Body

According to a new survey by Donate Life America, 43 percent of people are undecided, reluctant or do not wish to have their organs and tissue donated after their deaths. While an improvement over findings from a similar survey last year in which 50 percent reported the same, the statistic illustrates a critical need to continue to increase the level of support for organ donation to save the lives of the more than 105,000 adults and children on the transplant waiting list in the U.S., an average 18 of whom die each day waiting.

A team of scientists led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) has discovered a brand new group of molecules which could help fight the spread of cancer and other diseases.

The new molecules are synthetic derivatives of a natural product known as UDP-Galactose, and block the activity of a group of enzymes called glycosyltransferases. Glycosyltransferases are used by biological cells to turn simple sugars into elongated sugar chains and branched structures.

New Haven, Conn. – In the largest genome-wide study of brain aneurysms ever conducted, an international team led by researchers at the Yale School of Medicine have identified three new genetic variants that increase a person's risk for developing this deadly disease.

WORCESTER, Mass. — Most solid cancers can't grow beyond a limited size without an adequate blood supply and supporting vascular network. Because of this, cancer researchers have sought to understand how a tumor's vascular network develops—and, more importantly, how to prevent it from developing: If the vascular network never develops, the theory goes, the tumor cannot grow.

DALLAS, April 1, 2010 — Young adults with overactive thyroid face a 44 percent increased risk of stroke compared to those with normal thyroid function, according to a study reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

PASADENA, Calif.—Scientists from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have provided the first-ever glimpse of the structure of a key protein—gp120—found on the surface of a specific subgroup of the human immunodeficiency virus, HIV-1. In addition, they demonstrated that a particular antibody to gp120 makes contact not only with the protein, but with the CD4 receptor that gp120 uses to gain entrance into the body's T cells.

In a world first study of its kind, 161 postnatal women with no previous depressive symptoms were divided in two separate groups to test the effect of a physiotherapist-led exercise and education program on wellbeing.

The experimental group received an eight-week "Mother and Baby" program, including specialized exercises provided by a women's health physiotherapist combined with parenting education.

In the second group, "Education Only" participants only received the written educational material.

WORCESTER, Mass.— Underscoring what researchers call a serious international public health concern, results from the Global Longitudinal Study of Osteoporosis in Women (GLOW) showed that among women at an elevated level of risk for osteoporosis-associated fractures, there is a failure to perceive the implications of having important risk factors.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- New information about early Native Americans' horticultural practices comes not from hieroglyphs or other artifacts, but from a suite of four gene duplicates found in wild and domesticated sunflowers.

Tomorrow's fragrant bouquets and colorful potted plants might last longer, thanks to floriculture research by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) plant physiologist Cai-Zhong Jiang. His investigations might help boost the vase life of favorite cut flowers and shelf life of prized potted plants.

Jiang is with the ARS Crops Pathology and Genetics Research Unit at Davis, Calif. He's collaborating with researchers from the University of California-Davis (UCD) and elsewhere.

An outbreak of a disease called Montipora White Syndrome (MWS) was found in Kaneohe Bay, Oʻahu within the last month prompting an interagency response team composed of scientists and students to document the extent, spread and potential causes of the disease. Members of the investigative team included scientists from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa's Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB), USGS National Wildlife Health Center and Bishop Museum.

Published online today by the leading journal Value in Health, the study assessed the current screening guidelines in terms of both cost effectiveness and fairness.

The researchers concluded that extending the hotly-debated screening programme to younger women would have real benefits in terms of both economic efficiency and equity. The approach could also be used for other fatal diseases with similar age distributions.

HOUSTON, April 1, 2010 – Imagine being able to image life as it happens by capturing video of the embryonic heart before it begins beating. A professor at the University of Houston, in collaboration with scientists at Baylor College of Medicine, is doing just that.

LA JOLLA, Calif., April 1, 2010 – Though heart disease is a major cause of disability and death, very little is understood about its genetic underpinnings. Recently, an international team of investigators at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA), Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) and other organizations shed new light on the subject. Studying Drosophila (fruit flies), the team investigated 7061 genes and built a detailed map that shows how a portion of these genes contribute to heart function and disease.

COLD SPRING HARBOR, N.Y. (Thurs., April 1, 2010) – The goal of tissue engineering is to recapitulate healthy human organs and tissue structures in culture, and then transplant them into patients, where they are fully integrated. This is a complicated process, and the use of high-throughput imaging systems that allow researchers to directly monitor transplanted tissues in live animals over time is important for improving the culturing and implantation techniques, as well as the design of artificial tissue scaffolds.