H1N1 Influenza Adopted Novel Strategy to Move from Birds to Humans

University of California, BerkeleyThe 2009 H1N1 influenza virus used a new strategy to cross from birds into humans, a warning that it has more than one trick up its sleeve to jump the species barrier. In a report in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, researchers show that the H1N1 virus adopted a new mutation in one of its genes distinct from the mutations found in previous flu viruses.

For the full story, Click Here

Earlier exposure to flu viruses makes people immune to H1N1 influenza

University of CaliforniaDScientists at University of California, Davis, have found that earlier exposure to the seasonal flu viruses provide people with some level of immunity to the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus. In their study, the researchers identified a group of immunologically important sites on the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus that are also present in other influenza viruses that have been circulating for years. The study has been published in the journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Anti-inflammatory drugs might treat resistant cancer

According to a study conducted by researchers from University of California, the Burnham Institute for Medical Research and the University of Copenhagen Hospital, anti-inflammatory drugs that are already in the market for the treatment of arthritis are also effective in treating a chemotherapy-resistant form of lymphoma. The research focused on a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma called diffuse large B-cell lymphoma discovered that anti-inflammatory drugs, etanercept and infliximab, used for arthritis shrank lymphoma tumors in mice.