Gene that directs fate of many embryonic stem cells identified
Scientists have identified the gene that prompts embryonic stem cells to generate precursors to most internal organs.

University of California San Francisco
Give to UCSFScientists have identified the gene that prompts embryonic stem cells to generate precursors to most internal organs.
Some postmenopausal women carry a gene sequence that may lower their risk of breast cancer, according to new research from San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
UCSF researchers have found that HIV-infected homeless and marginally housed people who have trouble sticking to their antiviral regimens may temporarily delay the onset of full blown AIDS if they manage to take at least half of their anti-HIV medications.
A recent increase in severe reactions to the street drug "Ecstasy" has prompted the San Francisco division of California Poison Control System (CPCS) to renew alerts about the drug's dangers.
Cancer screening guidelines that recommend a test based on age are too simplistic, argues a new study from the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
HIV-positive women are three times more likely than other women to develop lesions that can lead to anal cancer, new research shows. The greater risk is due at least in part to weakened immune defenses against the common sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV).
A single exposure to cocaine triggers a week-long surge of activity in a brain region central to the development of addiction, according to new research on mice published this week in Nature. The changes may prime the brain for addiction, the researchers say.
HIV that has become resistant to powerful drugs called protease inhibitors may not be a dire sign of decline after all, researchers from the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology have shown.
Many older adults dread colon cancer screening, because the most effective screening tool, colonoscopy, is uncomfortable and invasive. A new study from San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center shows that a faster, safer, and potentially more pleasant technique works just as well.
A drug widely prescribed as the sole treatment for asthma has been found to be incapable by itself of preventing asthma attacks or controlling the airway inflammation thought to lead to deteriorated lung function and gradual worsening of asthma.
The Center for Mothers and Newborns and UCSF Children's Medical Center will star in a new documentary that features high-risk deliveries and natural childbirth, a "miracle" baby born after five miscarriages...
CHICAGO - Many frail elderly women who get routine mammography suffer significant burdens from the screening procedure with little chance to benefit from it, says a study from researchers at San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Pediatricians know that most of the health damaging threats to children in their teenaged years can be prevented if teens avoid dangerous risks and habits. Training can increase the number of times that health providers will put that knowledge into practice.
HIV infection among injection drug users (IDUs) in San Francisco is strongly associated with sexual behavior, with men who have sex with men (MSM) and women who trade sex for money much more likely to become infected than other IDUs, according to a study by UCSF researchers.
African American and Hispanic senior citizens who lack prescription drug benefits are three times more likely than white seniors to cut back on taking their medications, according to a study from researchers at San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
The first patent for a method of delivering normal genes in a pill to induce the production of insulin in people with diabetes was issued May 1 to the University of California, San Francisco by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Researchers led by UCSF scientists are reporting that a highly effective clot busting drug for stroke is significantly underutilized in all patient populations at U.S. academic medical centers, and is strikingly underutilized in African Americans.
Men who have sex with men (MSM) who are victims of childhood sexual abuse are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior than other MSMs, say researchers from UCSF's Center for AIDS Prevention (CAPS).
Simplifying women's access to hormonal contraceptives such as the pill would improve women's health, according to a UCSF study that appears in today's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
The highways and byways through which the brain exchanges messages require maintenance much as any municipal road. What would happen if such debris were left to accumulate? Alzheimer's disease would result.
The costs of caring for California community residents with Alzheimer's disease will increase 83 percent by 2020 and an additional 59 percent by 2040, according to UCSF researchers from the Institute for Health and Aging.
University of California, San Francisco researchers are reporting direct evidence that sleep in early life may play a crucial role in brain development.
A new study led by a University of California, San Francisco researcher shows that although raloxifene does not affect the cognitive performance of most women, it may help prevent decline among women older than 70 and women whose cognitive performance is declining regardless of age.
In fighting the body's immune system, HIV owes part of its success to its ability to destroy those cells normally recruited to mount the body's counter-attack against the HIV-infected cells...
Physicians are assuming a stronger stance in their negotiations with managed care organizations, and employers and federal and state governments are becoming more sophisticated about promoting and rewarding high quality care, according to UCSF researchers...
Anecdotes abound about the tumultuous state of physician affairs in California. However, there is no objective evidence that large numbers of doctors are leaving California, according to a report released by the UCSF Center for Health Professions.
With only 32 of its 302 nerves dedicated to detecting the odors that drift through its world, the lowly roundworm seems hard pressed to smell food, let alone discriminate friend from foe...
Nearly a decade ago, researchers determined that the brain contains a molecule that mimics the active ingredient in marijuana, but its location and role in the brain were unclear...
Researchers led by investigators at the University of California, San Francisco have discovered that the protein alpha1-antichymotrypsin can double the accumulation of Alzheimer's disease-associated amyloid plaque in the brains of mice, suggesting a possible new target for therapy in humans.