Body

Philadelphia, PA, March 21, 2013 – The April issue of Translational Research examines the progress and outlook of gene therapy research, with a specific focus on the clinical applicability of gene therapy today. Research articles included in the special issue highlight current studies that, after decades of trial and error, may provide evidence for a clear path of treatment and cure for many diseases. There are more than 1,800 genetic disorders known in humans, and only a small fraction of these can be treated and even fewer cured.

PHILADELPHIA — Scientists have characterized how the functionality of genetically engineered T cells administered therapeutically to patients with melanoma changed over time. The data, which are published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, highlight the need for new strategies to sustain antitumor T cell functionality to increase the effectiveness of this immunotherapeutic approach.

Seventy-five percent of the world's population consumes nearly twice the daily recommended amount of sodium (salt), according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism and Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention 2013 Scientific Sessions.

Global sodium intake from commercially prepared food, table salt, salt and soy sauce added during cooking averaged nearly 4,000 mg a day in 2010.

BOSTON, MA—According to a new study, the last few meals before surgery might make a difference in recovery after surgery. Fat tissue is one of the most dominant components that make up the body, and fat tissue is always traumatized during major surgery.

The two endangered fish species, Squalius aradensis and S. torgalensis, most generally belong to the Cyprinidae, or the carp family. This is the largest fish, and vertebrate family, formed of freshwater fish with a diversity of more than 2,400 species. The family also has an important economic value as a food source.

"Are there genetic risk factors for PCa? Yes, and BRCA2 and HOXB13 are useful for predicting high-risk disease," said Jack Cuzick (GB) president of the International Society for Cancer Prevention (ISCaP), referring to the two genes implicated in high-risk prostate disease. Cuzick gave a report on the Consensus Statement for Prostate Cancer Prevention at the closing plenary session of the 28 Annual EAU Congress held in Milan, Italy from March 15 to 19.

System-wide networks of proteins are indispensable for organisms. Function and evolution of these networks are among the most fascinating research questions in biology. Bioinformatician Thomas Rattei, University of Vienna, and physicist Hernan Makse, City University New York (CUNY), have reconstructed ancestral protein networks. The results are of high interest not only for evolutionary research but also for the interpretation of genome sequence data. Recently, the researchers published their paper in the renowned journal PLOS ONE.

The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) released the widely-anticipated "ACMG Recommendations for Reporting of Incidental Findings in Clinical Exome and Genome Sequencing" report at its 2013 Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting today in Phoenix. The ACMG Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting is one of the largest gatherings of medical and health professionals in genetics in the world.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Scientists at Oregon Health & Science University and the Portland VA Medical Center have developed a drug that may represent one of the world's best hopes for treating and preventing malaria — a disease that kills more than one million people each year.

The scientists have described the drug, and its effectiveness against mice infected with malaria, in the March 20 issue of Science Translational Medicine, an interdisciplinary journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

You may have heard of couples that strive for exact equality when it comes to chores, i.e. I scrub a dish, you scrub a dish, I change a diaper, you change a diaper.

But new research finds that keeping score with chores isn't the best path to a high-quality relationship. Instead the data points to two items that should have a permanent place on a father's to-do list:

(CHICAGO) – Infections, as the news has shown time and again, can be deadly. Periprothesthetic joint infection (PJI) is the infection of grave concern to the orthopedic community, especially in its growingly common antibiotic-resistant form. This all-too-common infection can be found deep inside the joint prosthesis following joint replacement surgery.

CHICAGO – Anatomic differences between male and female knees have resulted in the creation and regular use of gender-specific implants. However, a new study presented today at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) finds that a specialized prosthesis may not improve overall outcomes in female total knee replacement (TKR) patients.

CHICAGO — Ninety-eight percent of total knee replacement (TKR) patients who were working before surgery returned to work after surgery, and of those patients, 89 percent returned to their previous position, according to new research presented today at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). Another related study highlights the life-restoring outcomes of total hip replacement (THR).

A study at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) found that a surgical procedure known as the "docking technique" to repair a torn elbow ligament in teenage athletes yielded favorable results. The outcomes were better than those in previously published reports on reconstruction of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL), also known as Tommy John surgery, in this age group and may be attributed to technique-specific factors, according to the study authors.

Parents may plead, cajole or entice their children to try new foods, but some kids just won't budge. Now, new research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reveals that the reason these kids fear new foods has less to do with what's on their plate and more to do with their genes.

The work, led by Myles Faith, an associate professor of nutrition at UNC's Gillings School of Global Public Health, adds to the growing body of knowledge that genes play a significant role in children's eating behavior, including the tendency to avoid new foods.