Meet MYC, the shapeless protein responsible for making the majority of human cancer cases worse. UC Riverside researchers have found a way to rein it in, offering hope for a new era of treatments.   In healthy cells, MYC helps guide the process of transcription, in which genetic information is converted from DNA into RNA and, eventually, into proteins. “Normally, MYC’s activity is strictly controlled. In cancer cells, it becomes hyper active, and is not regulated properly,” said UCR associate professor of chemistry Min Xue.  “MYC is less like food for cancer cells and more like a steroid ...

A team of researchers has developed an innovative method to design complicated all-α proteins, characterized by their non-uniformly arranged α-helices as seen in hemoglobin. Employing their novel approach, the team successfully created five unique all-α protein structures, each distinguished by their complicated arrangements of α-helices. This capability holds immense potential in designing functional proteins. This research has been published in the journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology on January 4, 2024. Proteins fold into unique three-dimensional structures based on their amino acid sequences, which then dictate their ...

A decades-old mystery of how natural antimicrobial predatory bacteria are able to recognize and kill other bacteria may have been solved, according to new research. In a study published today (4th January) in Nature Microbiology, researchers from the University of Birmingham and the University of Nottingham have discovered how natural antimicrobial predatory bacteria, called Bdellovibrio bacterivorous, produce fibre-like proteins on their surface to ensnare prey. This discovery may enable scientists to use these predators to target and kill ...

Breakthrough could dramatically cut the use of pesticides and unlock other opportunities to bolster plant health Scientists have engineered the microbiome of plants for the first time, boosting the prevalence of ‘good’ bacteria that protect the plant from disease. The findings published in Nature Communications by researchers from the University of Southampton, China and Austria, could substantially reduce the need for environmentally destructive pesticides. There is growing public awareness about the significance of our microbiome – the myriad of microorganisms that live in and around our bodies, most notably in our guts. Our gut ...

Introduction to the Event: As the world witnesses rapid technological advancements and the increasing reality of space travel and habitation, Chiba University is taking the lead in shaping the dialogue on the future of space development and humanity. The upcoming conference will feature distinguished speakers from Chiba University and international institutions, converging to facilitate interdisciplinary discussions. Through diverse lenses encompassing philosophy, ethics, law, political science, and horticulture, the conference aims to gain profound insights, welcoming active ...

In light of an estimated replication rate of only 36% out of 100 replication attempts conducted by the Open Science Collaboration in 2015 (OSC2015), many believe that experimental psychology suffers from a severe replicability problem.  In their own study, recently published in the open-access peer-reviewed scientific journal Social Psychological Bulletin, Drs Brent M. Wilson and John T. Wixted at the University of California San Diego (USA) suggest that what has since been referred to as a “replication crisis” might not be as bad as it seems.  “No one asks a critical question,” the scientists argue, “if ...

Overview A research team consisting of members of the Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute and the Functional Materials Engineering Laboratory at the Toyohashi University of Technology, has developed a novel high-performance photoelectrode by constructing a zinc oxide nanopagoda array with a unique shape on a transparent electrode and applying silver nanoparticles to its surface. The zinc oxide nanopagoda is characterized by having many step structures, as it comprises stacks of differently sized hexagonal prisms. In addition, it exhibits very few crystal defects and excellent electron conductivity. By decorating its surface with silver nanoparticles, the zinc oxide nanopagoda ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University researchers have discovered vitamin B1 produced by microbes in rivers, findings that may offer hope for vitamin-deficient salmon populations. Findings were published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology. The authors say the study in California’s Central Valley represents a novel piece of an important physiological puzzle involving Chinook salmon, a keystone species that holds significant cultural, ecological and economic importance in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Christopher ...

Overview A research team from the Institute for Research on Next-generation Semiconductor and Sensing Science (IRES²) at the Toyohashi University of Technology, National Institute of Technology, Ibaraki College, and TechnoPro R&D Company has successfully demonstrated low-invasive neural recording technology for the brain tissue of diabetic mice. This was achieved using a small needle-electrode with a diameter of 4 µm. Recording neuronal activity within the diabetic brain tissue is particularly challenging due to various complications, including the development of cerebrovascular disease. Because of the significant advantage of the miniaturized needle-electrode compared to conventional ...

Medical technology innovations achieved by integrating science and medicine have improved the quality of life for patients. Especially noteworthy is the emergence of electronic devices implanted in the body, such as in the heart or brain, which enable real-time measurement and regulation of physiological signals, presenting new solutions for challenging conditions like Parkinson's disease. However, technical constraints have hindered the semi-permanent use of electronic devices after their implantation.   A collaborative research team led by Professor Sung-Min Park from the Departments of Convergence IT Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and ...

LOS ANGELES — Hearing loss affects approximately 40 million American adults, yet only one in 10 people who need hearing aids use them, research shows.   Those who don’t use hearing aids but should may want to make wearing them one of their New Year’s resolutions, according to a new study from Keck Medicine of USC published today in The Lancet Healthy Longevity.   “We found that adults with hearing loss who regularly used hearing aids had a 24% lower risk of mortality than those who never wore them,” ...

Australian researchers have successfully trialled a novel experiment to address offensive and rude comments in operating theatres by placing ‘eye’ signage in surgical rooms. The eye images, attached to the walls of an Adelaide orthopaedic hospital’s operating theatre without any explanation, had the desired effect in markedly reducing poor behaviour among surgical teams. Lead researcher University of South Australia Professor Cheri Ostroff attributed the result to a perception of being “watched”, even though the eyes were not real. The three-month experiment ...

The avocado has soared to unprecedented heights of popularity, gracing the plates of toast enthusiasts and health-conscious individuals worldwide. But what are the overlooked consequences of our latest food obsession? “The avocado has come to represent so much more than just a fruit. It’s wrapped up with ideas of generational conflict, environmental chaos and social injustice. Over the last century, through careful marketing, it has evolved into a commodity crop with a huge social media following.” says Honor May Eldridge, a food policy expert who works to promote sustainable agriculture around the ...

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Jonathan Stamler, MD, has been named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Dr. Stamler is the co-founder and president of Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals (UH), and the Robert S. and Sylvia K. Reitman Family Foundation Distinguished Professor of Cardiovascular Innovation at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Election as an Academy Fellow is the highest professional distinction awarded solely to inventors and the 2023 Class of Fellows ...

Suzanne Lenhart, Chancellor’s Professor in the Department of Mathematics, will join a storied list of honored speakers to deliver the Josiah Willard Gibbs Lecture at the world’s largest annual math gathering, the American Mathematics Society (AMS) Joint Mathematics Meetings (JMM2024), taking place January 3–6, 2024, in San Francisco. JMM2024 brings researchers from 20 national and international partner associations to share the latest developments in mathematical thought and application. Lenhart is the ...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The blood-brain barrier blocks the entry of antibodies into the brain. This limits the potential use of antibody therapeutics to treat brain diseases, such as brain tumors. Elsewhere in the body, more than 100 United States Food and Drug Administration-approved therapeutic antibodies are used by medical teams to treat cancers and autoimmune, infectious and metabolic diseases. Finding ways to transport therapeutic antibodies across the blood-brain barrier — from the peripheral blood stream into the central nervous system — could create effective treatments that act in the brain. In a study published in the journal Frontiers in Cell and Developmental ...

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the issuance of a Request for Proposals (RFPs) for the competitive selection of a management and operating contractor for Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL). FNAL is a single-purpose laboratory that leads the nation in the construction and operation of world-leading accelerator and detector facilities and in the development of the underlying technology for particle physics research. Its mission is centered on delivering breakthrough science and technology ...

For nearly 20 years, Stephen Ball has been a man on a mission: helping older Missourians stay healthy and get stronger through physical activity. In 2005, the professor in the University of Missouri College of Health Sciences helped created a program called Stay Strong Stay Healthy (SSSH). Since then, the eight-week strength training program has helped more than 20,000 older adults across five states. Participants aged 60 and up are taught how to safely complete exercises — including squats, bicep curls and lunges — in a comfortable, friendly environment. “One thing I always ...

Researchers from Rutgers and other institutions have uncovered significant variations in how inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affects people of different races, sexes and places of birth. The study, published in Gastro Hep Advances, may assist caregivers and help shed light on how diet, lifestyle and genetics can affect the development and disease course of IBD, a term for two conditions – Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis – that cause chronic inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract. “IBD has historically been a disease of Caucasian populations in Europe and North America, but now we’re seeing it among all races and in people all over the ...

Pregnancy weight and biochemical markers measured in blood from women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) were related to increased risk of poor pregnancy outcomes, suggesting a new direction for precision diagnostics, according to researchers. The study led by Ellen C. Francis, an assistant professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at Rutgers School of Public Health, and published in Communications Medicine, evaluated the diagnostic value of these markers before or at the time of screening ...

MINNEAPOLIS – Radon, a naturally occurring radioactive gas produced when metals like uranium or radium break down in rocks and soil, is a known cause of lung cancer. Now new research has found exposure to high levels of this indoor air pollutant is associated with an increased risk of another condition in middle age to older female participants with ischemic stroke. The study is published in the January 3, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Ischemic ...

MINNEAPOLIS – People who have more disrupted sleep in their 30s and 40s may be more likely to have memory and thinking problems a decade later, according to new research published in the January 3, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study does not prove that sleep quality causes cognitive decline. It only shows an association. “Given that signs of Alzheimer’s disease start to accumulate in the brain several decades before symptoms begin, understanding the connection ...

We have two copies of each chromosome in every cell in our bodies except in our reproductive cells. Sperm and egg cells contain a single copy of each chromosome with a unique mix of genes from our parents, an evolutionary trick to give our offspring genetic variability. The sperm and egg are made during meiosis, the process by which cells with two chromosome copies reduce their chromosome numbers to one. For meiosis to work, the two chromosomes must align perfectly and exchange the correct amount of genetic information. Any deviation puts fertility at risk.  Enter the synaptonemal complex (SC), a zipper-like protein structure that lines up and anchors ...

CHICAGO --- How does a pregnant person’s environment, diet, stress, medications and social wellbeing affect their pregnancy and — down the road — their child’s health?  That will be the focus of a new two-year study from scientists at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, which will examine how environmental factors affect children, including those with a variety of disabilities. The scientists recently were awarded $5 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to join a national consortium — theEnvironmental ...

Glenview, IL– Effective January 1, Jack D. Buckley, MD, MPH, FCCP, is the new President of the American College of Chest Physicians® (CHEST). John Howington, MD, MBA, FCCP, steps into the role of President-Elect, Neil S. Freedman, MD, FCCP, is the new President-Designate and Doreen Addrizzo-Harris, MD, FCCP, completes her term as President to become Immediate Past President of CHEST. Jack D. Buckley, MD, MPH, FCCP, is a pulmonologist and critical care physician with an extensive background in education. Dr. Buckley is a Professor of Medical Education at Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine. ...