LONDON – A more detailed understanding of the workings of the membrane-bound pump that many bacteria use to eject antibiotics will, researchers hope, lead to ways of making bacteria once again susceptible to antibiotics that currently fail to kill them.

LONDON – A huge international study has established that a rare liver disease, which often occurs simultaneously with inflammatory bowel disease, is, in fact, a separate disease.

LONDON – A new study has connected known differences in the metabolism typical of cancer cells to the pathway leading to apoptosis, or cell death. Researchers working in Finland have, for the first time, linked metabolic changes in cancer cells to the mechanism that, in normal cells, prevents abnormal cellular proliferation.

A new study has connected known differences in the metabolism typical of cancer cells to the pathway leading to apoptosis, or cell death. Researchers working in Finland have, for the first time, linked metabolic changes in cancer cells to the mechanism that, in normal cells, prevents abnormal cellular proliferation. The discovery is likely to encourage drug developers to consider whether existing drugs that modify cellular metabolism could be used in the future to treat cancer.

LONDON – Scientists are close to identifying new genes that may be linked to several eye diseases in humans, many of which cause blindness. The researchers are being guided by genes they have found in mice that, when absent, cause similar defects to those occurring in the eyes of humans who are affected by conditions such as one type of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

A fault in glucose metabolism lies at the heart of polycystic kidney disease, a common inherited condition that can cause end-stage renal failure by the age of 50, new research has shown.

LONDON – The part of the immune system that deals with viruses and other pathogens can also delay the healing of bone fractures, a new study has found.

LONDON – The genome of the tapeworm has been sequenced, providing researchers with a panoply of genes that may provide new targets for treatment of those parasites. Scientists hope that, by identifying tapeworm genes that are similar to human genes, it may be possible to select candidate drugs that are already approved for use against other conditions, such as cancer.

LONDON – Study of a family affected by an inherited neurological disease has helped to reveal the identity of an enzyme that could point the way to new therapies for cancer and cardiovascular disease.

LONDON – Identification of a protein that orchestrates many of the changes that permit a normal cell to turn into a cancer cell will open up an entirely new field of cancer therapeutics, the researchers who made the discovery predicted.