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Cytomegalovirus—a ‘stealth’ pathogen—gains attention in the drug development realm

Cytomegalovirus—a ‘stealth’ pathogen—gains attention in the drug development realm

Cytomegalovirus is sometimes called ‘the stealth virus’ because many people, including more than 50% of adults in the US, harbor the infection. But few individuals ever feel the effects of CMV unless something else squelches their immune system first—such as the immunosuppressing drugs given before a bone marrow transplant. Wherever the virus gains a foothold, it can create serious problems such as pneumonia, unrelenting diarrhea or inflammation in the eye. It’s also the most common viral infection in newborns and 1 out of every 750 infants born with CMV in the US will suffer permanent harm—hearing loss, brain damage, or even death—from this virus.  Read more

3D-printed material has tissue-like properties

A rubbery material made using a three-dimensional printer can transmit electrical signals and mechanically fold like biological tissue in predictable ways. The work, published in this week’s issue of Science by researchers at the University of Oxford, UK, could pave the way for tissue engineering, controlled drug release technologies or other medical applications.  Read more

New findings raise hopes for better blood pressure lowering drugs

A blood pressure drug in use for more than half a century might not work entirely in the way scientists had long thought. Reporting today in Nature Medicine, researchers have found in mice that spironolactone, a diuretic known to regulate hypertension through the kidneys, exerts part of its beneficial effect through the vasculature system, too.  Read more

FoldIt game’s next play: crowdsourcing better drug design

FoldIt game’s next play: crowdsourcing better drug design

Two years ago, FoldIt made headlines, lots of them, when players of the online protein-folding video game took three weeks to solve the three dimensional structure of a simian retroviral protein that is used in animal models of HIV, but whose structure had eluded biochemists for more than a decade. Seth Cooper, the game’s co-creator, captured the attention of the crowd at the TEDMED medical technology conference in Washington, DC by recounting how thousands of players competed in that FoldIt challenge despite the lack of prize money or prestige. He even brought on-stage the winner, a beaming British lab technician named Mimi Minet whose identity had not been previously disclosed to the public.  Read more

Fledgling Pakistani group looks to train medical students in research

Fledgling Pakistani group looks to train medical students in research

A recent Nature Medicine opinion article that called on the UK to fund more research opportunities for medical students resonated thousands of miles away. Pakistani medical students are now also asking their government to put more money toward educating young physician-researchers.  Read more

Analysts weigh in on speculation of further slimming by Pfizer

Analysts weigh in on speculation of further slimming by Pfizer

As economists puzzle over the future direction of global markets, there is a growing consensus among pharmaceutical industry analysts that slimming down will reap profits for Pfizer. Last week the company saw its stock price increase after an analyst at Goldman Sachs wrote that Pfizer’s chief executive, Ian Read, had signaled in a meeting she attended that he may go beyond the divestitures the company has already announced. Pfizer is already in the midst of spinning off its nutritional and animal health businesses, and last week’s news raised speculations from analysts that other divisions may also be destined for the chopping block in the near future.  Read more