Salk Institute for Biological Studies

HIV Inactivates the Body's Cellular Smart Bomb
07 Jul 03 | HIV eludes one of the body's key smart bomb defenses against infection, and this finding may lay the groundwork for new drugs to treat AIDS, according to a new Salk Institute study.

Salk Researcher Wins Major National Institutes of Health Grant for Work on Brain-Immune Interactions, Potential Autoimmune Disease Treatments
01 Jul 03 | A Salk Institute scientist has been awarded a $3.3 million grant and the Jacob Javits Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for his work in identifying how the immune and nervous systems interact to ward off disease.

Salk Scientists Identify Pathway That Determines When Plants Flower
18 Jun 03 | Salk scientists have defined a new pathway that controls how plants flower in response to shaded, crowded conditions, and their findings may have implications for increasing yield in crops ranging from rice to wheat.

Cell Receptor Controls Body Fat Despite Food Consumption
18 Jun 03 | A cellular receptor that helps tailor responses to stress also keeps the body lean despite high-fat diets, a Salk Institute research team has found. But this leanness only appears under certain conditions, including a high-fat diet.

Salk Professor Ronald Evans Awarded Two Major Prizes
15 Jun 03 | Professor Ronald Evans, the March of Dimes Chair in Molecular and Developmental Biology, has received the 2003 March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology for his pioneering the molecular pathways that lead to the most common chronic diseases.

Male Sex Hormones Cooperate With Breast Cancer Gene To Suppress Tumors, Salk Scientists Find
09 Jun 03 | BRCA-2, a gene linked with breast and ovarian cancer, cooperates with male sex hormones to enhance its ability to activate transcription of genes, which may suppress tumor formation in normal cells, Salk Institute researchers have found.

Motor Nerve Cell "Factory" Findings May Elicit Treatments for Spinal Cord Injury, Disease
04 Jun 03 | Manufacturing motor nerve cells may someday be possible to help restore function in victims of spinal cord injury or such diseases of motion as Parkinson's and Lou Gehrig's disease or post-polio syndrome, a Salk Institute research study has found.

Salk Professor Thomas Albright Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
09 May 03 | Thomas Albright, a Salk Institute professor of neuroscience and director of the vision center laboratory, was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. On May 5, the academy named 187 fellows and 29 foreign honorary members.

Salk Professor Fred H. Gage Elected to National Academy of Sciences
29 Apr 03 | Salk Institute Professor Fred H. Gage has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. The election was held April 29 during the business session of the 140th annual meeting of the Academy.

Salk Researchers Find Receptor That Controls Obesity
17 Apr 03 | A cellular receptor that balances the accumulation of fat and fat burning in the body may be a new target for anti-obesity and cholesterol-fighting drugs, according to a Salk Institute study, published in the April 18 issue of Cell.

Gene Transfer Reduces Levels of Key Alzheimer's Disease Protein
25 Mar 03 | A molecule that naturally degrades a protein linked to Alzheimer's disease appears to reduce the levels of that protein by nearly 50 percent when delivered by gene therapy, researchers at the Salk Institute and UC San Diego have found.

Genetic Link May Tie Together Pesticides, ADHD, Gulf War syndrome and Other Disorders
17 Mar 03 | Research at the Salk Institute has identified a gene that may link certain pesticides and chemical weaponry to a number of neurological disorders, including the elusive Gulf War syndrome and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Science Watch Ranks Salk Institute Scientists Among Nation's Most Influential in Molecular Biology and Genetics Research
15 Jan 03 | The Salk Institute for Biological Studies has been ranked as one of the nation's leaders in molecular biology and genetics research by Science Watch, a publication that monitors trends and performances in basic research.

Salk Institute and SUGEN Scientists Map 'Human Kinome’'
05 Dec 02 | A California research team has mapped an entire group of human enzymes, providing important information for the development of a new generation of drugs to treat cancer and other diseases. The findings will be published in the Dec 6 issue of Science.

Salk Institute Professor Sydney Brenner Receives 2002 Nobel Prize for Medicine
07 Oct 02 | Sydney Brenner, a distinguished professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, is one of three recipients of this year's Nobel Prize in medicine for his contributions toward discoveries about how genes regulate organ growth.

HIV Targets Active Genes in Cells
22 Sep 02 | HIV selectively inserts itself into active areas of a host cell's genome, Salk Institute researchers have found for the first time. The fact may help explain why HIV can replicate, or reproduce itself, so rapidly.

New Insight Into How Eyes Become Wired To The Brain Discovered By Salk, UT Southwestern Scientists
01 Sep 02 | A crucial piece of the puzzle into how the eye becomes wired to the brain has been revealed by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif., and UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

Salk Scientists Find Evidence For "Hit and Run" Cancer Mechanism
17 Jul 02 | The Salk team showed that a common respiratory virus, called adenovirus, can disrupt a cellular sensor that detects damage to DNA. Disabling this sensor can render ineffective key growth-controlling genes, resulting in mutations that lead to cancer.

Salk Institute Awarded for “Exemplary Partnership” with Local High School
05 Jun 02 | In recognition of its deep commitment to Morse High School students, the Salk Institute has been awarded the "Exemplary Partnerships Award" and the "Ten-Year Partnerships Award" by San Diego City Schools.

Gene Therapy Reverses Male Infertility In Salk-led Study
27 May 02 | Treated mice produced healthy offspring that did not contain the introduced gene or vector, alleviating concerns that treating infertility via gene therapy would genetically alter any progeny produced from the treatment, as well as their descendants.