SANTA CRUZ, CA--Researchers have found compelling evidence for an extensive biological community living in porous rock deep beneath the seafloor. The microbes in this hidden world appear to be an important source of dissolved organic matter in deep ocean water, a finding that could dramatically change ideas about the ocean carbon cycle. Matthew McCarthy, associate professor of ocean sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz, led a team of researchers from several institutions who analyzed the dissolved organic matter in fluids from natural vents on the seafloor ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A Purdue University research team developed a nanoparticle that can hold and release an antimicrobial agent as needed for extending the shelf life of foods susceptible to Listeria monocytogenes. Yuan Yao, an assistant professor of food science, altered the surface of a carbohydrate found in sweet corn called phytoglycogen, which led to the creation of several forms of a nanoparticle that could attract and stabilize nisin, a food-based antimicrobial peptide. The nanoparticle can then preserve nisin for up to three weeks, combating Listeria, a potentially ...

Investigators at Southern Methodist University and The University of Texas at Dallas have discovered a family of small molecules that shows promise in protecting brain cells against nerve-degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Huntington's, which afflict millions. Dallas-based startup EncephRx, Inc. was granted the worldwide license to the jointly owned compounds. A biotechnology and therapeutics company, EncephRx will develop drug therapies based on the new class of compounds as a pharmaceutical for preventing nerve-cell damage, delaying onset of ...

SEATTLE & CHICAGO – Scientists at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute (Seattle BioMed) and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have reached a major milestone in the effort to wipe out some of the most lethal diseases on the planet. As leaders of two large structural genomics centers, they've experimentally determined 500 three-dimensional protein structures from a number of bacterial and protozoan pathogens, which could potentially lead to new drugs, vaccines and diagnostics to combat deadly infectious diseases. Some of the structures solved by the centers ...

A school-based intervention program designed for adolescents with asthma significantly improves asthma management and quality of life for the students who participate, and reduces asthma morbidity, according to researchers in New York City, who studied the effect of the program aimed at urban youth and their medical providers. The Asthma Self-Management for Adolescents (ASMA) program is an eight-week intervention geared toward helping adolescents learn more effective ways of managing their symptoms and controlling their asthma. The findings were published online ahead ...

New Rochelle, NY, December 7, 2010—Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN) recently co-sponsored a roundtable discussion on new ways to use biological solutions to assist in environment clean-up after manmade or natural disasters. "Gulf Oil Spill: Using Modern-day Biology to Assess the Environmental Impact and to Help in Remediation" was also sponsored by the Venture Development Center (VDC) at The University of Massachusetts Boston, where the discussions took place. Part I of the roundtable appears on the Video Section of the GEN website (http://www.genengnews.com/video-channel) ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. --- While Asian carp, gypsy moths and zebra mussels hog invasive-species headlines, many invisible invaders are altering ecosystems and flourishing outside of the limelight. A study by Elena Litchman, Michigan State University associate professor of ecology, sheds light on why invasive microbial invaders shouldn't be overlooked or underestimated. "Invasive microbes have many of the same traits as their larger, 'macro' counterparts and have the potential to significantly impact terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems," said Litchman, whose research appears ...

Athens, Ga. – Researchers at the University of Georgia have discovered a central switch that controls whether cells move or remain stationary. The misregulation of this switch may play a role in the increased movement of tumor cells and in the aggressiveness of tumors themselves. "Malignant cancer arises when cancer cells acquire the ability to move away from their primary tissue location," said Natalia Starostina assistant research scientist in the UGA department of cellular biology and lead author of the research. "The control of cell movement is a fundamental aspect ...

A new formulation of Amphotericin B (AmB) developed by University of British Columbia researchers has been shown to be stable in tropical climates and effective in treating Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) in mouse models. VL is a blood-born parasitic disease that afflicts 12 million people worldwide, mainly in developing countries and tropical regions. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1.5 million new cases of the disease are reported every year, and 60,000 people die from it. AmB, a 50-year-old anti-fungal drug, is the standard treatment for VL, but its ...

(Garrison, NY) Practices for protecting human research subjects with Alzheimer's disease and other conditions that make them incapable of giving informed consent are widely variable and in need of more concrete ethical and legal guidance, according to a study in IRB: Ethics & Human Research. The findings are significant for several reasons. First of all, the authors write, many countries have made research on dementia a national health priority and launched clinical trials that involve people who are, or are likely to become, cognitively impaired. These trials increasingly ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The lame-duck Congress may be the last chance for the current Democratic majority to slip through legislation legalizing online gambling, a move that could have dire consequences for communities and the economy, a leading national gambling critic warns. Although much of the talk on Capitol Hill revolves around Bush-era tax cuts and reducing the deficit, University of Illinois business professor John W. Kindt says don't be surprised if a bill legalizing online gambling is floated by outgoing House Democrats under the auspices of revenue generation. "The ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Many U.S. restaurants may be ignoring a desire by American consumers to dine at environmentally friendly restaurants, according to a small exploratory study. Researchers found that more than 8 out of 10 restaurant patrons surveyed in Columbus said they would be willing to pay more to dine at "green" restaurants. More than 7 out of 10 said it was good for restaurants to protect the environment. The only problem is that very few restaurants market themselves as "green" or environmentally friendly, said Jay Kandampully, co-author of the study and professor ...

CINCINNATI—Helicopter emergency medical services can be a life saver for patients needing immediate care. But, according to a University of Cincinnati study, the process of activating them often delays treatment beyond recommended times. The study, published online ahead of print in Annals of Emergency Medicine, was led by assistant professor Jason McMullan, MD. In a multicenter, retrospective chart review, McMullan found that a majority of STEMI heart attack patients transferred by a hospital-based helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) in 2007 did not receive treatment ...

AUDIO: This is a recording of a Red-tailed hawk made by Pamela Rasmussen in Maryland and now downloadable from the AVoCet database. Click here for more information. EAST LANSING, Mich. — A growing online library of bird sounds, photos and information offers a new resource for backyard birders and seasoned ornithologists alike. The Avian Vocalizations Center at Michigan State University, or AVoCet,offers free downloads of bird sounds from around the world. It also features ...

Flying insects' altitude control mechanisms are the focus of research being conducted in a Caltech laboratory under an Air Force Office of Scientific Research grant that may lead to technology that controls altitude in a variety of aircraft for the Air Force. "This work investigates sensory-motor feedback mechanisms in the insect brain that could inspire new approaches to flight stabilization and navigation in future insect-sized vehicles for the military," said Dr. Willard Larkin, AFOSR program manager who's supporting the work of lead researcher, Dr. Andrew Straw of ...

In an effort to pinpoint potential triggers leading to inflammatory responses that eventually contribute to depression, researchers are taking a close look at the immune system of people living in today's cleaner modern society. Rates of depression in younger people have steadily grown to outnumber rates of depression in the older populations and researchers think it may be because of a loss of healthy bacteria. In an article published in the December issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, Emory neuroscientist Charles Raison, MD, and colleagues say there is mounting ...

ORLANDO — A pioneering clinical trial is testing the effectiveness in leukemia of a small molecule that shuts down MDM2, a protein that can disable the well-known tumor suppressor p53. Michael Andreeff, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Medicine and chief of Molecular Hematology and Therapy in the Department of Leukemia at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, presented preliminary results of this ongoing Phase I study at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology. The clinical trial is under way at MD Anderson and five other sites in the United ...

New Rochelle, NY, December 7, 2010—NASA-funded research has uncovered a new life form on Earth, a microorganism that can not only survive but can thrive and reproduce by metabolizing arsenic, a chemical that is highly toxic for most other earthly organisms. This finding will revolutionize the field of astrobiology—the study of the origins, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. Astrobiology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.(www.liebertpub.com), has been the defining journal in this exciting area of study for the last decade. Table ...

System 94B has not been classified as a tropical depression, but NASA satellite data has shown that it is creating heavy rainfall near India's southeastern coast. A second NASA satellite revealed that strong wind shear is continuing to push convection to the northwest of System 94B's center of circulation. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite viewed an area of thunderstorms associated with System 94B near the east coast of India in the Bay of Bengal on December 7 at 0123 UTC. Data from TRMM's Precipitation Radar (PR) and Microwave Imager (TMI) showed ...

GREENBELT, Md. -- A new NASA computer modeling effort has found that additional growth of plants and trees in a world with doubled atmospheric carbon dioxide levels would create a new negative feedback – a cooling effect – in the Earth's climate system that could work to reduce future global warming. The cooling effect would be -0.3 degrees Celsius (C) (-0.5 Fahrenheit (F)) globally and -0.6 degrees C (-1.1 F) over land, compared to simulations where the feedback was not included, said Lahouari Bounoua, of Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Bounoua is lead author ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The flurry of smart-phone patent suits at the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) is being driven by technology companies eager to capitalize on the speed and expertise of the specialized venue, says a University of Illinois patent strategy expert. Business professor Deepak Somaya says that this current wave of patent litigation is a "clash driven by company strategies." "Smart phones combine lots of amazing innovation from both computing and mobile telephony, and technology companies are seeing their patents as a potential source of leverage, ...

Los Angeles, CA (December 7, 2010) Most people feel chills and shivers in response to music that thrills them, but some people feel these chills often and others feel them hardly at all. People who are particularly open to new experiences are most likely to have chills in response to music, according to a study in the current Social Psychological and Personality Science (published by SAGE). Researchers Emily Nusbaum and Paul Silvia of University of North Carolina at Greensboro asked students about how often they felt chills down their spine, got goose bumps, or felt ...

MADISON — The "A" grades that high schoolers earn aren't just good for making the honor roll — they also make them healthier as adults, too. Studies have long shown that education is linked to better health, but new research by Pamela Herd, an associate professor of public affairs and sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, shows that higher academic performance in high school plays a critical role in better health throughout life. "How well you do in school matters," Herd says about the findings, which were published in the December issue of the Journal ...

In many Asian nations, the percentage of the population 65 and older is growing rapidly -- a demographic shift that will pose new social and economic challenges to governments in the region. Preparing for the Challenges of Population Aging in Asia: Strengthening the Scientific Basis of Policy Development, a new report from five national science academies in China, India, Indonesia, Japan, and the U.S., explores the critical issues that rapidly aging populations will raise and identifies research that could help policymakers respond. The report will be released at 6 p.m. ...

Ground-breaking research from Professor Douglas Kell, published in the journal Archives of Toxicology, has found that the majority of debilitating illnesses are in part caused by poorly-bound iron which causes the production of dangerous toxins that can react with the components of living systems. These toxins, called hydroxyl radicals, cause degenerative diseases of many kinds in different parts of the body. In order to protect the body from these dangerous varieties of poorly-bound iron, it is vital to take on nutrients, known as iron chelators, which can bind the iron ...