Health & Medicine - Thursday, January 21, 2010 10:52 - 1 Comment
Ebola’s deadly disguise

A research team has discovered that an Ebola protein known as VP35, which is involved in host immune suppression, actually masks the replicating viral ribonucleic acid (RNA), so the cell doesn’t recognize that there is an invading virus. Above, Ebola virions. (Courtesy: PLoS journal)
IOWA STATE—The Zaire Ebola virus has an uncanny ability to disguise itself, making it unrecognizable—and deadly—as an invading virus. Continue…
Health & Medicine - Nov 24, 2009 14:56 - 1 Comment
Swine in line for H1N1 vaccine

Iowa State University’s Hank Harris, professor of animal science, developed the vaccine this summer and has been shipping preventive doses to swine producers in Iowa, Kansas, and Illinois for several weeks. “This is the first time we’ve had a confirmed diagnosis and the farmer wanted to vaccinate,” says Harris.
IOWA STATE—The only swine vaccine available for the H1N1 virus has been sent to vaccinate a swine herd in Indiana infected with the virus. Continue…
Best of 2009 - Nov 6, 2009 11:39 - 15 Comments
BEST OF 2009: Parkinson’s dopamine killers

Anumantha Kanthasamy has been working to understand the complex mechanisms of Parkinson’s disease for more than a decade and thinks he has discovered a critical pathway that might lead to a cure.
IOWA STATE—Researchers have found an essential key that could lead to new treatments and possibly a cure for Parkinson’s disease. They have identified the protein that kills dopamine-producing cells in the brain—and a way to disable it. Continue…





