Body

Gene researchers have used sophisticated scientific tools to reveal a new gene for type 2 diabetes at a well-established genomic location. Because this gene, ACSL5, codes for a protein that regulates how the body recognizes insulin, that protein may represent an important target for future treatments for the disease.

Paul G. Allen's Vulcan Inc. today announced the results of the $7 million, three-year Great Elephant Census (GEC - http://www.greatelephantcensus.com/), the first-ever pan-African survey of savanna elephants using standardized data collection and validation methods. Managed by Elephants Without Borders (EWB,) the immense project's report confirms substantial declines in elephant numbers over just the last decade.

Insoo Hyun, PhD, associate professor of bioethics at the School of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, has proposed a framework for addressing ethical questions surrounding potentially revolutionary research on part-human, part-animal embryos, which can be produced when human stem cells are transplanted into animal embryos.

In the August 31 issue of Science Translational Medicine, new research from the University of Chicago shows how deficits in a specific pathway of genes can lead to the development of atrial fibrillation, a common irregular heartbeat, which poses a significant health risk.

Researchers describe a complex system of checks and balances, including the intersection of two opposing regulatory methods that work to maintain normal cardiac rhythm, and offer insights that could lead to individualized treatment in humans.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A common cell signaling pathway that controls differentiation of stem cells may also control the formation of tumor cells in fat, according to a Purdue University study.

This signaling pathway, called Notch signaling, has been widely reported to determine the identity and control the differentiation of a variety of stem cells in different tissues. Notch signaling occurs between two neighboring cells, in which one cell sends a signal to the neighbor cell to control its gene transcription program that determines the identity of the neighbor cell.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (August 31, 2016) - Whitehead Institute scientists have developed a method to quickly isolate and systematically measure metabolite concentrations within the cellular organelles known as mitochondria, often referred to as the "powerhouses of the cell." Prior attempts at such measurements have yielded unreliable results, either by taking too long to isolate mitochondria or by contaminating mitochondrial metabolites with contents from other cellular components.

LAWRENCE -- Even though the Defense Secretary Ash Carter earlier this year formally opened all combat jobs to women, two University of Kansas researchers say the U.S. military needs to work on changing significant cultural aspects to fully integrate women in the armed forces.

As conservationists work to recover endangered species populations, taking individuals that are maintained and protected under human care and reintroducing them into the wild, it becomes apparent that there is a great deal to learn about the science of species recovery. In a paper published in the recent edition of the Journal of Applied Ecology, a team of wildlife experts from San Diego Zoo Global, the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S.

A research team led by investigators at The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles has generated functional human and mouse tissue-engineered liver from adult stem and progenitor cells. Tissue-engineered Liver (TELi) was found to contain normal structural components such as hepatocytes, bile ducts and blood vessels. The study has been published online in the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine.

TORONTO, Aug. 30, 2016--People who have received organ transplants are at higher risk of developing and dying of cancer than the general population. Yet a new study has found cancer screening guidelines for this group are inconsistent as is the use of these guidelines.

First-ever demographic study confirms forest elephants among the world's slowest reproducing mammals, spelling trouble for populations threatened by poaching Elephant populations will take nearly a century to recover from poaching since 2002 Closing domestic ivory markets will be debated at upcoming IUCN World Conservation Congress and CITES meeting Forest elephants are one of two species of African elephants

ITHACA, NY-- Tomatoes are already an ideal model species for plant research, but scientists at the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) just made them even more useful by cutting the time required to modify their genes by six weeks.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- Structural biologists show in a new study that an apparently key step in the process of cell division depends on a unique interaction among specific proteins, including one that is strongly linked to cancer. Their hope now is that the detailed new characterization of the interaction will make it a target for exploring a new cancer therapy.

Australia is known as a country full of deadly creatures - now people have trapdoor spiders hiding in their backyards.

The mysteriously elusive creatures are hiding in most forests in Brisbane and are tucked away in national parks throughout the state of Queensland, Australia.

PhD student Jeremy Wilson recently returned from a mission with the Queensland Museum to collect new specimens for its upcoming Wild State display, while also uncovering species of golden trapdoor spiders in common or remote parts of the state from Fraser Island to Cape York.

The job of policing the microenvironment around our cells is carried out by macrophages. Macrophages are the 'guards' that patrol most tissues of the body - poised to engulf infections or destroy and repair damaged tissue.