Results:

Why targeted cancer therapies have not hit the ‘bull’s-eye’   Published 07/07/05
Melissa Marino, Ph.D.

An informal search of medical news Web sites on any given day will typically return dozens of reports on the discovery of a new cancer-related gene, yet between 2000 and 2005 only five new agents were approved for the treatment of cancer.   [read more]
Viagra and the value of serendipity   Published 07/07/05
Melissa Marino, Ph.D.

Jackie Corbin, Ph.D., didn’t set out to develop a drug. He just wanted to do good science and understand how the body works.   [read more]
Thinking outside the cell   Published 07/07/05
Melissa Marino, Ph.D.

While most researchers plumb the depths of the cell to find drug targets for modern-day ailments, Billy Hudson, Ph.D, advances into the great expanse beyond the cells’ margins to uncover drug targets hidden in this extracellular netherworld.   [read more]
Autopsy of the living   Published 02/27/06
A brief history of imaging science
Melissa Marino, Ph.D.

On the evening of November 8, 1895, an accidental discovery ushered in a scientific and medical revolution that would allow us to see inside the living human body for the first time.   [read more]
Collateral Damage   Published 12/13/04
Saving the innocent bystander in the battle against infection
Melissa Marino, Ph.D.

Inflammation is the body’s response to injury or infection. But the chemical weapons used to subdue invading microbes also can damage surrounding tissue, and contribute to diseases of chronic inflammation as diverse as arthritis and Alzheimer’s disease. By deciphering the language of inflammation, scientists hope to learn new ways to quench “the fires within.”   [read more]
A survival advantage   Published 12/13/04
The origin of inflammation
Melissa Marino, Ph.D.

Immunity and inflammation are almost as old as life itself.   [read more]
How inflammation attacks   Published 12/13/04
Melissa Marino, Ph.D.

Alzheimer’s disease

Amyloid plaques that form in brains of those with AD show significant amount of associated inflammation.   [read more]
The infection connection   Published 12/13/04
Microbial triggers of chronic inflammation
Melissa Marino, Ph.D.

What lights the fires of chronic inflammation? Persistent infection is the culprit in some conditions, including ulcers. There is evidence that it may play a role in multiple sclerosis and premature labor as well.   [read more]
The best defense… is a good inflammatory response   Published 12/13/04
Melissa Marino, Ph.D.

Perhaps the best evidence for the importance of inflammation is what can happen in its absence.   [read more]
The brain at rest   Published 02/27/06
Melissa Marino, Ph.D.

The human brain is an energy glutton. Comprising only about 2 percent of body weight, it consumes nearly 20 percent of the body’s oxygen intake. Why does the brain need so much energy, even when it is at rest?   [read more]
How to Make an Atomic Drug   Published 02/27/06
Melissa Marino, Ph.D.

Robert Baldwin, Ph.D., is on the front lines of a major national effort to develop new radiotracers, not only to improve understanding of brain diseases but to speed drug development.   [read more]
Babies at risk   Published 10/15/07
The genetics of sudden infant death syndrome
Melissa Marino, Ph.D.

Abnormal heart rhythms may underlie some cases of sudden infant death syndrome.  Now the question is: How should doctors look for them?   [read more]
Cardiac regeneration   Published 10/15/07
Conferring Healing Superpowers to the Heart
Melissa Marino, Ph.D.

Damaged hearts one day may be renewed, thanks to an experimental “regenerative medicine” technique that uses stem cells harvested from the patient’s bone marrow. The goal is to get the right cells to the right place, and get them to do the right thing -- turn into new heart muscle.   [read more]
Choosing sides   Published 08/15/08
Melissa Marino, Ph.D.

The brain carefully conceals its lopsided nature. While it appears outwardly symmetrical, certain functions, like language, are localized preferentially to one side of the brain or the other.   [read more]
The cholesterol conundrum   Published 10/15/07
The tricky balance between “good” and “bad” lipids
Melissa Marino, Ph.D.

Cholesterol is either “bad” or “good” depending upon the company it keeps; what’s transporting it around the body. Here’s the latest on efforts to keep it—and you—out of harm’s way.   [read more]
In the beginning   Published 02/08/07
What developmental biology can teach about cancer
Melissa Marino, Ph.D.

It could be nature’s cruelest joke—the genes and proteins that help sculpt the fertilized egg into a complex multicellular organism are also responsible for the birth of many cancers. Understanding the fundamentals of developmental biology could lead to new treatments for patients.   [read more]
Picturing the mind at work   Published 02/27/06
The revealing beauty of brain imaging
Melissa Marino, Ph.D.

Since the discovery of the X-ray, scientists have tried to take pictures of the mind at work.   [read more]
Embryo’s cellular ‘dance’ may choreograph cancer, too   Published 02/08/07
Melissa Marino, Ph.D.

One of the classic examples of aberrant activation of a developmental pathway in cancer is the APC gene, a component of the Wnt signaling pathway. People with mutations in this gene, named for adenomatous polyposis coli, a pre-cancerous polyp found in the colon, have a high risk of developing colorectal cancer at a young age.   [read more]
Pathway to glioma?   Published 02/08/07
Melissa Marino, Ph.D.

The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway plays a critical role in embryonic development and has been linked to a number of different types of cancer.   [read more]
The fine art of brain development   Published 08/15/08
Melissa Marino, Ph.D.

It takes more than a hammer and chisel to shape the grandest sculpture of them all, the human brain. At least half the genome (10,000 genes or more) may be required. Equally surprising: development never stops. The living brain never achieves a “final” form.   [read more]

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