Body

The real world is three-dimensional. That's true even in the laboratory, where scientists have to grow cells to study how they develop and what happens when their growth is abnormal.

More and more laboratories are seeking to develop three-dimensional cell culture systems that allow them to test their new techniques and drugs in a system that more closely mimics the way in which cells grow. However, a big sticking point is the cost of commercial media for growing such cultures.

Scientists have identified one of the genes implicated in age-related macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness in developed countries.

The research, published online today in the Lancet, adds to the growing understanding of the genetics of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which the researchers believe should ultimately lead to novel treatments for the disease.

University of Iowa researchers and colleagues in France have identified a gene variant that causes a potentially fatal human heart rhythm disorder called sinus node disease. Also known as "sick sinus syndrome," the disease affects approximately one in 600 heart patients older than 65 and is responsible for 50 percent or more of the permanent pacemaker placements in the United States.

LA JOLLA, Calif., October 7, 2008 — Burnham Institute for Medical Research today announced that scientists have created a peptide that binds to Bcl-2, a protein that protects cancer cells from programmed cell death, and converts it into a cancer cell killer. The research, which was published as the featured article in the October 7 edition of Cancer Cell, may lead to new cancer treatments.

Athens, Ga. – Even occasional cigarette smoking can impair the functioning of your arteries, according to a new University of Georgia study that used ultrasound to measure how the arteries of young, healthy adults respond to changes in blood flow.

The Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), in the celebration of its 20th anniversary, organised a meeting whit a group of international experts to discuss the environmental future of the planet on the 2 and 3 of October. The work of both days is summarized in the Declaration of Barcelona 2008: Challenges and Pathways to Earth Sustainability, which you will find bellow.

The Stowers Institute's Rong Li Lab has characterized a mechanism that allows for asymmetrical cell division during meiosis in oocytes. By tracking chromosome movement in live mouse oocytes, the team discovered that chromosomes can recruit to their vicinity a protein called formin-2. This protein allows the oocyte to retain the majority of the cytoplasm – a requirement for embryonic development after fertilization – while the other daughter cell (called a polar body) resulting from the asymmetric division gets only a minimal amount and subsequently dies.

COLUMBIA, Mo. – When it comes to understanding the effectiveness and safety of using herbal therapies with other drugs, much is unknown. Now, a University of Missouri researcher will study how black cohosh - an herbal supplement often used to relieve hot flashes in menopausal women - interacts with tamoxifen, a common drug used to treat breast cancer.

Hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury is a serious complication but unavoidable problem in liver surgery including liver transplantation and hepatic resection. The most important consequence of this pathological process is multiple organ failure with a high mortality rate. Steroid therapy suppresses liver injury by a variety of mechanisms, including increased tissue blood flow and suppression of oxygen free radicals, arachidonic acid derivatives, lysosomal proteases (cathepsins) and cytokine production.

Cancer immune surveillance is considered to be important in the anti-tumor protection of the host. The growing tumor escapes the immune control under the immunosuppressive conditions. The surgical removal of the tumor may reverse the immunosuppression. The TF antigen and Tn belong to tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens (TACA). TF antigen is implicated in the metastatic spread due to the adhesion of cancer cells to the endothelium.

A team of scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has found a way to genetically enhance the scent of flowers and implant a scent in those that don't have one.

Smell plays an important role in our lives: It influences the way in which we choose fruit and vegetables, perfume, and even a partner. And yet, smell is not just what we smell with our noses, it's also what we taste, explains Prof. Alexander Vainstein, who is heading the team at the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment. "Aroma is of major importance for defining the taste of food."

They investigated the effects of ethanol on the IGF-I system with the involvement of JNK1/2 activity and ADH by using each chemical inhibitor in primary cultured rat hepatocytes. The results indicate that ethanol inducedp-JNK1/2 activation is associated with the IGF-I system and cell viability in hepatocytes. Furthermore, alcohol dehydrogenase is involved in the relationship between ethanol-induced inactivation of p-JNK1/2 and the changes of the IGF-I system and cell viability.

The research team led by Levent Erdem from Şişli Etfal Teaching and Research Hospital of Turkey investigated the prevalence and demography of microscopic colitis in patients with diarrhea of unknown etiology and normal colonoscopy in Turkey. This will be published on 21 July 2008, in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question.

In geology as in cancer research, the silver bullet theory always gets the headlines and nearly always turns out to be wrong.

For geologists who study mass extinctions, the silver bullet is a giant asteroid plunging to earth.

But an asteroid is the prime suspect only in the most recent of five mass extinctions, said USC earth scientist David Bottjer. The cataclysm 65 million years ago wiped out the dinosaurs.

"The other four have not been resolvable to a rock falling out of the sky," Bottjer said.

Australians with mental illness smoke at four times the rate of the general population, says a new study from the University of Melbourne.

The study, published today in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, says despite smoking halving among Australia's general population over the past 20 years there has been little change in smoking rates among people with psychiatric disabilities.