Body

Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is the most common inherited muscular dystrophy in adults. New research published by Cell Press online on March 31st in the journal Cell Stem Cell, uses human embryonic stem cells to make a clinically-important contribution to the understanding of this disease, and highlights the incredible potential that embryonic stem cells hold for unraveling the complex molecular mechanisms involved in a variety of human conditions.

DURHAM, N.C. – New genomic analyses suggest that the most common genetic variants in the human genome aren't the ones most likely causing disease. Rare genetic variants, the type found most often in functional areas of human DNA, are more often linked to disease, genetic experts at Duke University Medical Center report.

The study was published in the American Journal of Human Genetics on March 31.

Biologists at UC San Diego have identified the molecular mechanisms triggered by starvation in fruit flies that enhance the nervous system's response to smell, allowing these insects and presumably vertebrates—including humans—to become more efficient and voracious foragers when hungry.

Their discovery of the neural changes that control odor-driven food searches in flies, which they detail in a paper in the April 1 issue of the journal Cell, could provide a new way to potentially regulate human appetite.

Hospitals can reduce the risk of life-threatening bloodstream infections in children with peripherally inserted central venous catheters by assessing daily the patient's progress and removing the device as early as possible, according to a new Johns Hopkins Children's Center study published online March 31 in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

The findings will be presented on Saturday, April 2, at the annual meeting of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

Berlin, Germany, Thursday 31 March 2011- New data presented at the International Liver CongressTM today show the existence of novel interactions between T cells and hepatocytes that are regulated by HCV infection, providing a novel understanding of how HCV persists in the liver.

The nature of the T cell-hepatocyte interactions alter CD4+ T-cell trafficking and cytokine expression, and may have an impact on T-cell effector function and the outcome of anti-viral immune responses.

A new discovery published in the April 2001 issue of Journal of Leukocyte Biology (http://www.jleukbio.org) raises hope that new treatments for illnesses like Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are on the horizon. That's because they've identified IL-23, a cytokine used by the immune system to ward off disease, as a major contributor to the inflammation that is the hallmark of these illnesses.

A two-year trial of entecavir followed by lamivudine (LAM) in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection resulted in a virologic rebound rate of 24% and 12% drug-resistance rate. Patients who continued on entecavir therapy throughout the study period had undetectable HBV DNA at the two-year endpoint. Details of this trial are published in the April issue of Hepatology, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

In what could be a potential breakthrough in the battle against AIDS and a major development in the rational design of new drugs, scientists have engineered a new protein that prevents the virus from entering cells. This protein is based on a naturally occurring protein in the body that protects cells from viruses, except the man-made version does not cause inflammation and other side effects at the dosages needed to inhibit AIDS. This discovery was published in the April 2011 issue of The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org).

UPTON, NY — As part of the quest to form perfectly smooth single-molecule layers of materials for advanced energy, electronic, and medical devices, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered that the molecules in thin films remain frozen at a temperature where the bulk material is molten. Thin molecular films have a range of applications extending from organic solar cells to biosensors, and understanding the fundamental aspects of these films could lead to improved devices.

To combat the obesity epidemic, the National Institutes of Health is encouraging diverse scientific investigations through a new Strategic Plan for NIH Obesity Research.

Montreal, March 31, 2011 – Anyone who's ever used an electric or gas lawnmower knows how pushing the device can cause tingling hands. This side-effect is caused by motor vibrations and comes with the turf for people who cut grass for a living.

Workers who employ handheld power tools in the mining, forestry, manufacturing and services sectors can also be exposed to large levels of vibrations in their hands and upper arms. Such vibrations are not without consequence.

Do the principles of quantum mechanics apply to biological systems? Until now, says Prof. Ron Naaman of the Institute's Chemical Physics Department (Faculty of Chemistry), both biologists and physicists have considered quantum systems and biological molecules to be like apples and oranges. But research he conducted together with scientists in Germany, which appeared recently in Science, definitively shows that a biological molecule – DNA – can discern between quantum states known as spin.

In recent years, bed bug infestations have become increasingly common in Swedish homes. There are two different species of bed bug that suck blood from humans – the common bed bug and the tropical bed bug. Increased foreign travel has meant that tropical bed bugs frequently accompany travellers to Sweden.

Although the green toad (Bufo viridis) can today be found all over Central Europe, Asia, Africa, and even on the Balearic Islands, it became extinct in the Iberian Peninsula at the end of the Early Pleistocene (1.1 million years ago). This has been demonstrated by an international research study, with Spanish participation, which has discovered the first green frog fossil in Murcia.