Natural Killer (NK) cells ensnare dangerous cells, such as tumour cells and those infected with bacteria and viruses that are on the run with a bungee-like nanotube, according to research published this week in PNAS. The study shows that NK cells use this bungee to destroy cells that could otherwise escape them.

Researchers are keen to understand how NK cells work because they help the body to fight infection and stop tumours from growing. It is thought that it may ultimately be possible to design drugs that harness the cells' ability to fight disease.

New research published in Stroke has linked the risk of suffering a stroke to the presence of a certain type of antibody in the immune system. According to the study, researchers may now be able to develop a vaccine that can mobilize the body's own defence against arteriosclerosis and stroke.

The study compared 227 individuals who had suffered stroke over a 13-year period with 445 sex and age-matched controls. After controlling for other risk factors (age, sex, smoking habits, cholesterol levels, diabetes, BMI and blood pressure), they were able to show that low levels (below 30 per cent of average) of PC antibodies correlated with a higher risk of stroke, which in women meant an almost three-fold increase.

Self-Aggrandising Pseudoscience Castigated - Wakefield Struck Off By GMC


Following the longest medical misconduct inquiry ever held in the U.K., Andrew Wakefield has been struck off by the GMC, the General Medical Council.  The GMC, an independant charitable organisation, is responsible in the UK for the registration of medical doctors and for the supervision of their conduct.  The GMC enjoys a global high reputation for its ethics and integrity.

Brian Deer has exposed much wrongdoing by Wakefield and has been the subject of a (withdrawn) libel suit by him.  He reports in the UK's Sunday Times, 31st Jan 2010:

Malaria and cholera take devastating tolls in the developing world. Mosquito-borne Malaria kills more than 1 million people annually and no vaccine currently exists. Cholera, a diarrheal illness
that is common in developing countries, can be fatal and the lone vaccine is too expensive to prevent outbreaks after floods.  Despite the challenges posed by the malaria and cholera, University of Central Florida biomedical researchers say they have developed what may be the first low-cost dual vaccine for both

What does it take to stop a deadly bioterrorism attack? A strong military? Secured borders? Good Political leaders? If you chose any of the above, you're wrong. The answer is actually llamas--or their proteins to be exact.

According to a new study in PLoS One, single domain antibodies found in llamas (sdAb) may  help scientists detect botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs), substances 100 billion times more toxic than cyanide, which the Centers for Disease Control says pose a potential bioterror threat.

Using insect cells, scientists in Vienna have developed an alternative method for producing the H1N1 vaccine. The researchers say the discovery, detailed in the Biotechnology Journal, will aid the fight against influenza pandemics by speeding up production and making it easier to meet the demand for vaccines.

 "Recent outbreaks of influenza highlight the importance of a rapid and sufficient vaccine supply for pandemic and inter pandemic strains," said co-author Florian Krammer from the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Science in Vienna. "However, classical manufacturing methods for vaccines fail to satisfy this demand."

Children whose parents refuse to vaccinate them are nine times more likely to get chickenpox compared to fully immunized children, according to a new study led by a vaccine research team at Kaiser Permanente Colorado's Institute for Health Research.  The study was published today in the January issue of the journal Archives of Pediatrics&Adolescent Medicine.

To assess the risk of varicella vaccine refusal, researchers reviewed the electronic health records of 86,993 children between the ages of 12 months and 8 years who were members of Kaiser Permanente Colorado between 1998 and 2008. First, investigators confirmed which children
had varicella infections. Next, they verified whether parents had refused some or all varicella vaccines for their children.

 Researchers working in a high containment laboratory at the CDC in Atlanta, GA have discovered how the smallpox virus kills. In a study published in the FASEB Journal, the team says that the virus, now eradicated by vaccination, cripples the immune systems by attacking molecules made by our bodies to block viral replication.

 In a high containment laboratory at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, scientists produced the recombinant proteins from the variola virus and a similar virus that affects monkeys, causing monkeypox.  The researchers then showed that cells infected