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DNA Binding Compound That Kills Bacteria In 2 Minutes Could Lead To New Antibiotics
A synthetic DNA binding compound has proved surprisingly effective at binding to the DNA of bacteria and killing all the bacteria it touched within two minutes. The DNA binding properties of the compound were first discovered in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Warwick by Professor Mike Hannon and Professor Alison Rodger (Professor Mike Hannon is now at the University of Birmingham). However the strength of its antibiotic powers have now made it a compound of high interest for University of Warwick researchers working on the development of novel antibiotics.
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Opinion Pieces Respond To Obama's Call For 'Empathy' In Supreme Court Justice
Two newspapers recently published opinion pieces responding to President Obama"s comments on the need for "empathy" in candidates to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter. Summaries appear below.~ Ellen Goodman, Boston Globe: When discussing Souter"s replacement, Obama said he will seek a nominee ""who understands that justice isn"t about some abstract theory. ... It is also about how our laws affect the daily realities of people"s lives,"" Globe columnist Goodman writes in an opinion piece. According to Goodman, Obama"s emphasis on the need for judicial "empathy" has sparked outrage among a "phalanx of horrified conservatives" who claim that "empathy is just a code word for the sentimental liberal bias in favor of underdogs over the Constitution." However, she continues, "let us remember that empathy is not sympathy. It doesn"t require that we take sides. Nor is it an emotional shortcut that upends all legal reasoning to declare a winner." According to Goodman, empathy "is rather the ability to imaginatively enter into the experience of others." She writes that the "capacity to recognize another person"s reality is not just liberal," adding that empathy "doesn"t trump reason, it informs reason." Goodman writes, "The truth is that we want judges who "get it,"" adding that the "myth of justice as a matter of pure objective reasoning that could be meted out by a computer is just that, a myth" (Goodman, Boston Globe, 5/22).~ Mike Rosen, Denver Post: Although Obama"s emphasis on empathy might seem "[c]ompassionate and seductive" to some, his stance "represents a radical and dangerous departure from traditional American jurisprudence," radio host Rosen writes in a Post opinion piece. Rosen writes, "When empathetic judges rule on their feelings, they are exceeding their authority," adding that the "role of the judicial branch of our government is to rule on the Constitution as written and the law as passed by Congress and signed by the president." According to Rosen, the courts "are a co-equal branch of government, not a superior branch," and judges should not "rule on what they think the law ought to be" because that would be "government by a presumptuous, unelected judiciary." Rosen continues that "judges are referees, not rule makers" because they are "not there to empathize with the fans or the players. They represent the rule book, and they aren"t authorized to … make it "fairer."" According to Rosen, the "dispute between conservatives and liberals on judicial activism is philosophical and irreconcilable." He concludes that Senate confirmation hearings for Obama"s nominee "should make for an interesting debate on these principles" (Rosen, Denver Post, 5/22).
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Stroke Patients Who Have Swallowing Problems Less Likely To Develop Chest Infections Thanks To New Technology
Recovering stroke patients and others who find it hard to swallow when they eat and drink are now at a lower risk of developing pneumonia or chest infections, thanks to new technology which will help assess and treat their swallowing difficulties. Many patients suffering from stroke, head injury or major trauma often have swallowing difficulties when food and drink can go down the wrong way - patients can later develop nasty chest infections and pneumonias.
Diagnostics

Genes Linked To Chemoresistance Identified By Researchers

Two genes may contribute to chemotherapy resistance in drugs like 5-fluorouracil, which is used in liver cancer treatment, according to Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center researchers. Liver cancer is a highly aggressive form that has limited therapeutic options. One of the key challenges with cancer treatment is that patients can develop resistance to chemotherapy. Researchers are examining ways to prevent resistance by determining the molecular mechanisms involved with cancer progression, and then developing new generations of chemotherapeutic agents. In the study, published online in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of July 13, researchers reported that two genes - astrocyte elevated gene-1, or AEG-1, and late SV40 factor, LSF, contribute to resistance of a commonly used chemotherapeutic drug called 5-fluorouracil, or 5-FU. The team found that over-expression of AEG-1 increased resistance of the liver cells to 5-FU. They observed that a second gene, LSF, is under the control of AEG-1 and mediates a series of molecular pathways involved the resistance to 5-FU. Previous studies suggest that the expression of AEG-1, is very low in normal cells or tissues such as breast, prostate, liver and brain. However, in cancers of the same organs, expression of AEG-1 is significantly increased. AEG-1 was initially cloned in the laboratory of Paul B. Fisher, Ph.D., director of the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine. Earlier this year, the team determined that AEG-1 modulates expression of genes relevant to the progression of liver cancer, including invasion, metastasis, resistance to chemotherapy, the formation of new blood vessels and senescence. They identified that LSF, a transcription factor that regulates gene expression, is increased by AEG-1. "Since AEG-1 is a key regulator of liver cancer development and progression, understanding how this molecule works will provide profound insights into the mechanism of liver cancer development," said principal investigator Devanand Sarkar, Ph.D., a Harrison Endowed Scholar in Cancer Research at the VCU Massey Cancer Center and assistant professor in the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics in the VCU School of Medicine. "By understanding these molecular pathways and mechanisms, we may be able to create new drugs to inhibit the expression of AEG-1 or LSF and even develop combination drug therapies to enhance the effectiveness of 5- fluorouracil." "These findings may have important therapeutic implications. Based on the expression level of AEG-1 or LSF in tumor biopsy samples, a clinician might determine whether a patient would respond to 5-fluorouracil and thus design an effective chemotherapeutic protocol," he said. Sarkar said that AEG-1 contributes to resistance to not only 5-FU, but also to other chemotherapeutics such as doxorubicin and cisplatin, although the molecular mechanism of resistance to the latter drugs is different from 5-FU. The team is currently conducting studies to further understand the molecular mechanisms by which AEG-1 induces resistance to chemotherapy so that this knowledge might be applied to develop strategies to maximize the efficacy of chemotherapeutics. Additionally, novel combinatorial treatment approaches that incorporate AEG-1 or LSF inhibition in a standard chemotherapeutic protocol will be evaluated for their efficacy in inhibiting liver cancer in animal models. This work was supported by grants from The Goldhirsh Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Dana Foundation. Sarkar worked with a team that included VCU School of Medicine researchers Byoung Kwon Yoo, Ph.D., Zao-zhong Su, Ph.D., Rachel Gredler, B.S., Nicollaq Vozhilla, D.V.M., Dong Chen, B.S., and Paul B. Fisher, M.Ph., Ph.D. Also contributing were Talitha Forcier, B.S., and Khalid Shah, Ph.D., from Harvard Medical School; and Utsav Saxena, and Ulla Hansen, Ph.D., from Boston University. The VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine also provided support in conducting these studies. Sathya Achia Abraham Virginia Commonwealth University


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