Sow and piglets. (Photo by Keith Weller, courtesy of USDA Agricultural Research Service)Speaking at the BA Festival of Science in Dublin, Dr. Anthony Warrens will discuss how xenotransplantation, the process of transplanting organs from one species into another, could soon be a reality, easing the current shortage of organs for transplantation.

Mayo Clinic researchers in collaboration with scientists at Perlegen Sciences, Inc. and funded by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research have produced the first large-scale whole genome map of genetic variability associated with Parkinson’s disease. Their results highlight changes in 12 genes that may increase the risk for Parkinson’s disease in some people. Parkinson’s disease is a disabling and currently incurable disease that affects millions of people worldwide.

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine provide direct evidence that two parts of a neuronal system, one that promotes eating and another that suppresses eating, are critical for the acute regulation of eating and body weight, according to a study published online in the September 11 issue of Nature Neuroscience.

The European Commission has selected the EBI to coordinate a project that will stimulate and explore synergies between bioinformatics [the science of storing, retrieving and analysing large amounts of biological information] and medical informatics [the science of processing, sharing and using large amounts of medical information]. The SYMBiomatics project will culminate in a White Paper that will inform the Commission's funding policy on the synergy between these two rapidly growing areas. The aim is to facilitate and accelerate biomedical research and innovation, with the ultimate goal of improving Europe's efficiency at developing better tools and systems for disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

After the anthrax attacks in the United States in 2001 the threat of a larger and more deadly bioterrorism attack -- perhaps from smallpox, plague or tularemia -- became very real. But the ability to detect such biological agents and rapidly contain an attack is still being developed.

A new study reveals critical molecular events in the origin of fat cells. The findings are central to understanding chronic diseases, such as obesity and diabetes, as fat cells produce hormones critical for metabolic control, the researchers said.

Editor : Don't bother about all the fancy marketing buzzwords - it's just an automated ELISA assay. The application is still interesting tough!

One of the most lethal substances in the world – botulism – can be detected using special systems in about 20–25 minutes. Now, researchers at DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory can detect its presence in five minutes, using the lab’s successful Biodetection Enabling Analyte Delivery System, or BEADS combined with optical detection.

A temporary under-the-skin sensor could monitor a variety of health indicators for soldiers, athletes, diabetics, infants, and critically ill patients without wires and at a distance, according to a team of Penn State chemical engineers.

Tricking the body's immune system into ignoring stem cells will be the key to successful stem cell transplants, according to Professor Maggie Dallman, Imperial College London, speaking at the BA Festival of Science.