Body | Page 585 | Science Codex

High and low levels of 'good cholesterol' may cause premature death

Commonly touted as "good cholesterol" for helping to reduce risk of stroke and heart attack, both high and low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol may increase a person's risk of premature death, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System.

Conversely, intermediate HDL cholesterol levels may increase longevity, according to the research.

The large-scale epidemiological study is published Aug. 11 in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Dietary compound linked to heart disease may be influenced by gut microbiome

ITHACA, N.Y. - In the last five years, some scientists have cautioned against eating eggs and meat because these foods generate a common dietary compound, trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), that research has suggested plays a role in heart disease.

A Cornell study recently published online in the peer-reviewed journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research reports new results that raise questions about whether circulating TMAO causes heart disease or whether it is simply a biomarker, or a sign, of developing disease.

Structural images shed new light on a cancer-linked potassium channel

Most cells in the body carry on their surface tiny pores through which potassium ions travel. In controlling the flow of these positively charged ions, the channel helps the cell maintain its electrical balance.

One particular type of potassium channel, called Eag1, has been found in a number of cell types: in the neurons of the brain, in embryonic cells that generate muscle fiber, and in some tumors cells, where it's thought to have a cancer-promoting effect. But it's not yet clear how Eag1 differs from other potassium channels, or exactly how it works.

Autophagy under the microscope as never before

We don't tend to wrap our recycling waste in bubble wrap but that's essentially what cells do during the cellular recycling process called autophagy. Using the live imaging capabilities at the Babraham Institute, Institute researchers and their collaborators at Carl Zeiss Microscopy, Munich, and the Francis Crick Institute, London, have viewed the earliest stages of this encapsulation and recycling process in super resolution to reveal what's happening in unprecedented molecular detail. Their research is published today in the journal Nature Communications.

The rain frog that turned into a Sleeping beauty is a new species from the Peruvian Andes

A new species of rain frog was discovered in the premontane forests of the Peruvian central Andes. Referring to the mountain chain's local name, the amphibian's name translates to 'Sleeping beauty'. Another striking thing about the new frog is the contrasting bright red that coats its groins, shanks and thighs.

Wildlife-friendly farming shown to benefit UK moths

Wildlife-friendly farming schemes can help boost the abundance of many UK moth species, a new study by the University of Liverpool has found.

Large moths (macro-moths) play an important role as pollinators, but numbers have fallen in the UK by 28% since 1968. The situation is particularly bad in southern Britain, where numbers are down by 40%, with habitat loss thought to be behind the decline.

The Aztec treasure unearthed: New earth snake species discovered in Mexico

A new gem has been added to the vast treasure of Mexican reptiles. Mexican scientists recently described a new and strikingly colored species of earth snake from the mountains of Puebla and Veracruz in east-central Mexico.

These burrowing reptiles are seldom encountered and, consequently, have been poorly studied. Furthermore, several species have restricted distribution, making them particularly vulnerable to extinction. The description of the new species was published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

Researchers restore drug sensitivity in breast cancer tumors

A team of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine cancer researchers has uncovered one way certain tumors resist vital medication.

Bug collecting

Amateur and professional entomologists are experts at their own version of Pokémon Go. After all, part of their job is to search for and collect rare insect species that are stored in the archives of natural history museums.

Even the director of UC Santa Barbara's Cheadle Center for Biodiversity & Ecological Restoration has gotten in on the "game." Katja Seltmann, an entomologist and parasitic wasp specialist, is co-author of a new paper that examines the North American distribution of some real-life Pokémon -- insect species in the Miridae family, also known as plant bugs.

Five ways bioengineers want to use 3-D printing

Now that 3D printing has made it easier to generate custom-made prosthetics, bioengineers are looking ahead at manufacturing actual cellular material. Such technology could be the basis for personalized biomedical devices; tissue-engineered skin, cartilage, and bone; or even working bladders. In a Trends in Biotechnology special issue on biofabrication, publishing August 17, researchers review and consider the progress made in 3D bioprinting and what might be possible in the decades--or years--ahead.

1. Made-to-Order Organs-on-a-Chip

Directly reprogramming a cell's identity with gene editing

DURHAM, N.C. -- Researchers have used CRISPR -- a revolutionary new genetic engineering technique -- to convert cells isolated from mouse connective tissue directly into neuronal cells.

Study: We understand that social media does not equal social interaction

If you worry that people today are using social media as a crutch for a real social life, a University of Kansas study will set you at ease.

Jeffrey Hall, associate professor of communication studies, found that people are actually quite adept at discerning the difference between using social media and having an honest-to-goodness social interaction. The results of his studies appear in the journal New Media & Society.

Research shows backup plans may keep you from achieving your goal

MADISON, Wis. -- When it comes to setting organizational and personal goals, making a backup plan has been seen as a sensible way to deal with uncertainty -- to be prepared if things don't go as expected.

However, new research from the Wisconsin School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison challenges that conventional wisdom and finds that merely thinking through a backup plan can reduce goal performance and actually hurt the chances of successfully achieving your goal.

New microscopy system captures 'lost' fluorescence, improving resolution

WOODS HOLE, MASS. -- Taking a cue from medical imaging, scientists have invented a multi-view microscope that captures higher-resolution, 3D images of live cells and tissues without upping the dose of potentially harmful radiation the specimens receive.

The researchers, who work collaboratively at the Marine Biological Laboratory's Whitman Center, published their results this week in the journal Optica.

Study finds Hispanic men in California need more screening for colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer incidence and mortality rates in California have decreased markedly for men and women in all major racial-ethnic groups since 1990, except for Hispanic men.

Colorectal cancer rates for Hispanic men have remained relatively the same, a disparity that can be improved by greater screening, a study of colorectal cancer trends from the UC Davis Institute for Population Health Improvement (IPHI) has found.