Light can be used to activate normal, non-genetically modified neurons through the use of targeted gold nanoparticles, report scientists from the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago. The new technique, described in the journal Neuron on March 12, represents a significant technological advance with potential advantages over current optogenetic methods, including possible use in the development of therapeutics toward diseases such as macular degeneration. "This is effectively optogenetics without genetics," said study senior author Francisco ...

Many animals, including humans, acquired essential 'foreign' genes from microorganisms co-habiting their environment in ancient times, according to research published in the open access journal Genome Biology. The study challenges conventional views that animal evolution relies solely on genes passed down through ancestral lines, suggesting that, at least in some lineages, the process is still ongoing. The transfer of genes between organisms living in the same environment is known as horizontal gene transfer (HGT). It is well known in single-celled organisms and thought ...

Findings from a new study that set out to investigate the evolution of immune defences could boost the development of industrial bacteria that are immune to specific viral infections. The study is published today in the journal Current Biology. Bacteria have many industrial uses including the production of cheese and yoghurt, paper making, biogas and the synthetic production of hormones like insulin. Viral infections of these bacterial cultures can halt production processes resulting in significant financial cost. Dr Edze Westra from the Environment and Sustainability ...

LA JOLLA--For infants with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), something as simple as a common cold or ear infection can be fatal. Born with an incomplete immune system, kids who have SCID--also known as "bubble boy" or "bubble baby" disease--can't fight off even the mildest of germs. They often have to live in sterile, isolated environments to avoid infections and, even then, most patients don't live past a year or two. This happens because stem cells in SCID patients' bone marrow have a genetic mutation that prevents them from developing critical immune cells, called ...

In a new study, published in Cell Reports, researchers at Uppsala University describe a novel mechanism by which lymphatic vessels form during embryonic development. The finding may open new possibilities for repairing damaged lymphatic vessels using stem cells. Olof Rudbeck, professor of medicine at Uppsala University, discovered the lymphatic vascular system in the 17th century. A research group at the institute bearing his name, the Rudbeck Laboratory at Uppsala University, has now discovered a novel origin of the lymphatic system. The prevailing textbook knowledge ...

In 1953 Watson and Crick first published the discovery of the double helix structure of the DNA. They were able to visualize the DNA structure by means of X-Ray diffraction. Techniques, such as electron microscopy, allowed scientists to identify nucleosomes, the first and most basic level of chromosome organisation. Until now it was known that our DNA is packaged by regular repeating units of those nucleosomes throughout the genome giving rise to chromatin. However, due to the lack of suitable techniques and instruments, the chromatin organisation inside a cell nucleus ...

An extensive database identifying immune traits, such as how immune cell function is regulated at the genetic level in healthy people, is reported by researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and their collaborators in the journal Cell. While many genetic risk factors have been linked to various diseases, including autoimmune disorders, how a genetic change causes susceptibility to a disease is not always clear. By studying healthy people, researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Vaccine Research Center, part of the ...

Ponds in the Arctic tundra are shrinking and slowly disappearing, according to a new study by University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) researchers. More than 2,800 Arctic tundra ponds in the northern region of Alaska's Barrow Peninsula were analyzed using historical photos and satellite images taken between 1948 and 2010. Over the 62-year period, the researchers found that the number of ponds in the region had decreased by about 17 percent, while pond size had shrunk by an average of one-third. "The 17 percent is a very conservative estimate because we didn't consider ...

Being discriminated against by the healthcare profession or system can cause much more than just mere distress to older people. Such experiences can literally be bad for their health. A national survey shows that one in every three older Americans who are on the receiving end of age-related discrimination in the healthcare setting will likely develop new or worsened functional ailments in due course. This follows a study1 led by Stephanie Rogers, a fellow in geriatrics at UC San Francisco in the United States, and published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine2, ...

NEW YORK, NY -Where you receive medical care impacts many things - including whether or not you receive inappropriate medical tests, according to a new study. Researchers from NYU Langone Medical Center and its Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, in a new retrospective study publishing online March 12th in JAMA Oncology, conclude that patients with low-risk prostate or breast cancer were more likely to receive inappropriate imaging during treatment, based on the region of the country in which they received medical care. They examined medical records from 2004-2007 ...

An association of high rates of inappropriate imaging for prostate cancer and breast cancer identified in a study of Medicare beneficiaries suggests that, at the regional level, regional culture and infrastructure could contribute to inappropriate imaging, something policymakers should want to consider as they seek to improve the quality of care and reduce health care spending, according to a study published online by JAMA Oncology. Researchers have estimated that 30 percent of resources spent on health care in the United States does not improve the health of patients. ...

In a group of patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer at 40 or younger, 1.3 percent of the patients carried germline TP53 gene mutations, although none of the patients met the clinical criteria for an inherited cancer syndrome associated with higher lifetime risks of multiple cancers, according to a study published online by JAMA Oncology. Li-Fraumeni syndrome is an inherited cancer syndrome usually characterized by germline TP53 mutations in which patients can develop early-onset cancers and have an increased risk for a wide array of other cancers including colorectal. ...

Cochlear implantation was associated with improved speech perception and cognitive function in adults 65 years or older with profound hearing loss, according to a report published online by JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery. Hearing impairment is associated with cognitive decline. In cases of severe to profound hearing loss where there is no benefit from conventional amplification (i.e. hearing aids), cochlear implantation that uses direct electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve has proven successful and selected older patients are among those who can benefit, ...

WASHINGTON - Increasing the minimum age of legal access (MLA) to tobacco products will prevent or delay initiation of tobacco use by adolescents and young adults, particularly those ages 15 to 17, and improve the health of Americans across the lifespan, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. The committee that conducted the study estimated the likely reduction in tobacco-use initiation that would be achieved by raising the MLA for tobacco products to either 19 years old, 21 years old, or 25 years, and used two tobacco-use simulation models to quantify the accompanying ...

DURHAM, N.C. - The newest guidelines for the use of cholesterol-lowering statins in people at risk of heart disease may be too generic, excluding middle-aged adults who could benefit from the drugs, and over-prescribing in older adults, according to a new study from the Duke Clinical Research Institute. But small adjustments to guidelines could enable doctors to catch more people between the ages of 40 to 55 with premature heart disease, and prevent unnecessary medication for many adults over age 65, according to the analysis, published this month in the Journal of the ...

Boston, Mass., USA - Today at the 93rd General Session and Exhibition of the International Association for Dental Research, researcher Sheila Arvikar, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA, will present a study titled "Inflammation in the Mouth and Joints in Rheumatoid Arthritis." The IADR General Session is being held in conjunction with the 44th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Dental Research and the 39th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research. Periodontitis shares pathogenic mechanisms with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) ...

Findings from the largest review of clinical trials to date to determine whether patients prescribed the smoking cessation drug Varenicline (brand name Champix in the UK) are at an increased risk of neuropsychiatric events are published online in the British Medical Journal [BMJ] today [12 Mar]. The drug, which was first licensed in the UK in 2006, has been shown to be the most clinically effective smoking cessation medicine for reducing nicotine cravings and withdrawal symptoms for short-term abstinence. However, since its introduction there have been concerns over its ...

ATLANTA - March 12, 2015-Increasing colorectal cancer screening rates to 80% by 2018 would prevent an additional 21,000 colorectal cancer deaths per year by 2030, according to a new study. The study is the first to estimate the public health benefits of increasing screening rates to "80% by 2018," a recent initiative from the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable (NCCRT), a national coalition of public, private, and voluntary organizations, to aim for screening rates of 80% in the United States by 2018. The study is co-authored by American Cancer Society epidemiologist ...

Using gene therapy to produce a mutant human protein with unusually high blood-clotting power, scientists have successfully treated dogs with the bleeding disorder hemophilia, without triggering an unwanted immune response. In addition, the "turbocharged" clotting factor protein eliminated pre-existing antibodies that often weaken conventional treatments for people with hemophilia. "Our findings may provide a new approach to gene therapy for hemophilia and perhaps other genetic diseases that have similar complications from inhibiting antibodies," said the study leader, ...

Despite claims by the Obama administration that the Affordable Care Act will reduce health insurance companies' spending on overhead, thereby channeling a greater share of consumers' premium dollars into actual patient care, insurers' financial filings show the law had no impact on the percentage of insurer expenditures on such things as administration, marketing and profits. That's the chief finding of a team of researchers, including two prominent physicians on the faculties of the City University of New York's School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School, in ...

Observe whether two people use metaphors in conversation with each other if you want to guess how close they are as friends. Or sharpen your ability to tune into other people's emotional or mental states by observing the metaphors they use. Why is this? Because metaphors can in fact help one to 'mind read,' report Andrea Bowes and Albert Katz of the University of Ontario in Canada in Springer's journal Memory & Cognition. Metaphor is a type of language that forms part of our daily conversations and communication. In this type of language, the literal or usual meaning ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. - High social status has its privileges -- when it comes to aging -- even in wild animals. In a first-of-its-kind study involving a wild species, Michigan State University researchers have shown that social and ecological factors affect animal health. The results, published in the current issue of Biology Letters, focused on spotted hyenas in Kenya. "High-ranking members in hyena clans reproduce more, they live longer and appear to be in better overall health," said Nora Lewin, MSU doctoral student of zoology and co-lead author. "If you want to see ...

WASHINGTON - Two patient groups created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) - Medicare patients enrolled in federally designated patient-centered medical homes and people under age 26 who are allowed to remain on their parents' health insurance - had slightly fewer emergency department visits than they had before health care reform. However, there was no change in the rate of the most expensive types of emergency visits: those that lead to hospitalization. One study examined the rate of emergency department visits and hospitalizations for Medicare patients treated by ...

Hurricanes require moisture, the rotation of the earth, and warm ocean temperatures to grow from a mere atmospheric disturbance into a tropical storm. But where do these storm cells originate, and exactly what makes an atmospheric disturbance amp up full throttle? A new study published in Geophysical Research Letters by Tel Aviv University's Prof. Colin Price and his graduate student Naama Reicher of the Department of Geosciences at TAU's Faculty of Exact Sciences finds most hurricanes over the Atlantic that eventually make landfall in North America actually start as ...

WASHINGTON, March 12, 2015--Borrowing a trick from nature, engineers from the University of California at Berkeley have created an incredibly thin, chameleon-like material that can be made to change color -- on demand -- by simply applying a minute amount of force. This new material-of-many-colors offers intriguing possibilities for an entirely new class of display technologies, color-shifting camouflage, and sensors that can detect otherwise imperceptible defects in buildings, bridges, and aircraft. "This is the first time anybody has made a flexible chameleon-like ...