Myotonic dystrophy leads to muscle weakness – but also to cardiac arrhythmias, diabetes and cognitive disorders. In fact, Charles Thornton told BioWorld Today, "dystrophy is a bit of misnomer" for the disorder, which he considers closest to a neurodegenerative disease.

Just in recent weeks, beta-amyloid has gotten another round of bad press, with several studies providing fresh support for the idea that amyloids are a cause of Alzheimer's disease.

Scientists have reported that through exome sequencing, they have been able to identify changes that characterize each of the four recognized subtypes of the brain cancer medulloblastoma.

Until quite recently, if you talked about a cure, AIDS researchers assumed you were either a fool or an ACT UP activist. Now, three patients appear to have been cured.

WASHINGTON – HIV medications are somewhat unusual in that there is enough of a demand for them in the developed world to make developing such medications worth the biopharma industry's while. But the majority of the people who need them are not able to pay their asking price in the West – or rather, the national health systems of the low and middle-income countries (LIMCs) they call home are not able to afford the price tag.

WASHINGTON – As researchers continue to look for treatments and cures, one place where they are looking is in those rare patients who are naturally able to deal with HIV. Those patients fall into several groups.

WASHINGTON – At the International AIDS conference, reminders that HIV is not just a life-threatening infection, but also a social challenge, are constant.

WASHINGTON – Perhaps nothing illustrates the sense of hope that pervades the 19th International AIDS Conference being held in Washington this week like a much-repeated anecdote – told at least three time in as many sessions – about the casketmaker in Lesotho complaining about how much business is down due to the increased survival times of HIV-infected individuals.

The notion that one gene can make only one protein, once a central tenet of molecular biology, has long since been revised. One gene can make several proteins through alternative splicing.

Anyone who thinks that the term "the dismal science" refers to economics is clearly not involved in clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease, an indication which has dashed the last 13 Phase III trials attempting to make a dent in it.