A research team led by Professor Jun Takahashi and Assistant Professor Asuka Morizane at the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) at Kyoto University, Japan, has carried out a study to compare the impact of immune response in autologous transplantation (transplantation of cells from the subject's own body) and allogeneic transplantation (transplantation of cells from a different individual of the same species). The researchers used cynomolgus monkeys to carry out transplantation into the brain of neural cells derived from iPS cells. Autologous transplantation ...

Washington, DC (September 23, 2013) – Smoking is a major public health problem, killing approximately 443,000 people every year in the United States. Quitting smoking can have a profound effect on a person's health, but it is also one of the hardest addictions to kick. A recent paper published in the Journal of Communication found that people who engage in health specific social networking sites found it easier to quit smoking. Joe Phua, University of Georgia, examined health-based social networking sites that focus on helping members to quit smoking. He found that as ...

Although heavily studied, the specific genetic causes of "complex diseases," a category of disorders which includes autism, diabetes and heart disease, are largely unknown due to byzantine genetic and environmental interactions. Now, scientists from the University of Chicago have created one of the most expansive analyses to date of the genetic factors at play in complex diseases—by using diseases with known genetic causes to guide them. Analyzing more than 120 million patient records and identifying trends of co-occurrence among hundreds of diseases, they created a unique ...

NEW YORK, NY (September 26, 2013) — Researchers from Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) have found that the skeleton, acting through the bone-derived hormone osteocalcin, exerts a powerful influence on prenatal brain development and cognitive functions such as learning, memory, anxiety, and depression in adult mice. Findings from the mouse study could lead to new approaches to the prevention and treatment of neurologic disorders. The study was published today in the online edition of Cell. "The brain is commonly viewed as an organ that influences other organs ...

Scientists have used a brand new technique for examining individual stem cells to uncover dramatic differences in the gene expression levels – which genes are turned 'up' or 'down'– between apparently identical 'sister' pairs. The research, published today (Thursday) in Stem Cell Reports, was conducted and funded by The Institute of Cancer Research, London. It provides the latest evidence that despite having identical DNA, sister stem cells can display considerable differences in their molecular characteristics. The study showed that DNA methylation, a process that controls ...

Becoming obese or remaining lean can depend on the dynamics of the mitochondria, the body's energy-producing "battery," according to two new studies by Yale School of Medicine researchers featured as the cover story in the Sept. 26 issue of the journal Cell. Mitochondria are vital cellular organelles that generate and maintain proper energy levels in complex organisms. Using animal models, the Yale research team studied mitochondria in different populations of brain cells known to be involved in the regulation of appetite. The team found that during the transition from ...

University of Leicester researchers have revealed that coastal animals have their own biological tidal timer, which is separate from their 24-hour body clock. Experts from the University's Department of Genetics have published a paper in Current Biology which reveals the discovery of an independent clock driving coastal animals' tidal rhythms. The paper, Dissociation of Circadian and Circatidal Timekeeping in the Marine Crustacean Eurydice pulchra, follows nearly ten years of research by Leicester geneticists, along with colleagues at the Universities of Bangor, Aberystwyth ...

(TORONTO, Canada – Sept. 26, 2013) – Stem cell scientists have moved one step closer to producing blood-forming stem cells in a Petri dish by identifying a key regulator controlling their formation in the early embryo, shows research published online today in Cell. The work was reported by Dr. Gordon Keller, Director of the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine, and Senior Scientist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, both at University Health Network. Dr. Keller is also Professor in the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto and holds a Canada ...

PHILADELPHIA - Protein synthesis in the extensions of nerve cells, called dendrites, underlies long-term memory formation in the brain, among other functions. "Thousands of messenger RNAs reside in dendrites, yet the dynamics of how multiple dendrite messenger RNAs translate into their final proteins remain elusive," says James Eberwine, PhD, professor of Pharmacology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and co-director of the Penn Genome Frontiers Institute. Dendrites, which branch from the cell body of the neuron, play a key role in the communication ...

The mood changes of a 'Jekyll-and-Hyde' protein, which sometimes boosts tumour cell growth and at other times suppresses it, have been explained in a new study led by Oxford University researchers. The researchers in Britain, with collaborators in Singapore and the USA, carried out a comprehensive biological study of the protein E2F, which is abnormal in the vast majority of cancers. They were able to explain the dual natures it can take up in cells in the body, and indicate how it could be a potent target for developing new cancer drugs. The Oxford University scientists ...

Folic acid deficiency can cause severe health problems in offspring, including spina bifida, heart defects and placental abnormalities. A study out today reveals that a mutation in a gene necessary for the metabolism of folic acid not only impacts the immediate offspring but can also have detrimental health effects on the next several generations. The new research, which also sheds light on the molecular mechanism of folic acid (also known as folate) during development, was published today in the journal Cell. "Although our research focused on genetic mutations which ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- As one species of European songbird island-hopped to colonize mid-Atlantic archipelagoes over the course of a half million years, their songs lost their sense of syntax. Chaffinches (Fringilla coelebs) on the furthest island of their dispersal, Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, still sing the same notes, but with a much less structured pattern from one bird to the next, sort of like an island of Charlie Parkers. "A chaffinch from mainland Europe always sounds like a chaffinch from mainland Europe," said biologist Robert F. Lachlan who completed the ...

Rio de Janeiro, 28 September 2013 – As the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the Brazilian Society of Cardiology (BSC) team up to deliver key cardio messages at the 68th BSC Congress in Rio de Janeiro (28 September to 1 October 2013), new research underscores the essential role of cardiology specialists in Brazil. Cerebrovascular disease (CBVD) remains the leading cause of death in Rio de Janeiro, with poverty, poor fitness and education levels, and increasing rates of obesity contributing to these deaths annually, said Dr. Regina Fonseca from the Federal University ...

Croatia joined the European Union on 1 July and conservation scientists fear that the EU's rules could cause problems for its brown bear population. The country has been managing its brown bears as game animals, meaning they can be hunted; but under EU legislation, bears are a protected species and can only be shot if they are deemed to be problem animals. This might seem to be a positive outcome for the bears. However, it could lead to reduced tolerance for bears among local people, because the local economy will lose valuable revenue from hunting, according to a ...

Even more surprising, analysis show that the molecule is identical to Tramadol, a wholly synthetic medication that is used world-wide as a painkiller. According to the research team, this is the first time ever that a synthetic medication produced by the pharmaceutical industry has been discovered in strong concentrations in a natural source. This unexpected discovery had just been published in the chemical journal' "Angewandte Chemie" Nauclea latifolia (also know as the pin cushion tree) is a small shrub that is widely abundant throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. In traditional ...

Two species of tawny brown singing mice that live deep in the mountain cloud forests of Costa Rica and Panama set their boundaries by emitting high-pitched trills, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have discovered. Although males of both the Alston's singing mouse (Scotinomys teguina) and Chiriqui singing mouse (S. xerampelinus) sing to attract mates and repel rivals within their respective species, the findings show for the first time that communication is being used to create geographic boundaries between species. In this case, the smaller Alston's ...

Professor Hannes Lohi's research group at the University of Helsinki and Folkhälsan Research Center has identified a mutation in ITGA10 gene, causing chondrodysplasia in two dog breeds, the Norwegian Elkhound and the Karelian Bear Dog. The research revealed a new chondrodysplasia gene in dogs, and a candidate gene for human chondrodysplasias. The finding has implications on bone biology as well as canine health. A genetic test can now be used to identify mutation carriers in the two affected dog breeds. The study was published on the scientific journal PLOS ONE on 25 September ...

New research, led by the University of Southampton, has shown that people in debt are three times more likely to have a mental health problem than those not in debt. There is currently around £156 billion in unsecured debt such as credit cards in the UK, of which the average family owes more than £11,000. Levels of debt have increased in recent years due to the economic recession and are predicted to increase further. Researchers from the University of Southampton, along with a researcher from Kingston University, carried out a systematic review on all previous research ...

NEW YORK--With nearly two billion people suffering from malnutrition across the planet, scientists and public health experts came together under an unprecedented alliance spearheaded by The Sackler Institute for Nutrition Science at the New York Academy of Sciences to create A Global Research Agenda for Nutrition Science to identify the most critical knowledge gaps in the field of nutrition. The report supports the ongoing effort to accelerate global commitment, cooperative work, and funding to uncover and implement scientific and evidence-based solutions to malnutrition. This ...

Outreach programs that build relationships between families and schools may reduce the number of students who change schools for reasons other than grade promotion, according to a new study from researchers at Rice University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Columbia University. The researchers used data from a five-year study that examined the negative consequences of students changing schools for reasons other than grade promotion and the impact of an outreach program designed to enhance relationships between families and school personnel. The study found ...

Migrating cells, it seems, cover their tracks not for fear of being followed, but to keep moving forward. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, have now shown that cells in a zebrafish embryo determine which direction they move in by effectively erasing the path behind them. The findings, published online today in Nature, could have implications not just for development but also for cancer and metastasis. As a zebrafish embryo develops, a group of cells migrate down the side of its body, leaving clumps of cells along the ...

Hidden in the thick foliage of tropical forests a subfamily of colorful beetles hides the secrets of the earliest stages of social behavior, showing explicit signs of maternal instincts and care. An international team of scientists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Centro Universitário de Lavras, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe, and Université libre de Bruxelles looked into the complex subsocial behaviors present in the extraordinary Chrysomelinae subfamily to discover and describe in detail the different degrees of maternal instincts present ...

This news release is available in German. At present lithium is most popular for its use in rechargeable batteries. But for decades now, lithium has also been used to treat various psychological diseases such as depressions, manias and bipolar disorders. But, the exact biological mode of action in certain brain regions has hardly been understood. It is well known that lithium lightens moods and reduces aggression potential. Because it is so hard to dose, doctors have been reluctant to prescribe this "universal drug". Nonetheless, a number of international studies ...

Rosemont, Ill.–Shared decision making refers to a set of principles that can be employed by patients and their physicians to explicitly incorporate patient preferences and values into clinical decision making. Past research shows that patients, who have an enhanced knowledge of their medical conditions and treatment alternatives, demonstrate a reduced anxiety when it comes to medical decision making. A recent study in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery looked at a group of patients with advanced hip and knee osteoarthritis and found that they reached an informed treatment ...

HUNTSVILLE, TX -- While research consistently estimates that one in every four women in higher education will experience rape or attempted rape during their college careers, limited proactive approaches to address the issue are found on Texas college campuses, according to the Crime Victims' Institute at Sam Houston State University. A study of 74 two-and four-year institutions of higher education in Texas, published by the Crime Victims' Institute, found that while campuses have made strides in addressing sexual assault, efforts continue to be necessary to prevent and ...