Body

Uterine leiomyomas, also called fibroids, cause a very significant burden to women's health. They are benign tumors that occur in 60% of women by the age of 45 years and cause symptoms such as abdominal pain and discomfort, and abnormal bleeding, in about half of the cases. Fibroids are also an important cause of infertility. These tumors are the most common medical reason for hysterectomy.

Considering the clinical importance of fibroids, relatively little has been known about the mechanisms of tumorigenesis involved.

Yale University researchers have successfully re-engineered the protein-making machinery in bacteria, a technical tour de force that promises to revolutionize the study and treatment of a variety of diseases.

"Essentially, we have expanded the genetic code of E. coli, which allows us synthesize special forms of proteins that can mimic natural or disease states," said Jesse Rinehart of the Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology and co-corresponding author of the research published in the August 26 issue of the journal Science.

STANFORD, Calif. — For a few years now, scientists have known that humans and their evolutionary cousins had some casual flings, but now it appears that these liaisons led to a more meaningful relationship.

Sex with Neanderthals and another close relative — the recently discovered Denisovans — has endowed some human gene pools with beneficial versions of immune system genes, report researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine in an article to be published online by the journal Science at the Science Express website on August 25.

Cold Spring Harbor, NY – Like all living things, plants depend for their growth and sustenance on elaborate signaling networks to maintain stem cells, cells that have an almost magical regenerative capacity. The signals sent through these networks convey an incredible diversity of instructions, which make it possible for plants to follow genetic and cellular programs regulating growth, shape, and energy production and consumption.

Researchers at Rutgers University and the University of Texas at Austin have reported a discovery that could help scientists develop drugs to fight seasonal influenza epidemics caused by the common influenza B strain.

Parkinson disease (PD) is a relatively common neurodegenerative disorder, affecting 1-2% of the world's population over the age of 65 years. About 5-10% of PD cases are inherited, and mutations in the Parkin gene are a common cause of familial PD. Michael Sack and colleagues, at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, have now identified a new function for the protein templated by the Parkin gene, it regulates fat uptake from the blood by liver cells and thereby fat levels in the blood.

The number of people who are obese and suffer one or more of its associated health problems (including type 2 diabetes) is escalating dramatically. Researchers are seeking to identify new targets for therapeutics that could limit appetite and thereby obesity. A team of researchers, led by Scott Waldman, at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, has now uncovered one such potential target by studying the molecular control of appetite in mice.

Parkinson disease (PD) is a relatively common neurodegenerative disorder, affecting 1-2% of the world's population over the age of 65 years. About 5-10% of PD cases are inherited, and mutations in the Parkin gene are a common cause of familial PD. Michael Sack and colleagues, at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, have now identified a new function for the protein templated by the Parkin gene, it regulates fat uptake from the blood by liver cells and thereby fat levels in the blood.

Researchers have today revealed a new gene associated with osteoarthritis. This is only the third gene to be identified for this painful and debilitating disease that affects more than 40 per cent of people aged more than 70 years.

PHILADELPHIA—The hormone receptor guanylyl cyclase C (GCC) has been established as a suppressor of colorectal cancer tumors, but new evidence from Thomas Jefferson University suggests it may also help fight one of the country's biggest pandemics: obesity.

S. Stanley Young, assistant director for bioinformatics at the National Institute of Statistical Sciences (NISS), and Alan Karr, director at NISS, have published a non-technical article in the September issue of Significance magazine pointing out that medical and other observational studies often produce results that are later shown to be incorrect, and—invoking a quality control perspective—suggest ways to fix the system.

August 25, 2011 -- Two new studies have found that smokers who tend to take their first cigarette soon after they wake up in the morning may have a higher risk of developing lung and head and neck cancers than smokers who refrain from lighting up right away. The findings by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and Penn State College of Medicine may help identify smokers who have an especially high risk of developing cancer and would benefit from targeted smoking interventions to reduce their risk.

The incidence of malaria in many African countries south of the Sahara is falling rapidly. A Danish-Tanzanian research group has discovered that the mosquito carrying the malaria parasite has practically disappeared from villages without organized mosquito control, and the researchers do not know why. There are several hypotheses but without proper data they cannot say whether malaria is being eradicated or whether it is just resting up before returning with renewed vigour.

New Orleans, LA – Research led by Dr. Melinda Sothern, Professor of Public Health and Jim Finks Endowed Chair in Health Promotion at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has found that obese 7-9-year-old children had nearly three times the liver fat and almost double the belly fat of their nonobese counterparts and that insulin resistance was more than double and insulin sensitivity less than half respectively. The study is the first to use a combination of advanced measurements in healthy obese and nonobese children in this age group prior to entering puberty.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Aug. 24, 2011 -- Heart rate and blood pressure regulation may hold the key to treating unexplained chronic nausea in children. In a new study by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, a drug commonly used to treat a condition known as orthostatic intolerance (OI), which causes dizziness and occasional fainting when patients stand for long periods, was shown to reduce debilitating chronic nausea in patients.