— Short hairpin RNA molecules were able to block the production of the CCR-5 receptor in mice engineered to possess human immune cells, pointing to a possible therapy against HIV/AIDS in the future. People who lack this CCR-5 receptor on their cells seem to have natural resistance to HIV, but this mutation is extremely rare.

– According to a case report, an adolescent girl was infected with rabies last year, but survived without intensive care. There are a couple caveats – including that she tested positive for virus-neutralizing antibodies only after being given the rabies vaccine — but despite this first-of-its-kind case, experts stress that rabies remains highly dangerous.

— The next step toward an electronic network for US healthcare? It’s in the Department of Justice and Homeland Security, apparently. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT reportedly plans to use one of the department’s information exchange networks as a testing ground for its Nationwide Health Information Network. (GovHealthIT)

— Walk like an Egyptian, but please don’t eat like one. Researchers say that the lavish banquets ancient Egyptian priests offered the gods were full of food with high fat content. The priests also brought the food home to their families, and an analysis of 16 mummies found that nine had evidence of clogged arteries. (BBC)

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— There are plenty of questions of trust today in Washington, DC, as the President’s health care summit goes live. Yesterday, however, at least one was answered: The House voted overwhelmingly to repeal an exemption from antitrust laws for health insurance companies. The exemption had been in place since the end of World War II. (CNN)

– The addiction researcher accused of fabricating data – and hiring actors to clear his name — was reportedly found dead in his home on Tuesday. William Fals-Stewart, a former University of Buffalo professor, faced new charges last week for false testimony provided in his 2008 fabrication case; a conviction could have yielded him 15 years in prison. (Buffalo News)

— Pharma is hoping that customers will follow their peers. Several companies are finding that peer-influence marketing, which uses testimonials and advice from real people, is the way of the future. Eight of the top 50 selling drugs have ads featuring real users, and that’s expected to increase as companies abandon celebrity endorsements and other methods. (WSJ)

– Animal rights activists are going after more than just researchers, now – they’re going after researchers’ children, too. Activists are planning to leaflet the school campus of a neurobiologist’s son, educating classmates on his father’s non-human primate research. (LAist)

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— The US National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration announced today a partnership to advance regulatory science and better integrate the drug research and approval processes. The three-year initiative includes the creation of a joint council and a public hearing this spring on how the FDA and NIH can bring safer products to market sooner.

— Researchers have developed a new method for detecting whether drug candidates hit their targets. The process, called ‘microscale thermophoresis’, registers the energy released when two compounds combine to determine the binding effectiveness of a drug candidate. The creators of the test say it can be performed in blood samples, not just buffer solutions.

— Pull out the Purell and slide on your surgical masks. Well, not really. Scientists have created three new virulent strains of flu in test tubes. Genes were shuffled between avian and seasonal strains, yielding more than 250 combinations. When these strains were tested among mice, 22 proved more easily transmittable than seasonal flu, and three of these were also more fatal. (Reuters)

— Scientists have found that a human protein implicated in cancer can also revive dying arabidopsis plants. The protein, insulin responsive aminopeptidase (IRAP), is a human analog of aminopeptidase M1 (APM1), which contributes to root development in plants. Lab animals, hold back your squeaks of celebration, but according to the authors of this study, arabidopsis might prove to be a plant model for cancer. (ScienceDaily)

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— The UK’s Wellcome Trust released its ten-year strategic plan for medical research yesterday. The five challenges it mentions include applying genetics to improve health and investigating the development of chronic disease. Last month, the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council outlined its five-year plan, noting among it priorities further basic research into health.

— A survey of almost 250 clinical research projects in the UK found that investigators believe their efforts are hampered by a lengthy drug approval process. The survey suggests that these conditions could lead some scientists to leave the UK in search of more research-friendly environments. (ScienceDaily)

— An anesthesiologist accused of fabricating data for trials of painkillers Vioxx and Celebrex entered a guilty plea yesterday. Scott Reuben, a former chief at Baystate Medical Center in Massachusetts, now faces a different set of hard numbers: repaying over $300,000 in research grants, along with up to ten years in prison. (Pharmalot)

— An investigation into more than 5 million newborn blood samples collected by the Texas government between 2002 and 2009 found that the state gave 800 of the samples to the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory in Washington, DC. The blood samples, which were embroiled in a legal battle over parental consent last December, added to a national mitochondrial DNA database for use in forensics. (Texas Tribune)

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