Latest Biology News from Bio-Medicine.Org

Understanding the past and predicting the future by looking across space and time

Fri, 24 May 2013 01:19:44 MST

MADISON, Wis. Studying complex systems like ecosystems can get messy, especially when trying to predict how they interact with other big unknowns like climate change. In a new paper published this week (May 20) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , researchers from the University of WisconsinMadison and elsewhere validate a fundamental assumption at the very heart...

New research shows that potatoes provide one of the best nutritional values per penny

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:19:29 MST

May 24, 2013 A frequently expressed concern in the ongoing public health debate is the lack of affordability of fresh vegetables, especially those that are nutrient dense. A new study, "Vegetable Cost Metrics Show That Potatoes and Beans Provide Most Nutrients Per Penny," published in the journal PLOS ONE , shows that potatoes are one of the best nutritional values in the produce aisle, prov...

Frontiers launches new open-access journal in physics

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:12:41 MST

Frontiers, one of the world's largest and fastest growing open-access publishers, today announces the launch of a new journal, Frontiers in Physics . A broad scope journal covering all specialties, Frontiers in Physics will provide an open-science and interactive web platform for the research community to publish high quality and rigorously peer-reviewed articles. Frontiers' real-t...

JCI early table of contents for May 24, 2013

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:38:42 MST

Modulating the immune system to combat metastatic cancer Cancer cells spread and grow by avoiding detection and destruction by the immune system. Stimulation of the immune system can help to eliminate cancer cells; however, there are many factors that cause the immune system to ignore cancer cells. Regulatory T cells are immune cells that function to suppress the immune system response....

Modulating the immune system to combat metastatic cancer

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:38:35 MST

Cancer cells spread and grow by avoiding detection and destruction by the immune system. Stimulation of the immune system can help to eliminate cancer cells; however, there are many factors that cause the immune system to ignore cancer cells. Regulatory T cells are immune cells that function to suppress the immune system response. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation , resea...

New fluorescent tools for cancer diagnosis

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:38:28 MST

In recent years, microRNAs (miRNAs) and other non-coding RNAs are small molecules that help control the expression of specific proteins. In recent years they have emerged as disease biomarkers. miRNA profiles have been used to establish tissue origin for cancers of unknown primary origin, determine prognosis, monitor therapeutic responses and screen for disease, but clinically tractable, diagn...

Please do try this at home

Fri, 24 May 2013 08:13:36 MST

New Orleans, LA After studying noise in one French Quarter neighborhood of New Orleans to determine whether or not noise levels exceeded municipal ordinances, Annette Hurley, PhD, Assistant Professor of Audiology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, and Eric Arriaga, a third-year LSUHSC doctor of audiology student, recommend that people use today's technology to protect their own hearin...

A new strategy required in the search for Alzheimer's drugs?

Fri, 24 May 2013 07:48:20 MST

In the search for medication against Alzheimer's disease, scientists have focused among other factors on drugs that can break down Amyloid beta (A-beta). After all, it is the accumulation of A-beta that causes the known plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. Starting point for the formation of A-beta is APP. Alessia Soldano and Bassem Hassan (VIB/KU Leuven) were the first to unravel...

A majority on Earth face severe self-inflicted water woes within 2 generations: Scientists

Fri, 24 May 2013 05:12:30 MST

A conference of 500 leading water scientists from around the world today issued a stark warning that, without major reforms, "in the short span of one or two generations, the majority of the 9 billion people on Earth will be living under the handicap of severe pressure on fresh water, an absolutely essential natural resource for which there is no substitute. This handicap will be self-inflicte...

Frontiers news briefs: May 23

Thu, 23 May 2013 06:05:12 MST

Frontiers in Plant Science Automated conserved noncoding sequence (CNS) discovery reveals differences in gene content and promoter evolution among grasses Within the genome of each species, there are thousands of stretches of DNA that undergo little change in position and sequence over millions of years, but do not code for any proteins. Some of these evolutionarily stable seque...

The world's favorite fruit only better-tasting and longer-lasting

Thu, 23 May 2013 06:05:08 MST

Tomatoes, said to be the world's most popular fruit, can be made both better-tasting and longer-lasting thanks to UK research with purple GM varieties. "Working with GM tomatoes that are different to normal fruit only by the addition of a specific compound, allows us to pinpoint exactly how to breed in valuable traits," said Professor Cathie Martin from the John Innes Centre. The rese...

PNNL staff recognized for scientific accomplishments, moving technologies into the marketplace

Thu, 23 May 2013 01:12:20 MST

RICHLAND, Wash. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory honored more than 165 staff for their creation, development and commercialization of intellectual property at PNNL's annual Intellectual Property Commercialization Recognition & Rewards Program banquet. The Department of Energy national laboratory named materials scientist Jun Liu Inventor of the Year for his work developing battery...

Reforestation study shows trade-offs between water, carbon and timber

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:58:30 MST

More than 13,000 ships per year, carrying more than 284 million tons of cargo, transit the Panama Canal each year, generating roughly $1.8 billion dollars in toll fees for the Panama Canal Authority. Each time a ship passes through, more than 55 million gallons of water are used from Gatun Lake, which is also a source of water for the 2 million people living in the isthmus. However, the a...

Emory, Georgia Tech receive first human exposome center grant in US

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:46:28 MST

Investigators at Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, along with partners at the Georgia Institute of Technology, have received a $4 million grant over four years to establish the HERCULES Center at Emory University (Health and Exposome Research Center: Understanding Lifetime Exposures). The grant is the first exposome-based center grant awarded in the United States. The H...

UCI study reveals new mechanism for estrogen suppression of liver lipid synthesis

Thu, 23 May 2013 10:25:22 MST

By discovering the new mechanism by which estrogen suppresses lipid synthesis in the liver, UC Irvine endocrinologists have revealed a potential new approach toward treating certain liver diseases. With this finding, Dr. Ellis Levin and colleagues believe they are changing long-held views in the field. Study results appear in the May 21 issue of the journal Science Signaling . "The d...

Biochemistry: Unspooling DNA from nucleosomal disks

Thu, 23 May 2013 09:27:07 MST

The tight wrapping of genomic DNA around nucleosomes in the cell nucleus makes it unavailable for gene expression. A team of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich now describes a mechanism that allows chromosomal DNA to be locally displaced from nucleosomes for transcription. In higher organisms the genomic DNA is stored in the cell nucleus, wrapped around disk-shaped particles c...

Schools should provide opportunities for 60 minutes of daily physical activity to all students

Thu, 23 May 2013 09:12:44 MST

WASHINGTON Given the implications for the overall health, development, and academic success of children, schools should play a primary role in ensuring that all students have opportunities to engage in at least 60 minutes per day of vigorous or moderate-intensity physical activity, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. Recent estimates suggest that only about half of school-age...

Using big data to identify prostate cancers and best treatments

Thu, 23 May 2013 09:12:38 MST

Some prostate cancer patients unnecessarily undergo surgery or harsh treatments because science fails to identify the differences between slow-growing and aggressive forms of the disease. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University and Johns Hopkins Medical Institutes are developing technology that allows patients to safely choose to do nothing, opt for relatively mild treatments or take dr...

Schools should provide students with daily physical activity, IOM recommends

Thu, 23 May 2013 09:12:33 MST

HOUSTON (May 23, 2013) A new report from the Institute of Medicine says schools should be responsible for helping pupils engage in at least 60 minutes of vigorous or moderate intensity activity during each school day. No more than half of American youth meet current evidence-based guidelines of at least an hour of vigorous or moderate intensity physical activity daily, according to the r...

First successful treatment of pediatric cerebral palsy with autologous cord blood

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:48:34 MST

Bochum's medics have succeeded in treating cerebral palsy with autologous cord blood. Following a cardiac arrest with severe brain damage, a 2.5 year old boy had been in a persistent vegetative state with minimal chances of survival. Just two months after treatment with the cord blood containing stem cells, the symptoms improved significantly; over the following months, the child learned to...