blood cells come to the aid of the wounded site.
Calculating preventative medicine’s return on investment
June 2, 2009 - Researchers have developed a prototype “return on investment calculator” that can calculate the value of prevention services delivered by mobile health clinics. Using a Boston-based mobile health clinic called the “Family Van” to test the tool, the team found that for the services provided in 2008, this program will return $36 for every dollar invested.
Cancer cells need normal, non-mutated genes to survive
May 28, 2009 - Cancer cells rely on normal, healthy genes as much as they rely on mutated genes. Using a technique called RNA interference, researchers dialed down the production of thousands of normal proteins to determine which were required for cancer cells to survive. They found that cancer cells growing in a dish rely heavily on many normal proteins to maintain their deviant state. When some of these protein levels drop, cancer cells die, but normal cells often survive.
Hospice care under-used by many terminally ill patients, study finds
May 25, 2009 - A study looking at 1,517 patients with metastatic lung cancer found that approximately half of these patients did not discuss hospice care with their physician within 4 to 7 months after diagnosis. Blacks and Hispanics were significantly less likely to discuss hospice with their physician than whites and Asians.
Harvard Medical School and Portugal announce major initiative to foster translational research and education
April 28, 2009 - HMS and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education have entered into a long-term collaboration to expand translational research and health information across Portugal's medical schools and research laboratories.
Universal coverage may narrow racial, ethnic and socioeconomic gaps in health outcomes
April 20, 2009 - A study examining health data for more than 6,000 adults over an eight-year period found that disparities in important health outcomes by race, ethnicity and education were substantially reduced after these adults gained universal health coverage through the Medicare program.
For cancer cells, genetics alone is poor predictor for drug response
April 12, 2009 - Researchers have discovered that the genetic identity of a tumor cell is an incomplete predictor for how it will respond to certain treatments. In the case of one particular new and highly touted cancer treatment, genetically identical cancer cells responded differently. These variations resulted from random cell-to-cell differences, such as how many protein copies each cell had at the time of treatment.
Infant weight gain linked to childhood obesity
March 30, 2009 - An ongoing study of pregnant women and their babies has found that rapid weight gain during the first six months of life may place a child at risk for obesity by age 3. Researchers studied 559 children, measuring both weight and body length at birth, 6 months, and 3 years. They found that sudden gains throughout early infancy influenced later obesity more so than weight at birth.
Diabetes a risk factor for postpartum depression
February 23, 2009 - Pregnant women and new mothers who have diabetes have nearly double the chances of experiencing postpartum depression compared to those without diabetes. Researchers analyzed data from over 11,000 low income mothers in New Jersey. Approximately 1 in 10 of these women who had diabetes developed depression in the year following delivery.
Patients are untapped resource for improving care, study finds
February 23, 2009 - A study looking at over 21,000 patients from 11 health centers finds that patients who receive mailed reminders for scheduling colorectal cancer screenings are more likely to comply than those who don’t. Forty-four percent of patients who received a reminder in the mail were screened, versus 38 percent who did not—an effect that increased with age. However, electronic reminders targeting physicians yielded no significant increase.
Topical treatment wipes out herpes with RNAi
January 21, 2009 - A topical treatment disables key proteins necessary for the herpesvirus to infect and thrive in the host. Using a laboratory strategy called RNA interference, or RNAi, the treatment cripples the virus in a molecular two-punch knockout, simultaneously disabling its ability to replicate, as well as the host cell’s ability to take up the virus.