Cold Spring Harbor, NY -- In our daily lives, clutter is something that gets in our way, something that makes it harder for us to accomplish things. For doctors and scientists trying to parse mountains of raw biological data, clutter is more than a nuisance; it can stand in the way of figuring out how best to treat someone who is very sick. Using increasingly cheap and rapid methods to read the billions of "letters" that comprise human genomes – including the genomes of individual cells sampled from cancerous tumors -- scientists are generating far more data than they ...

Remora fish, with a sucking disc on top of their heads, have been the stuff of legend. They often attach themselves to the hulls of boats and in ancient times were thought to purposely slow the boat down. While that is a misunderstanding, something else not well understood was the origins of the fish's odd sucking disc. Scientists at the Smithsonian Institution and London's Natural History Museum, however, have solved that mystery proving that the disc is actually a greatly modified dorsal fin. The research is published in the Journal of Morphology. The world's eight ...

(Lebanon, NH, 6/5/13) — Through genetic engineering of laboratory models, researchers at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center have uncovered a vulnerability in the way cancer cells diverge from normal regenerating cells that may help treat children with leukemia as reported in the journal PNAS on June 3, 2013. Dartmouth researchers are trying to understand the key pathways that distinguish how a normal blood cell grows and divides compared to the altered growth that occurs in leukemia. In addition to the treatment of leukemia, the work has relevance for expanding ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers have found that a type of predatory sea slug that usually isn't picky when it comes to what it eats has more complex cognitive abilities than previously thought, allowing it to learn the warning cues of dangerous prey and thereby avoid them in the future. The research appears in the Journal of Experimental Biology. Pleurobranchaea californica is a deep-water species of sea slug found off the west coast of the United States. It has a relatively simple neural circuitry and set of behaviors. It is a generalist feeder, meaning, as University ...

CINCINNATI – As modern medical advances help more children with complex conditions live longer, a new study shows a significant number suffer from complications caused by medical devices that are also necessary for their survival. Researchers report their findings online June 7 in the Journal of Hospital Medicine. Study authors say their research underscores the continued need to improve care for this growing population of children by enhancing medical device safety practices and ensuring device design is suitable or adaptable for pediatric patients. "Medicine and pediatrics ...

New research has found that routine screening using a non-invasive test that analyzes fetal DNA in a pregnant woman's blood can accurately detect Down's syndrome and other genetic fetal abnormalities in the first trimester. Published early online in Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology, the results suggest that the test is superior to currently available screening strategies and could reshape standards in prenatal testing. Current screening for Down's syndrome, or trisomy 21, and other trisomy conditions includes a combined test done between the 11th and 13th weeks ...

Philadelphia, PA, June 7, 2013 – The average 5-year survival for colorectal cancer (CRC) is less than 10% if metastasis occurs, but can reach 90% if detected early. A new non-invasive test has been developed that measures methylation of the SDC2 gene in tissues and blood sera. This test detected 87% of all stages of colorectal cancer cases (sensitivity) without significant difference between early and advanced stages, while correctly identifying 95% of disease-free patients (specificity). The results are published in the July issue of The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics. According ...

VIDEO: This is what happens when the essential gene Umbrea is removed from fruit fly cells: cell death. A group of molecular biologists, including assistant professor Barbara Mellone at UConn's College... Click here for more information. Researchers from UConn and other institutions in the U.S. and abroad have shown how a relatively young gene can acquire a new function and become essential to an organism's life. Using a combination of techniques, including phylogenetics, ...

Greenwood, SC (June 5, 2013) - Researchers at the JC Self Research Institute of the Greenwood Genetic Center (GGC), along with collaborators from Biolog, Inc. in California, have reported an important discovery in the understanding of autism which was published this week in Molecular Autism. The study, led by GGC's Director of Research, Charles Schwartz, PhD and Staff Scientist, Luigi Boccuto, MD, found that individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) showed significantly decreased metabolism of the amino acid L-tryptophan when compared to both typical controls ...

In animals that reproduce by internal fertilization, as humans do, you'd think a penis would be an organ you couldn't really do without, evolutionarily speaking. Surprisingly, though, most birds do exactly that, and now researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on June 6 have figured out where, developmentally speaking, birds' penises have gone. It turns out that land fowl, which have only rudimentary penises as adults, have normally developing penises as early embryos. Later in development, however, the birds turn on a genetic program that leads ...

VIDEO: When male superb lyrebirds sing, they often move their bodies to the music in a choreographed way, say researchers who report their findings in the Cell Press journal Current Biology... Click here for more information. When male superb lyrebirds sing, they often move their bodies to the music in a choreographed way, say researchers who report their findings in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on June 6. The findings add to evidence from human cultures around ...

WASHINGTON — A new brain imaging study of dyslexia shows that differences in the visual system do not cause the disorder, but instead are likely a consequence. The findings, published today in the journal Neuron, provide important insights into the cause of this common reading disorder and address a long-standing debate about the role of visual symptoms observed in developmental dyslexia. Dyslexia is the most prevalent of all learning disabilities, affecting about 12 percent of the U.S. population. Beyond the primarily observed reading deficits, individuals with dyslexia ...

The birth of new neurons in the adult brain sharpens memory in rodents, but whether the same holds true for humans has long been debated. A study published by Cell Press June 6th in the journal Cell reveals that a significant number of new neurons in the hippocampus—a brain region crucial for memory and learning—are generated in adult humans. The researchers used a unique strategy based on the amount of carbon-14 found in humans as a result of above-ground nuclear testing more than half a century ago. The findings suggest that new neurons are born daily in the human hippocampus, ...

Bird flu viruses are potentially highly lethal and pose a global threat, but relatively little is known about why certain strains spread more easily to humans than others. Two studies published by Cell Press June 6th in the journal Cell identify mutations that increase the infectivity of H5N1 and H7N9 viruses through improved binding to receptors in the human respiratory tract. The findings offer much-needed strategies for monitoring the emergence of dangerous bird flu strains capable of infecting humans and for developing more effective vaccines. "Avian influenza viruses ...

Washington, DC (June 3, 2013) – If your preschooler thinks a cheeseburger is healthy, you may want to reconsider how you watch TV. A recent study by researchers at the University of Michigan found commercial TV viewing, as opposed to commercial-free digitally recorded TV or other media without food advertising, in the home was related to greater junk food consumption. Kristen Harrison and Mericarmen Peralta, both of the University of Michigan, will present their findings at the 63rd Annual International Communication Association conference in London. Harrison and Peralta ...

Researchers have been able to mobilize the brain's native stem cells to replenish a type of neuron lost in Huntington's disease. In the study, which appears today in the journal Cell Stem Cell, the scientists were able to both trigger the production of new neurons in mice with the disease and show that the new cells successfully integrated into the brain's existing neural networks, dramatically extending the survival of the treated mice. "This study demonstrates the feasibility of a completely new concept to treat Huntington's disease, by recruiting the brain's endogenous ...

For some species, living twice as long in good health depends on no more than a few genes. When this fact was revealed by studies on worms three decades ago, it ushered in a golden age of ageing studies that has delivered numerous results, but also sown some confusion. The prestigious journal Cell is now publishing an exhaustive review of the subject that aims to set things straight and "serve as a framework for future studies." All the molecular indicators of ageing in mammals – the nine signatures that mark the advance of time – are set out in its pages. And the authors ...

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Rutgers scientists have described for the first time the biological process of how corals create their skeletons – destined to become limestones – which form massive and ecologically vital coral reefs in the world's oceans. In a publication in Current Biology, Tali Mass and her colleagues at the Rutgers Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences show that specific proteins produced by corals can form limestones in test tubes. These proteins, secreted by corals, precipitate carbonate that forms the corals' characteristic skeleton. "This is a first ...

Cancer cells' appetite for sugar may have serious consequences for immune cell function, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have learned. The scientists found that when they kept sugar away from critical immune cells called T cells, the cells no longer produced interferon gamma, an inflammatory compound important for fighting tumors and some kinds of infection. "T cells can get into tumors, but unfortunately they are often ineffective at killing the cancer cells," said Erika Pearce, PhD, assistant professor of pathology and immunology. ...

ANN ARBOR—Efforts to restore sturgeon in the Great Lakes region have received a lot of attention in recent years, and many of the news stories note that the prehistoric-looking fish are "living fossils" virtually unchanged for millions of years. But a new study by University of Michigan researchers and their colleagues reveals that in at least one measure of evolutionary change—changes in body size over time—sturgeon have been one of the fastest-evolving fish on the planet. "Sturgeon are thought of as a living fossil group that has undergone relatively slow rates of ...

Patients battling cancer have a better experience of care at hospitals that employ more cancer specialist nurses. Research from the University of Southampton, shows that patients of better staffed hospitals are more likely to report being given more emotional support by nurses who work well together on wards. Study author Peter Griffiths, Professor of Health Services Research at the University of Southampton, comments: "Cancer and its treatment can place a huge burden, both physical and psychological, on patients. Supporting people with cancer on the journey from diagnosis ...

How and when evolution generates diversity or gives form to proteins, living beings' functional building blocks, are essential questions that still surround the theory of evolution. In humans, the majority of genes have emerged via genetic duplication, a strategy in which a gene generates two identical copies that can evolve to generate different proteins. A study published today by scientists from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) describes how a genetic duplication that took place in the vertebrate ancestor some 500 million years ago encouraged the ...

As tumors grow, their centers are squeezed of oxygen. And so tumors must flip specific genetic switches to survive in these hypoxic environments. A series of studies funded to do only basic science and published today in the journal Cell reports the serendipitous discovery of a druggable target necessary for the survival of tumors in these low-oxygen environments. "This is a clear example of starting with a basic biology question that now turns out to be relevant to patients," says Joaquin Espinosa, PhD, investigator at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, associate ...

SAN FRANCISCO, June 6, 2013 -- Colombia sits atop a complex geological area where three tectonic plates are interacting, producing seismicity patterns that have puzzled seismologists for years. Now seismologists have identified the "Caldas tear," which is a break in a slab that separates two subducting plates and accounts for curious features, including a "nest" of seismic activity beneath east-central Colombia and high grade mineral deposits on the surface. In a paper published in the June issue of the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (BSSA), researchers ...

University of Adelaide researchers have developed a simple and cost-effective DNA test to identify kangaroo species from their droppings which will boost the ability to manage and conserve kangaroo populations. The researchers developed the test using hundreds of collected droppings across north-eastern Australia and extracting DNA from the samples, published in the conservation journal Wildlife Research. A unique pattern of DNA fragmentation was established for each species, eliminating the need for gene sequencing which is costly, much more time-consuming and requires ...