Immune system component found common to both humans and worms. The innate immune system -- one of the most basic aspects of the overall immune response -- sets off the initial steps of the body's response to pathogens. Researchers have known that key components of innate immunity are conserved across a variety of animals, and now scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital have shown that these same elements are used by the lowly worm as well. National Institutes of Health, Advanced Research on Cancer of the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science (Japan) [EurekAlert - Medicine & Health]

C. elegans is a nice research model already. Being able to use it to study innate immunity will be grand.  6:18:14 AM    

Ulcer-causing bacteria use stomach inflammation to their advantage. The bacterium that causes stomach inflammation (gastritis), peptic ulcers and gastric cancer thrives in the human stomach by triggering changes in stomach cells and using those changes to its own advantage, say researchers in Sweden and at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Umea University, Swedish Society of Medicine, Swedish Society for Medical Research, County Council of Vasterbotten, others [EurekAlert - Medicine & Health]

This is very important research examining the process by which Helicobacter uses the inflammation process to its advantage, as any good organism tries to do. Understanding how this process works and why it can lead to ulcers, will help develop means to attack the infection.  5:59:15 AM    

Longer delays associated with better survival. Patients who experience the longest delay in treatment are more likely to survive, despite the popular assumption that delay has a significant and harmful impact on survival, finds a study in this week's BMJ. [EurekAlert - Medicine & Health]

Man, this kind of headline makes my head spin. Yes, it is literally true that the study found that people with longer delays between the first visit to the GP and the next at a specialist had better survival rates. But that is because the GPs and the consultants did some triage and moved those with more advanced cancers to the head of the line. Since the most sick were moved through the system faster, it makes sense that they might have a lower survival rate than those whose disease was much less further along. However, reading the headline, you might think that the best thing to do is to delay getting yourself to a doctor, which is entirely wrong. You should take your speed through the system as an indication of how far your cancer has progressed.  5:54:55 AM    

Scientists Worry Journals May Aid Terrorists. New York Times Jul 26 2002 1:18AM ET [Moreover - moreover...]

Okay, this is the scariest thing I have seen in a while. What happens to scientific progress if we can choose to withhold information from publication? How can one of the cornerstones of the scientific method, repeatability, stand when you are not given enough information to repeat it? The suggestion that all research carried out from government grants be reviewed by the government first is a real threat to the free exchange of information. History has shown that governments have ever increasing horizons for what MAY be important. And it is easier to just mark as confidential everything you see. This is one of the reasons for the Freedom of Information act. Many times, government will mark material as classified simply to cover its own mistakes. This sort of system is ripe for abuse. If it comes to pass, it could represent one of the greatest tragedies of this war. Government-sponsored, open scientific research has been one of the greatest ideas that America promulgated after WWII. It would be a shame to see this end because, in my opinion, it would hurt us much more than our enemies.   5:39:09 AM    

Deadly fish reveals hidden human genes [New Scientist]

Puffer fish sequenced [Nature Science Update]

Fish Genes Aid Human Discoveries. New York Times Jul 26 2002 1:18AM ET [Moreover - moreover...]

This is the result of Sydney Brenner's walk into the wilderness. He took on fugu as a research organism because it has hardly any 'junk' DNA. Almost any DNA you sequence will code for proteins. Fugu has about the same number of genes as humans, so knowling the complete sequence for it makes it much easier to find similar genes in humans. Now, of course, there are lots of differences between a human and a puffer fish, but the first step in identifying the differences is to know what is the same. Really nice work.  5:23:34 AM