Body

An unknown function that regulates how stem cells produce different types of cells in different parts of the nervous system has been discovered by Stefan Thor, professor of Developmental Biology, and graduate students Daniel Karlsson and Magnus Baumgardt, at Linköping University in Sweden. The results improve our understanding of how stem cells work, which is crucial for our ability to use stem cells to treat and repair organs. The findings are publishing next week in the online, open-access journal PLoS Biology.

Compared with a group of healthy study participants, adults with sickle cell anemia showed poorer performance on neurocognitive tests, which was associated with anemia and age, according to a study in the May 12 issue of JAMA.

A review of previous research indicates that there are few high-quality studies on food allergies, with limited uniform criteria for making a diagnosis and determining prevalence and effective treatments, according to an article in the May 12 issue of JAMA.

Although genome-wide analysis identified two genetic variations associated with Alzheimer disease (AD), these variations did not improve the ability to predict the risk of AD, according to a study in the May 12 issue of JAMA.

"One of every 5 persons aged 65 years is predicted to de­velop AD in their lifetime, and genetic variants may play an important part in the development of the disease. The apparent substantial heritability of late-onset AD is inadequately ex­plained by genetic variation within the well-replicated genes," the authors write.

ARLINGTON, VA (May 11, 2010) – Advancement in the treatment of cocaine overdoses and a new defense in the fight against HIV are just two examples of the groundbreaking research that will be unveiled at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists' (AAPS) National Biotechnology Conference (NBC). The conference takes place Sunday, May 16 -Thursday, May 20 at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square in San Francisco, Calif.

A Possible Treatment for Cocaine Addiction

A woman's touch is all it takes for people to throw caution to the wind. That's the conclusion of a new study published online in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. If a female experimenter patted a participant on the back, they'd risk more money than if she just talked to them, or if a man did the patting. The researchers think this comes from the way that mothers use touch to make their babies feel secure.

Seven out of every ten pregnant women in the United States are not getting enough Vitamin D according to a study published in the May issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. While prenatal vitamins do raise Vitamin D levels during pregnancy, the study shows that higher doses may be needed for many women.

LA JOLLA, Calif., May 11, 2010 -- Cancer uses devious means to evade treatment and survive. One prime example is the way tumors express anti-cell death (anti-apoptotic) proteins to resist chemotherapy and radiation. However, the Pellecchia laboratory at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) has made two recent discoveries that may help curb these anti-apoptotic proteins and make current treatments more effective.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - While trying to find a DNA-based test to determine the sex of lake sturgeon, Purdue University researchers found that the sturgeon genome contains trematode genes that didn't originally belong to it and may harbor a protozoan parasite that causes a sexually transmitted disease in humans.

UPTON, NY — Scientists looking for new ways to fight tuberculosis (TB) have their sights set on a structure essential to the bacterium's survival. Disabling this structure could kill the microbes in the infected host and thwart TB infections. In a study appearing online May 11, 2010, in EMBO J, the journal of the European Molecular Biology Organization, scientists from the U.S.

LA JOLLA, Calif., May 11, 2010 -- Investigators from around the country came to Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) on Friday, May 7, to share their knowledge of the burgeoning young field of microRNAs. These small non-coding nucleic acids turn off proteins and have been implicated in viral infection, cancer, cardiovascular disease, HIV and numerous other conditions.

DURHAM, N.C. – In a single day, a solitary grad student at a lab bench can produce more simple logic circuits than the world's entire output of silicon chips in a month.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Light chain amyloidosis, a deadly protein misfolding disease, is caused by multiple mutations in cells that are intended to protect the body. Instead, the mutations send misfolded bundles of proteins through the bloodstream, potentially destroying the heart, kidneys, liver or other organs. Mayo Clinic researchers have identified one of these mutations and have shown that the molecule's shifting position is as important as its unique shape. The findings appear in the current issue of the journal Structure.