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A large collaborative study has added to the growing list of genetic variants that determine how tall a person will be. The research, published by Cell Press on December 30 in the American Journal of Human Genetics, identifies uncommon and previously unknown variants associated with height and might provide insight into the genetic architecture of other complex traits.

Tel Aviv ― It has long been believed that modern man emerged from the continent of Africa 200,000 years ago. Now Tel Aviv University archaeologists have uncovered evidence that Homo sapiens roamed the land now called Israel as early as 400,000 years ago ― the earliest evidence for the existence of modern man anywhere in the world.

An influx of invasive species can stop the dominant natural process of new species formation and trigger mass extinction events, according to research results published today in the journal PLoS ONE.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A lung transplant can mean a new chance at life. But many who receive one develop a debilitating, fatal condition that causes scar tissue to build up in the lungs and chokes off the ability to breathe.

University of Michigan researchers hope a new diagnostic tool they developed to predict bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) will allow doctors to intervene earlier and, ultimately, to provide life-saving treatments.

STONEVILLE, MS – Landscape trees, valued for their aesthetic nature and their environmental benefits, are becomingly increasingly valuable in urban environments. A single mature tree can add considerable value to commercial and residential properties. Conversely, tree mortality can result in significant economic losses. Urban trees must endure adverse growing conditions that reduce their structural strength and subject them to stresses, predisposing them to disease.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A lung transplant can mean a new chance at life. But many who receive one develop a debilitating, fatal condition that causes scar tissue to build up in the lungs and chokes off the ability to breathe.

University of Michigan researchers hope a new diagnostic tool they developed to predict bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) will allow doctors to intervene earlier and, ultimately, to provide life-saving treatments.

While regulations have been put in place to restrict the work hours of doctors in training, no such regulations exist for fully trained physicians. An editorial in this week's New England Journal of Medicine argues that sleep-deprived physicians should not be permitted to proceed with an elective surgery without a patient's informed, written consent.

Investigators at the National Institutes of Health have observed that the survival rate of people with a rare immunodeficiency disease called chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is greatly improved when even very low levels of microbe-killing molecules are present. Because production of these molecules, made by an enzyme called NADPH oxidase, can be predicted from genetic analysis, a patient's risk for severe CGD could be assessed very early in life, allowing for more personalized treatment, say the researchers.

Las Vegas, Nevada (Dec. 30, 2010) – It was Paracelsus, the Renaissance physician (1493-1541 A.D.) who first said "the dose makes the poison." So, you can drink too much wine, or ingest too much resveratrol, but in an unprecedented study, heart researchers report they couldn't find a toxic dose for Longevinex®, a resveratrol-based dietary supplement.

A team of Johns Hopkins Children's Center researchers has discovered that a protein involved in cystic fibrosis (CF) also regulates inflammation and cell death in emphysema and may be responsible for other chronic lung diseases.

Chapel Hill, NC – In a new paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Aziz Sancar, MD, PhD, the Sarah Graham Kenan Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the UNC School of Medicine, and his colleagues have taken an important step in understanding the underlying molecular signals that influence a broad array of biological processes ranging from the sleep-wake cycle to cancer growth and development.