globin gene variant transferred to hematopoietic stem cells can correct sickle cell anemia.

Injuries of eye lenses can induce significant axonal regeneration of the optic nerve.

The proto-oncogene c-Myc has been implicated in the genesis of many different types of tumors, but its role in normal physiology remains unclear. In December 13 Nature, Andreas Trumpp and colleagues from University of California at San Francisco show that in mammals c-Myc controls the decision to divide or not to divide and thereby functions as a crucial mediator of signals that determine organ and body size.Trumpp et al. generated an allelic series of mice in which c-Myc expression was incremen

RI-induced mast cell survival, but has no obvious role in mast cell development.

not a decrease in T cell production.

The normal function of amyloid precursor protein, involved in Alzheimer's disease, is to transport cellular materials along the axons.

Asymptomatic nasopharyngeal carriers of Streptococcus pneumoniae can be a reservoir for severe pneumonia in children and the elderly, but there is no treatment regime that can specifically reduce the number of pneumococci without affecting the normal indigenous mucosal flora. In December 7 Science, Jutta Loeffler and colleagues from The Rockefeller University, New York, show that seconds after contact, a purified pneumococcal bacteriophage lytic enzyme (Pal) is able to kill common pneumococci, i

inhibits transcription of the albumin gene and could lead to cachexia.

antigen-presenting cell interface.

Axonal regrowth following a spinal cord injury is limited and has its peak in intensity immediately after the injury. But, in December 1 Journal of Neuroscience, Jean Coumans and colleagues from Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, show that delaying treatment with transplants and exogenous neurotrophic factors after spinal cord injury results in more permissive conditions for spinal cord regeneration and functional recovery.Coumans et al. used rats with medullar transection tha

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia with mixed-lineage leukemia gene (MLL) translocations has a particularly poor prognosis, but it is not clear if host-related factors or tumor-intrinsic biological differences are responsible for these poor survival rates. In December 3 on line Nature Genetics, Scott Armstrong and colleagues from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, show that acute leukemia with MLL translocations has a gene expression profile that identifies them as a unique, new type

Severe influenza infections can kill, particularly neonates and the elderly, but despite this little is known about the viral proteins involved in pathogenicity. In December Nature Medicine, Weisan Chen and colleagues from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, US, describe a novel influenza A virus mitochondrial protein that induces cell death in host immune cells sent to destroy the influenza virus.Chen et al. searched for alternative peptides encoded by influenza