The idea that a failure of proper cell division produces genomic instability and promotes the development of cancer was first proposed by German biologist Theodor Boveri in 1915. The fact that tumor cells often have abnormal numbers of chromosomes supports this theory, and two papers provide new, more direct evidence to support this.
Research shows that adolescents who eat large amounts of fried food away from home are heavier and more likely to have a poor-quality diet. Among 14,355 children surveyed, researchers found that 9 to 14 year olds who increased their consumption of fried food away from home over the course of a year gained weight above the normal rate.
Boston Consortium awarded CDC Center of Excellence Grant to build medical record surveillance systems for real-time illness scans, allowing informed public health responses; teams will concentrate initially on sexually transmitted diseases, asthma, and influenza immunization.
The theoretical price of having one's personal genome sequenced just fell from the prohibitive $20 million dollars to about $2.2 million, and the goal is to reduce the amount further--to about $1,000--to make individualized prevention and treatment realistic.
Scientists have revealed details of a key step in the entry of anthrax toxin into human cells. The work shows that the protective antigen component of the bacterial toxin plays an active role in transferring the other two components of the toxin through the cell membrane.
Mice, rats, worms, flies, and yeast all live longer on a low-calorie diet, which also seems to protect mammals against cancer and other aging-related diseases. A gene called SIR2 is thought to control this process.
Researchers have found a molecule that is unexpectedly involved in dopamine signaling, and in a manner that supports the potential of dopamine as an alternative target for treating depression.
As the population ages, a growing number of people become more vulnerable to extreme summer heat. In 2003, a heat wave was blamed for 14,800 deaths in France. The July issue of the Harvard Health Letter offers tips for the elderly to beat this summer's heat.
Susan Horwitz, Ph.D., Professor of Cancer Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, will today be awarded the 17th annual Warren Alpert Foundation Prize. The foundation recognizes Dr. Horwitz for her seminal contributions to the understanding of how the antitumor agent Taxol inhibits the growth of cancer cells.
Using targeted RNA interference, or RNAi libraries, researchers at Harvard Medical School describe the first large-scale classification of kinase and phosphatase gene families on the basis of their role in apoptosis and cell survival.
Survey authors reported that a majority of Americans will have a mental health disorder at some time in their life, but that most are mild; that those disorders often go untreated; and that even when treatment does occur, the care provided will likely not meet recommended mental health treatment guidelines for the disease.
Despite childhood vaccination rates at all-time highs, pertussis (whooping cough) has re-emerged over the past two decades. Because of this resurgence, federal health policymakers are considering a national booster vaccination program.
The most frequent reason pediatricians prescribe antibiotics to young children is for an ear infection. With increased concerns about high rates of antibiotic use and resistance, recent guidelines suggest consideration of "watchful waiting" for some ear infections to see if they resolve without antibiotics.
In a study designed to isolate the root causes of violent behavior, researchers found that young teens who witnessed gun violence were more than twice as likely as non-witnesses to commit violent crime themselves in the following years.
One trend that has paralleled the rise of obesity in the last two decades has been the decline in frequency of children eating dinner with their families. Elsie Taveras and colleagues surveyed the frequency of family dinner among more than 14,400 9- to 14-year-olds and incidence of overweight.
Harvard Medical School and Project A.L.S., a non-profit organization that funds research seeking effective treatments and a cure for ALS, have agreed to join forces to advance ALS research.
On Friday, June 3, researchers will discuss key findings of the National Co-morbidity Survey Replication, a nationwide survey taken every 10 years to assess the mental health of the country. Via a teleconference, researchers will take reporter questions in the only national assembly of study investigators.
Using the human genome sequence annotation, high-throughput cloning methodologies, and automation, a group at the Harvard Institute of Proteomics mined public databases to collect the sequence information of all identified human kinase genes and have built a gene repository for this gene class.
Physicians with expertise or a specialty in HIV deliver better quality of care to patients with active HIV, reports Bruce Landon, Harvard Medical School associate professor of health care policy, and colleagues.
The Harvard Medical School Division of Medical Ethics will host a public forum, titled "Soliciting Organs Over the Internet," which will bring together an Internet donor matching service MatchingDonors.com and ethicists to discuss the changing landscape of organ donation.
Seeking to accelerate the pace of research into the molecular mechanisms that govern aging, philanthropist Paul F. Glenn has committed $5 million to Harvard Medical School over five years to launch the Paul F. Glenn Laboratories for the Biological Mechanisms of Aging.
New research shows that children between 8 and 15 years old who are in the upper half of the normal weight range are more likely than their leaner peers to become obese or overweight as young adults.
Structural biologists have shown how a key part of the human immunodeficiency virus changes shape, triggering other changes that allow the AIDS virus to enter and infect cells. Their findings offer clues that will help guide vaccine and treatment approaches.
Organ development in the embryo requires precise coordination and timing of cell growth in three-dimensional space to produce the correct anatomic form and shape. Researchers have demonstrated that the process of budding and branching in the developing lung is driven by mechanical forces generated within individual cells.
HMS researchers report that older physicians may be less likely to deliver currently accepted standards care. The study's findings show that the number of years a doctor has been in practice may decrease the likelihood of the doctor providing technically appropriate care.
Medical problems contributed to about half of all bankruptcies, involving 700,000 households in 2001, according to a story published today. Families with children were especially hard hit.
In a comparison of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use by adults in 1997 and 2002, researchers from Harvard Medical School found more than one in three U.S. adults (36.5 and 35.0 percent, respectively) used at least one form of CAM.
Researchers have discovered an enzyme that plays an important role in controlling which genes will be turned on or off at any given time in a cell. The novel protein helps orchestrate the patterns of gene activity that determine normal cell function. Their disruption can lead to cancer.
A new study provides evidence that a herpes vaccine developed by a Harvard Medical School researcher is a strong candidate for testing in humans. The study compared three different experimental vaccines for herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2), the virus that causes most cases of genital herpes.
The Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School will present Bill Moyers with the 2004 Global Environmental Citizen Award on Wednesday, December 1.
Most genes carry out their tasks by making a product"“a protein or enzyme. The new gene, found in yeast, does not produce a protein. It performs its function, in this case to regulate a nearby gene, simply by being turned on.
Researchers have now discovered that caffeine works by thwarting one of two interacting physiological systems that govern the human sleep-wake cycle. The researchers propose a novel regimen to help those who need to stay awake get a bigger boost from their tea or coffee.
Harvard Medical School (HMS) is taking steps to dramatically advance the field of Sleep Medicine through the simultaneous establishment of three endowed chairs all devoted to this emerging critical field of medicine.
Researchers have uncovered a missing link in our understanding of how human papillomaviruses gain their foothold in the rapidly dividing cells of the skin and mucous membranes. The discovery could lead to new treatments for a host of human papillomavirus-related conditions.
Seven Harvard schools, seven Harvard-affiliated teaching hospitals, and close to 100 researchers and scientists are banding together in an ambitious new institute with a simple goal: to explore the promising area of stem cell research.
This day dedicated to the Civil Rights Movement includes a keynote address by NAACP Chairman Julian Bond, HMS faculty presentations about their extensive experiences in the Movement, a panel discussion about current civil rights, social justice, and health disparities issues.
Academics and public health experts will hold two Capitol Hill briefings on Thursday, January 29 to release a white paper on the public health consequences arising from global warming's impact on the marine environment.
A research team has identified a group of small molecules that inhibit a deadly toxin associated with inhalational anthrax.
Large increases in co-payments in tiered prescription drug plans increase the likelihood that patients will choose not to pay them and to stop taking prescribed drugs, including needed medications for chronic illnesses such as heart disease and acid reflux, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine.
A new mouse model developed by Harvard Medical School researchers may allow scientists for the first time to spotlight two key proteins in a living animal and see how they contribute to the neuronal death and atrophy found in neurodegenerative diseases.
Improved Procurement Could More than Double Availability of Life-saving Transplant Organs. Yet Study Finds that Even with Greater Efficiency, Supply of Organs Will Not Meet Transplant Demand.
The Department of Systems Biology will seek to understand the causes of diseases at the level of cells and organ systems, and identify new approaches for treatment
Researchers have created a vaccine that could become a powerful defensive weapon against bioterrorism. The new vaccine prods the immune system to attack both the anthrax bacterium and the toxins it makes. The currently available vaccine targets only the toxins.
Mice, rats, worms, flies, and yeast all live longer on a low-calorie diet, which also seems to protect mammals against cancer and other aging-related diseases. Now, in yeast cells, researchers have for the first time found a way to duplicate the benefits of restricted calories in yeast with a group of compounds found in red wine and vegetables.
Scientists have cleared up some of the mystery surrounding a key structure in the developing brain that helps form the visual circuits. Their findings could provide new insight into early brain defects.
Millions of Americans suffer from major depression each year, and most are not getting proper treatment for this debilitating disorder, according to a two-year nationwide study.
Alfred Sommer, MD, MHS, Dean, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, will be honored today with the fifteenth annual Warren Alpert Foundation Scientific Prize for his pioneering work that showed that four cent vitamin A capsules can prevent the deaths of millions of lives and blindness in the developing world.
Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School have located a vulnerable pocket in the protein that coats the dengue virus, a potentially deadly mosquito-transmitted disease that has been reported in the United States and is commonly found in developing countries.
Racial and ethnic diversity in the student population is a positive influence that helps medical students work more effectively with patients of different backgrounds, according to a study.
Researchers from Harvard Medical School and colleagues report the discovery of a small compound called "blebbistatin" that blocks the final cleavage motion after cells have duplicated and separated their chromosomes.
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