Genetically manipulating plants can reduce their water needs

EVANSTON, Ill. --- A Northwestern University-led study in the emerging field of nanocytology could one day help men make better decisions about whether or not to undergo aggressive prostate cancer treatments. Technology developed by Northwestern University researchers may help solve that quandary by allowing physicians to identify which nascent cancers are likely to escalate into potentially life-threatening malignancies and which ones will remain "indolent," or non-aggressive. The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test was once the recommended screening tool for detecting ...

A new study led by Elizabeth Archie, Clare Boothe Luce Asistant Professor of Biology at the University of Notre Dame, has found that social interactions have direct effects on the gut microbiome. Archie points out that most, if not all, animals have a gut microbiome -- an incredibly diverse "rainforest" of bacteria that lives in the intestine and helps animals digest food, make vitamins and fight disease. The new study revealed that baboons that had closer social bonds had more similar gut bacteria than animals with weaker social ties. "In the last few years, scientists ...

The MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Cyclone Nathan east of the Queensland coast on March 16 at 0:00 UTC. The image showed a rounded circulation with bands of thunderstorms wrapping into the center of circulation. At 0900 UTC (5 a.m. EDT), Tropical cyclone Nathan's maximum sustained winds were near 55 knots (63.2 mph/102 kph) and the storm was consolidating and organizing. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) forecasters expect Nathan to strengthen to 70 knots in two days. Nathan was centered near 14.3 south latitude ...

New research highlights the capability of reversible shape-memory polymers to change their shape when heated to body temperature and then switch back to their original shape when cooled to room temperature. The technology could have applications in temperature intervals relevant for biomedical applications--for example, devices for external short-term applications such as bandages or temporary fixation parts, where the product would be activated upon exposure to human body temperature. The technology could also be used for home-care products to support the daily life ...

What lies beneath growing islands of graphene is important to its properties, according to a new study led by Rice University. Scientists at Rice analyzed patterns of graphene - a single-atom-thick sheet of carbon - grown in a furnace via chemical vapor deposition. They discovered that the geometric relationship between graphene and the substrate, the underlying material on which carbon assembles atom by atom, determines how the island shapes emerge. The study led by Rice theoretical physicist Boris Yakobson and postdoctoral researcher Vasilii Artyukhov shows how the ...

New treatments for hepatitis C virus (HCV) may be highly effective but are associated with substantial costs that may compel clinicians and patients to consider delaying treatment. However, a new study shows that immediate treatment of HCV-infected patients with moderate or advanced liver scarring is cost-effective. Immediate treatment of patients with minimal or no scarring can be cost-effective as well, particularly when lower treatment costs are assumed. "The devastating effects of hepatitis C continue to threaten the health of many Americans, with baby boomers at ...

Heidelberg, 16 March 2015 - A new approach for studying the behaviour of proteins in living cells has been developed by an interdisciplinary team of biologists and physicists in the Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, the Ellenberg Laboratory and the Advanced Light Microscopy Facility at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg. Described in a new study, published today in Nature Biotechnology, the approach allows scientists for the first time to follow the protein networks that drive a biological process in real time. Which proteins interact with each ...

LOS ALAMOS, N.M., March 16, 2015--Two reports from Los Alamos National Laboratory this week in the Nature journal Scientific Reports are helping crack the code of how certain materials respond in the highly-damaging radiation environments within a nuclear reactor. The goal of these efforts is to understand at an atomistic level just how materials develop defects during irradiation, and how those defects evolve to determine the ultimate fate of the material. "The new insights provided by these studies will aid in both predicting and designing materials for improved performance ...

A new study has found a strong link between prolonged work at the World Trade Center (WTC) site following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the development of various autoimmune diseases including arthritis and lupus. The risk of developing an autoimmune disease over the next decade increased by about 13% for each month worked at the site. Investigators estimate that individuals worked 10 months at the site were more than 3-times as likely to develop an autoimmune disease than those who worked there for 1 month. "We believe that this is the first study ...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is characterized by a state of inflammation. A new Respirology study has identified certain inflammatory markers that can be used to predict which patients are at the highest risk of dying prematurely. In a national sample of 1144 US adults who were followed from 1988 to 2006, those with obstructive lung function had higher levels of white blood cell count and fibrinogen as well as a higher percentage of elevated C-reactive protein than participants with normal lung function. White blood cell count and concentrations of ...