Body

SALT LAKE CITY—The most widely used medical radioisotope, Technetium-99m (Tc-99m), is essential for an estimated 70,000 medical imaging procedures that take place daily around the world. Aging reactors, production intermittencies and threats of permanent reactor closures have researchers striving to develop alternative methods of supply. In a comparative study presented at SNM's 57th Annual Meeting, researchers show that medical cyclotrons could be capable of producing this medical isotope.

SALT LAKE CITY—For more than 15,000 Americans each year, a kidney transplant can mean a new lease on life without dialysis, but complications following surgery are not uncommon. A recent study presented at SNM's 57th Annual Meeting suggests that the use of both physiological and structural images acquired from single photon emission computed tomography and X-ray computed tomography (SPECT/CT) hybrid imaging can help clinicians to better diagnose and treat patients suffering from a number of renal-transplant associated complications.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University scientists have improved a strain of yeast that can produce more biofuel from cellulosic plant material by fermenting all five types of the plant's sugars.

Although plants and animals are very different organisms, they share a surprising number of biological mechanisms. A plant biologist at Tel Aviv University says that one of these mechanisms may be the answer for turning off cancer growth in humans.

SAN DIEGO – (June 7, 2010) If you think of diabetes onset like an elaborate molecular drama, then a research team led by a La Jolla Institute scientist has unmasked a previously unknown cellular player, which is critical to proper insulin secretion. "Defective insulin secretion is a hallmark of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes," said Catherine Hedrick, Ph.D., a scientist at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology, who led the team, which included researchers from the University of Virginia.

SALT LAKE CITY, June 7, 2010 – In a surprising discovery that someday may lead to new treatments for many inflammatory diseases, University of Utah scientists found that a hormone involved in iron metabolism can save mice from deadly acute inflammation.

A new emergency review tool will help research ethics boards and institutions to expedite research while respecting the procedures of ethics reviews, states an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj090976.pdf.

Research published in the journal Genetics suggests that mutant maize have multiple independent pathways used to regulate and export sugars throughout its various organs

In June (8-12) teams of scientists from more than 60 countries will share the first results of their studies carried out during a major international effort to understand the polar regions and their impact on global issues such as climate change, biodiversity and health. British Antarctic Survey scientists will present their latest research finding at the International Polar Year Science Conference in Oslo - the largest assembly of polar scientists in history.

British Antarctic Survey posters, talks and themed sessions include:

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (June 8, 2010) – A University of Minnesota study definitively shows that those with decreased LDL cholesterol levels can count on an increased life expectancy. The research is published in the May 24 edition of the Annals of Surgery.

Researchers have discovered components of the bovine mastitis-causing bacterium, Streptococcus uberis that play a key role in the disease. This discovery could lead the way to finally developing a vaccine for this endemic disease, which costs UK farmers alone nearly £200M per year, requires the large scale use of antibiotics, causes pain to cows and dramatically reduces milk yield. A solution to this problem will be an important contribution to the future security of our food supply in the UK. The research is due to be published in Veterinary Research.

Modern evolutionary systematists often use molecular methods, such like mitochondrial DNA analysis, to differentiate between species and subspecies. These molecular methods are a flashy symbol of modern science cleverly exploited by media to draw interest of public and by laboratory scientists to draw attention of government funding agencies. However, current research indicates that the picture painted by these methods may be false, and only a creative combination of classical field-based ecology, museum-based systematics and DNA-based phylogenetics, can lead to right conclusions.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Medical College of Georgia researchers have identified the culprit gene for a rare condition that turns smiles into grimaces and impedes bladder and bowel control.

Their finding provides new insight into urofacial syndrome as well as incontinence in general which affects some 20 percent of the general population.

Protein 53 is very important in protecting against cancer given that it prevents cancer-causing mutations from accumulating and its inactivation is closely linked to the proliferation of tumour cells. UAB lecturer Ignasi Roig participated in the study. Formed by an international research team, the study served to discover that this protein played an unexpected physiological role: it also becomes activated during the formation process of ova and spermatozoids. The discovery, published in Science, could open the door to new approaches and ways of studying the disease.