SAN FRANCISCO -- The information that interprets the genetic code in a new embryo differs depending on whether it comes from the father or mother, researchers at San Francisco State University have found. The research, detailed in an article published today in the journal PLOS Genetics, sheds light on the multilayered process of how a sperm and egg pass along information needed for successful reproduction. Though one layer is the DNA code that is transferred, the new study identifies information not encoded by DNA, a so-called "epigenetic" layer of information that helps ...

Most women are infected with HIV through vaginal intercourse, and without effective vaccines or microbicides, women who cannot negotiate condom use by their partners remain vulnerable. How exactly the virus establishes infection in the female reproductive tract (FRT) remains poorly understood. A study published on October 9th in PLOS Pathogens reports surprising results from a study of HIV transmission in the FRT of rhesus macaques. Most studies of HIV transmission after vaginal exposure to date have been done in rhesus macaques and focused on the cervix, the lower part ...

VIDEO: This video explains research done to understand the motion used by sidewinder snakes to climb sandy slopes and to apply that motion to a snake-like robot. Researchers from Georgia Tech,... Click here for more information. The amazing ability of sidewinder snakes to quickly climb sandy slopes was once something biologists only vaguely understood and roboticists only dreamed of replicating. By studying the snakes in a unique bed of inclined sand and using a snake-like robot ...

CANCER RESEARCH UK scientists have discovered that lung cancers can lie dormant for over 20 years before suddenly turning into an aggressive form of the disease, according to a study published in Science* today (Thursday). The team studied lung cancers from seven patients – including smokers, ex-smokers and never smokers. They found that after the first genetic mistakes that cause the cancer, it can exist undetected for many years until new, additional, faults trigger rapid growth of the disease. During this expansion there is a surge of different genetic faults ...

When young mice with the rodent equivalent of a rare autism spectrum disorder (ASD), called Rett syndrome, were fed a diet supplemented with the synthetic oil triheptanoin, they lived longer than mice on regular diets. Importantly, their physical and behavioral symptoms were also less severe after being on the diet, according to results of new research from The Johns Hopkins University. Researchers involved in the study think that triheptanoin improved the functioning of mitochondria, energy factories common to all cells. Since mitochondrial defects are seen in other ...

During their approximately 100-day lifespan in the bloodstream, red blood cells lose membrane surface area, volume, and hemoglobin content. A study publishing this week in PLOS Computational Biology finds that of these three changes, only the observed surface-area loss can be explained by RBCs shedding small hemoglobin-containing vesicles budding off their cells' membrane. Red blood cell concentration, mean volume, and hemoglobin content are routinely measured in the complete blood count, a fundamental clinical test essential to the screening, diagnosis, and management ...

As birth rates decline in countries that include parts of Europe and East Asia, threatening the economic slowdown associated with aging populations, a global study from the University of California, Berkeley, and the East-West Center in Hawaii suggests that in much of the world, it actually pays to have fewer children. The results challenge previous assumptions about population growth. Researchers in 40 countries correlated birth rates with economic data and concluded that a moderately low birth rate – a little below two children per woman – can actually ...

A team of scientists including a University of Colorado Boulder professor used NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to make the most detailed global map yet of the glow from a giant, oddball planet orbiting another star, an object twice as massive as Jupiter and hot enough to melt steel. The Hubble observations show that the planet, called WASP-43b, is no place to call home. It's a world of extremes, where winds howl at the speed of sound from a 3,000-degree-Fahrenheit dayside to a pitch-black nightside when temperatures plunge to a relatively cool 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, ...

Using X-rays and neutron beams, a team of researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, University of Utah and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have teased out new information about Protein Kinase A (PKA), a ubiquitous master switch that helps regulate fundamental cellular functions like energy consumption and interactions with hormones, neurotransmitters and drugs. "Mutations in PKA can lead to a variety of different human diseases, including cancers, metabolic and cardiovascular diseases and diseases involving the brain and nervous system," ...

Known cancer-driving genomic aberrations in localized lung cancer appear to be so consistently present across tumors that a single biopsy of one region of the tumor is likely to identify most of them, according to a paper published today in Science. The study led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center addresses the challenge of what scientists call genomic heterogeneity, the presence of many different variations that drive tumor formation, growth and progression, and likely complicate the choice and potential efficacy of therapy. A landmark ...

A team of scientists using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have made the most detailed map ever of the temperature of an exoplanet's atmosphere, and traced the amount of water it contains. The planet targeted for both of the investigations was the hot-Jupiter exoplanet WASP-43b. WASP-43b WASP-43b is a planet the size of Jupiter but with double the mass and an orbit much closer to its parent star than any planet in the Solar System. It has one of the shortest years ever measured for an exoplanet of its size -- lasting just 19 hours. A team of astronomers working ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. – As more people in the middle of their careers decide to return to school to further their education, the number of students applying to graduate school programs across the country has reached a record high in the past decade. With record numbers of potential students applying to their programs, many graduate school admissions evaluators are working to develop stronger admissions criteria that assure they are admitting students who will succeed academically. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that traditional measures such as ...

In rare cases, patients with allergies to metals develop persistent skin rashes after metal devices are implanted near the skin. New research suggests these patients may be at increased risk of an unusual and aggressive form of skin cancer. Metal alloys help make orthopedic implants stronger and more durable. But people with sensitivity to these metals, which include nickel, cobalt and chromium, can develop chronic inflammation that promotes the development of skin cancers, report researchers at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. ...

VIDEO: Dr. Myron M. Levine, Director of the Center for Vaccine Development at the University of Maryland School of Medicine describes the Ebola vaccine testing taking place in Mali, West Africa. Click here for more information. Professor Myron M. Levine, MD, Director of the Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM), and UM SOM Dean E. Albert Reece MD, PhD, MBA, announced today that the CVD, in conjunction with its sister institution, ...

People with autism spectrum disorder often experience a period of accelerated brain growth after birth. No one knows why, or whether the change is linked to any specific behavioral changes. A new study by UCLA researchers demonstrates how, in pregnant mice, inflammation, a first line defense of the immune system, can trigger an excessive division of neural stem cells that can cause "overgrowth" in the offspring's brain. The paper appears Oct. 9 in the online edition of the journal Stem Cell Reports. "We have now shown that one way maternal inflammation could result ...

Washington, DC—A new study in human placenta provides the strongest evidence to date that Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) can interfere with thyroid hormone action in pregnant women. The implication is that flame retardant chemicals called polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) can infiltrate the placenta during pregnancy and affect thyroid hormone activity at the cellular level, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). PCBs were used in transformers and other electrical equipment, paints, ...

Washington, DC—Exposure to cold temperatures can convert white fat tissue from the thighs and belly to beige fat that burns calories for heat, but this biological response is hampered in obese people, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Known as brown adipose tissue (BAT), brown fat is a particular kind of fat tissue that burns energy and glucose to generate heat. Babies and small animals rely on brown fat to stay warm. Brown fat's energy expenditure helps to prevent obesity in rodents. While ...

Researchers from the National Cancer Institute report that decaffeinated coffee drinking may benefit liver health. Results of the study published in Hepatology, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, show that higher coffee consumption, regardless of caffeine content, was linked to lower levels of abnormal liver enzymes. This suggests that chemical compounds in coffee other than caffeine may help protect the liver. Coffee consumption is highly prevalent with more than half of all Americans over 18 drinking on average three cups each day ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass--A long-sought goal of creating particles that can emit a colorful fluorescent glow in a biological environment, and that could be precisely manipulated into position within living cells, has been achieved by a team of researchers at MIT and several other institutions. The finding is reported this week in the journal Nature Communications. The new technology could make it possible to track the position of the nanoparticles as they move within the body or inside a cell. At the same time, the nanoparticles could be manipulated precisely by applying a magnetic ...

(SALT LAKE CITY)—A University of Utah-led study using X-rays and neutron beams has revealed the inner workings of a master switch that regulates basic cellular functions, but that also, when mutated, contributes to cancer, cardiovascular disease and other deadly disorders. Learning more about how the Protein Kinase A (PKA) switch works will help researchers to understand cellular function and disease, according to Donald K. Blumenthal, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Utah (U of U) College of Pharmacy who led the study. ...

A supernova is the cataclysmic death of a star, but it seems its remnants shine on. Astronomers have found a pulsating, dead star beaming with the energy of about 10 million suns. This is the brightest pulsar -- a dense stellar remnant leftover from a supernova -- ever recorded, and was seen using NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR. Lawrence Livermore LLNL researchers were involved in the design and testing of the NuSTAR X-ray optics. "You might think of this pulsar as the 'Mighty Mouse' of stellar remnants," said Fiona Harrison, the NuSTAR principal ...

NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Super Typhoon Vongfong as it tracked through the Philippine Sea on Oct. 9. Instrument aboard Aqua captured visible and infrared images of the now Category 4 Super Typhoon. Two instruments aboard NASA's Aqua satellite provided visible and infrared data on the Super Typhoon: The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument, respectively. MODIS captured a visible image of Super Typhoon Vongfong on Oct. 9 at 04:25 UTC (12:25 a.m. EDT) that showed two concentric eyewalls with ...

Neurodevelopmental disorders such as Down syndrome and autism-spectrum disorder can have profound, lifelong effects on learning and memory, but relatively little is known about the molecular pathways affected by these diseases. A study published by Cell Press October 9th in the American Journal of Human Genetics shows that neurodevelopmental disorders caused by distinct genetic mutations produce similar molecular effects in cells, suggesting that a one-size-fits-all therapeutic approach could be effective for conditions ranging from seizures to attention-deficit hyperactivity ...

VIDEO: Behavior experiments in which flies were given the choice between wild-type and mutant fermentation headspace in the middle of the experiment, and they migrate accordingly. Click here for more information. The familiar smell of beer is due in part to aroma compounds produced by common brewer's yeast. Now, researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports on October 9th have discovered why the yeast (formally known as S. cerevisiae) make that smell: the scent attracts ...

Oxytocin has been called the "love hormone" because it plays an important role in social behaviors, such as maternal care and pair bonding. In a study published by Cell Press on October 9th in the journal Cell, researchers uncover oxytocin-responsive brain cells that are necessary for female social interest in male mice during estrus—the sexually receptive phase of their cycle. These neurons, found in the prefrontal cortex, may play a role in other oxytocin-related social behaviors such as intimacy, love, or mother-child bonding. "Our findings suggest that social ...