A London, Canada scientist studying cystic fibrosis (CF) has successfully corrected the defect which causes the overproduction of intestinal mucous in mice.

Researchers in Japan and Canada have discovered a key component of the quality control mechanism that operates inside human cells – sometimes too well. The breakthrough has significant implications for the development of new treatments for cystic fibrosis (CF) and some other hereditary diseases, the researchers say. Their results were published July 25 in the journal Science.

Responding to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which concluded that lung transplants were harmful for children with cystic fibrosis, articles published in the latest issue of Pediatric Transplantation refute the conclusions and argue that the highly influential research was severely flawed.

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation announced today that VX-770, an oral drug in development that targets a basic defect in CF, showed promising results in an ongoing Phase 2a clinical trial for patients who carry the G551D mutation of CF. The drug is being developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated.

New U of T research holds promise for developing innovative therapies against cystic fibrosis and may also serve as a model for future therapies against the HIV virus.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have identified a key molecular mechanism that may account for the development of cystic fibrosis, which about 1 in 3000 children are born with in the US every year.

A brief report in the February 28, 2008, New England Journal of Medicine, led by researchers at the New England Newborn Screening Program (NENSP) of the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS), indicates a declining incidence of a genetic disease, providing what may be the first demonstration of a link between two independent population-based screening programs.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have demonstrated that a bacterial toxin from the common bacterium Staphylococcus aureus shuts down the control mechanism of the tunnel, called an ion channel, in immune cell membranes.

A recent study by Dr Christina Haston, a researcher of the McGill University Health Centre research Institute, sheds some new light on the bone problems that generally accompany cystic fibrosis.

An experimental drug that has proven effective in treating muscular dystrophy also works for cystic fibrosis, according to researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation reported today that key indicators of health for people with cystic fibrosis -- including lung function and nutritional status -- are rising nationwide across its accredited care center network.

University of California, San Diego researchers have proven in animal studies that fibrosis in the liver can be not only stopped, but reversed.