Nathan Seppa

Biomedical Writer (retired September 2015)

All Stories by Nathan Seppa

  1. Health & Medicine

    Tough Nut Is Cracked: Antibody treatment stifles peanut reactions

    Researchers have successfully demonstrated the first preventive drug treatment against peanut allergy.

  2. Health & Medicine

    Protective virus ties up HIV docking sites

    A harmless virus that seems to keep HIV infections from progressing to AIDS appears to do so by occupying key molecular receptors on immune cells.

  3. Health & Medicine

    Blood sugar processing tied to brain problems

    Elderly people with slightly elevated blood sugar are more likely to have short-term memory problems than those with normal blood sugar.

  4. Health & Medicine

    Ulcer Clue? Molecule could be key to stomach ailment

    A protein called Ptprz binds with a bacterial toxin to produce ulcers in mice, possibly revealing a mechanism for the disorder.

  5. Health & Medicine

    Mixed Results: AIDS vaccine falters in whites, may help blacks

    In its first large test, an AIDS vaccine has failed to shield an at-risk population from acquiring AIDS.

  6. Health & Medicine

    HIV in breast milk can be drug resistant

    HIV-positive women who receive the drug nevirapine during pregnancy often have HIV that is resistant to the drug in their breast milk after they give birth.

  7. Health & Medicine

    Designer RNA stalls hepatitis in mice

    Using strips of synthetic RNA that interfere with normal gene action, scientists working with mice have stopped the progression of hepatitis.

  8. Health & Medicine

    Full Pipeline: Success of experimental AIDS drugs offers promise of future therapies

    Three experimental drugs—a monoclonal antibody, a protease inhibitor, and a fusion inhibitor—performed well in early tests on AIDS patients.

  9. Health & Medicine

    Carbon monoxide may limit vascular damage

    Carbon monoxide given in small doses to rats can prevent injury to blood vessels caused by surgery.

  10. Health & Medicine

    Huntington’s Advance: Drug limits disease effects in laboratory mice

    A compound that inhibits enzymes that act as stop signs for genes counteracts the movement disorders brought on by Huntington's disease, a mouse study suggests.

  11. Health & Medicine

    Too Much of a Good Thing: Excess vitamin A may hike bone-fracture rate

    Dietary studies suggest that people who consume large amounts of vitamin A in foods or multivitamins are more likely to suffer hip fractures than are people who ingest modest amounts.

  12. Health & Medicine

    Nifty Spittle: Compound in bat saliva may aid stroke patients

    An anticlotting molecule in the saliva of vampire bats combats strokelike brain damage in mice.