Body | Page 2316 | Science Codex

Splitting donated livers shown to be safe, allowing doctors to save 2 lives from single organ

Boston, Mass—Split liver transplantation carries no increased risk of failure in either recipient, allowing surgeons to safely save two lives from a single donated organ (graft), according to new research from Boston Children's Hospital published online in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

Due to their regenerative nature, livers donated by a deceased adult or adolescent can be surgically split into two unequally sized portions; the smaller segment is allocated to a young child awaiting transplant and the larger portion to an adult.

Monitoring nutrient intake can help vegetarian athletes stay competitive

CHICAGO – A balanced plant-based diet provides the same quality of fuel for athletes as a meat-based diet, provided vegetarians seek out other sources of certain nutrients that are more commonly found in animal products, according to a presentation at the 2013 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Expo®.

Compound discovered at sea shows potency against anthrax

A team led by William Fenical at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has discovered a new chemical compound from an ocean microbe in a preliminary research finding that could one day set the stage for new treatments for anthrax and other ailments such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

New technologies and ingredients provide better options for gluten-free eating

CHICAGO—New technologies and ingredients are improving the taste, appearance and nutritional content of gluten-free food products, a market that is expected to grow to $6 billion by 2017, according to a presentation today at the 2013 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo® in Chicago.

'Intelligent knife' tells surgeon which tissue is cancerous

Scientists have developed an "intelligent knife" that can tell surgeons immediately whether the tissue they are cutting is cancerous or not.

In the first study to test the invention in the operating theatre, the "iKnife" diagnosed tissue samples from 91 patients with 100 per cent accuracy, instantly providing information that normally takes up to half an hour to reveal using laboratory tests.

Keeping the reserve force home

KANSAS CITY, MO - Hematopoietic stem cells—bone marrow-derived adult stem cells that give rise to the wide variety of specialized blood cells—come in two flavors: the reserve force sits quietly waiting to be called upon while the active arm continually proliferates spawning billions of blood cells every day. In their latest study, researchers at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research reveal a new mechanism that is critical in maintaining the delicate balance between the two.

Protein responsible for 'bad' blood vessel growth discovered

The discovery of a protein that encourages blood vessel growth, and especially 'bad' blood vessels – the kind that characterise diseases as diverse as cancer, age-related macular degeneration and rheumatoid arthritis – has been reported in the journal Nature.

The team at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology discovered the new protein, called LRG1, by screening for mouse genes that are over-expressed in abnormal retinal blood vessels in diseased eyes.

Molecular switch controls the destiny of self-eating cells

The study is the result of a collaboration of scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, University of Michigan, and University of California San Diego, USA, who were interested in finding out whether autophagy can be affected by events in the cell nucleus. Surprisingly, they discovered that a signal chain in the nucleus serves as a kind of molecular switch that determines whether the cell dies or survives.

Routine tasks pose problems for older individuals with vitamin D deficiency

Chevy Chase, MD—Vitamin D-deficient older individuals are more likely to struggle with everyday tasks such as dressing or climbing stairs, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

PFC exposure tied to altered thyroid function

Chevy Chase, MD—Exposure to perfluorinated chemicals is linked to changes in thyroid function and may raise the risk of mild hypothyroidism in women, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

UMMS scientists show proof-of-principal for silencing extra chromosome responsible for Down syndrome

WORCESTER, MA – Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School are the first to establish that a naturally occurring X chromosome "off switch" can be rerouted to neutralize the extra chromosome responsible for trisomy 21, also known as Down syndrome, a genetic disorder characterized by cognitive impairment.

Scripps Research Institute scientists find 3D structure of key drug target for diabetes

LA JOLLA, CA -- An international team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has determined and analyzed the three-dimensional atomic structure of the human glucagon receptor. The receptor, found mainly on liver and kidney cells, helps regulate glucose levels in the bloodstream and is the target of potential therapeutic agents for type 2 diabetes.

"Our data should change the current view of how drugs are designed with this and related receptors," said TSRI Research Associate Fai Yiu Siu, PhD, who was first author of the study.

Conflict threatens global nutrition progress, new report warns

Major progress in tackling child undernutrition in some of the world's toughest countries is under threat as military and security funding takes precedence, a new report from aid agency World Vision warns.

The number of children under five who die every year has decreased by half since 1990. Yet, World Vision's Fragile but not Helpless report (PDF) finds that this progress is under threat. Countries marred by conflict or fragility have some of the highest rates of acute and chronic undernutrition in the world.

How rice twice became a crop and twice became a weed -- and what it means for the future

The evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould once asked whether the living world would be different "if the tape were played twice." If there were a duplicate Earth evolving quietly beside ours, would we observe the emergence of creatures like ourselves and of plants and anaimals familiar to us, or would the cast of characters be entirely different?

It's an intriguing question.

So far replicate Earths are in short supply, but cases of parallel evolution (the same trait evolving independently in related lineages) allow scientists to ask some of the same questsions.

Big-nosed, long-horned dinosaur discovered in Utah

A remarkable new species of horned dinosaur has been unearthed in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, southern Utah. The huge plant-eater inhabited Laramidia, a landmass formed when a shallow sea flooded the central region of North America, isolating western and eastern portions for millions of years during the Late Cretaceous Period. The newly discovered dinosaur, belonging to the same family as the famous Triceratops, was announced today in the British scientific journal, Proceedings of the Royal Society B.