In an editorial that appears on the website of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy — Baylor College of Medicine Joint Program in Health Policy Research, two Baker Institute researchers Drs. Kirstin R.W. Matthews and Maude Cuchiara, warn that anecdotes are not proof and that treatments should be subjected to scientific scrutiny and validation … Continue reading
Monthly Archives: March 2015
Researchers seek to make mini-guts that mimic life
By Ruth SoRelle, M.P.H. A five-year, $5.1 million National Institutes of Health grant will help researchers from Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center engineer better “mini-guts” that are physiologically active. This grant will also allow engineering of the these cultures to mimic the stretch and pull … Continue reading
Many paths to degeneration for neurons
By Ruth SoRelle, M.P.H. Adult neurons are touchy. Too much protein can throw them off course, resulting in neurodegeneration. After showing how mutant ATAXIN1 (the protein associated with the neurodegenerative disorder spinocerebellar ataxia 1) cannot fold and be discarded properly, resulting in malfunctioning neurons, Dr. Huda Zoghbi, professor of molecular and human genetics at Baylor … Continue reading
Coactivator forges pathway for survival of metastatic prostate cancer
By Ruth SoRelle, M.P.H. A steroid receptor coactivator (SRC-2) drives the metabolic mechanism that allows prostate cancer not only to grow but also to spread or metastasize, opening the door to drug development said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears online in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. “This finding helps … Continue reading
Appropriate use of aspirin for heart health evaluated
Best viewed in Chrome, Firefox or Safari By Graciela Gutierrez Many people have taken to heart the advice to take an aspirin a day to help prevent heart attacks – maybe too much so. When researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center reviewed a nationwide sample of … Continue reading
Pinpointing novel ways to inhibit cancer growth
(Best viewed in Chrome,Firefox and Safari) By Glenna P. Vickers Selectively inhibiting the forms of a protein called Akt that promote cancer growth – without affecting forms of the same protein that deter cancer — can lead to more effective targeted cancer therapy, said researchers led by Dr. Thuy Phung, assistant professor of pathology & … Continue reading
From chick to bedside: Removing the Wnt barrier
By Ruth SoRelle, M.P.H. Kick starting a process that might repair the damage done in cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis could begin with disabling a driver that helps block regeneration, said Baylor College of Medicine researchers in a report that appears in the journal Neuron. When an infant is deprived of oxygen during or shortly … Continue reading
Image of the Month — Graphene ribbon as an ideal scaffold.
The large surface area of graphene, a thin, tightly packed layer of carbon atoms, makes it an ideal scaffold to which you can attach a variety of bio-related materials such as drugs, and imaging contrast agents for imaging techniques such as MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)/computerized tomography (CT) etc. The conjugate can also enhance targeting (via proteins/anti … Continue reading
From the Labs 