Researchers are identifying innovative therapeutics for sickle cell anemia that focus on specific factors in the disease's progression, such as the important role of hydration of the red blood cells. According to a study prepublished online in Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology, a novel small molecule therapy called senicapoc showed efficacy in maintaining hydration of red blood cells and increasing hemoglobin levels in patients with sickle cell anemia. Sickle cell anemia affects about 70,000 Americans, and millions worldwide.

People with manic depression have a distinct chemical signature in their brains, according to a new study. The research, published today in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, may also indicate how the mood stabilisers used to treat the disorder counteract the changes in the brain that it appears to cause.

"Chemical chaperones " might be able to help a mutant protein (green) do its job of removing excess cholesterol (blue) from cells. An unexpected finding turned out to be a clue leading researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis to propose a new treatment approach for Niemann-Pick disease, a rare, deadly neurodegenerative disorder.

A 'barcode' gene that can be used to distinguish between the majority of plant species on Earth has been identified by scientists who publish their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal today (Monday 4 February 2008).

Researchers from San Diego State University and the University of California have been using computer models to mimic the effects of underwater noise on an unusual whale species and have discovered a new pathway for sound entering the head and ears.

Scientists have made a major step towards understanding precisely which bugs in the gut are involved in which processes in the body, by mapping the different species of bugs living in seven members of the same Chinese family.

Parts of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) isolated from wild lions have undergone substantial genetic recombination, says research published in the online open access journal BMC Genomics. The sequencing of the two full FIV genomes of different lion subtypes shows the importance of whole-genome analysis in understanding complex genetic events. These findings will be relevant to big cat conservation and developing more effective animal models for HIV.

A study published online today in Genome Research (www.genome.org) describes new insights into Legionella pneumophila, the bacteria responsible for most cases of Legionnaires’ disease. This report investigates the genetic background of L. pneumophila, provides clues to the evolution and emergence of this pathogen, and describes the identification of a worldwide-distributed epidemic clone.

A pair of researchers has answered a puzzle about why efforts to lower the transmission of dengue virus in Thailand have not resulted in decreases in the severe, life-threatening, form of the infection. In fact, it seems to have had just the opposite effect.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Polygamous baboon fathers get more grandchildren if they spend a little time with their children during their juvenile years, according to research directed by scientists at Duke and Princeton universities.

Scientists know that a number of factors can affect the body's immune system: poor diet, certain steroids, chronic stress. Now researchers at Michigan State University have discovered that an appetite-controlling hormone also affects the immune system, while natural versions of certain steroids do not.

Natural flyers like birds, bats and insects outperform man-made aircraft in aerobatics and efficiency. University of Michigan engineers are studying these animals as a step toward designing flapping-wing planes with wingspans smaller than a deck of playing cards.

The President’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2009, if enacted, would spell disaster for the nation’s health, and by extension, our national effort to respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States.

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and Arizona State University have sequenced the genome of a rare bacterium that harvests light energy by making an even rarer form of chlorophyll, chlorophyll d. Chlorophyll d absorbs “red edge,” near infrared, long wave length light, invisible to the naked eye.