Clinical diagnosis can be challenging – but the ongoing development of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers is paving the way towards improved therapy. This week, recent advances in biomarker research are presented in three articles published in BMC Medicine. Der-Yuan Chen and colleagues from National Yang-Ming University report the discovery of germinal center kinase-like kinase (GLK)… Read more »
The July issue of Genome Medicine includes two articles focusing on medical research for personalized cancer therapy. Firstly, a research article by John Carpten’s group used whole genome sequencing to analyze the somatic mutations and structural aberrations present in a tumor of the ampulla of Vater resected from a patient. This is a rare form… Read more »
It is obvious today that the ways in which we communicate are evolving. There is a far greater social element in the way we search for and share information, and this extends to medical information as well – but the temptation of ‘googling’ the vast array of official and unofficial healthcare websites leads to mixed… Read more »
Following the launch of DARU Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences last month, BioMed Central is pleased to add two more journals from the Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) to its portfolio. Journal of Diabetes & Metabolic Disorders and Iranian Journal of Environmental Health Science & Engineering have now published their first articles with us. Journal… Read more »
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, however a single cause is yet to be identified. It is thought that a combination of genetic and other factors are most likely to increase a person’s risk of developing the disease. Genetic research has confirmed that the ε4 allele of the apolipoprotein E (ApoE)… Read more »
The overall estimated prevalence of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases in western societies is 5-7%. Interestingly, the European Working Group on Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases has initiated a forum to foster collaborations in this important clinical field which includes diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and psoriasis. All three diseases have similar pathophysiology and… Read more »