Body

JUPITER, FL, June 28, 2013 – For the first time, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have identified small molecules that allow for complete control over a genetic defect responsible for the most common adult onset form of muscular dystrophy. These small molecules will enable scientists to investigate potential new therapies and to study the long-term impact of the disease.

Cincinnati, OH, June 28, 2013 -- Iron deficiency is a worldwide problem, especially in developing countries and among infants and pregnant women. In infancy, iron deficiency is associated with poorer cognitive, motor, and social-emotional outcomes. In a new study scheduled for publication in The Journal of Pediatrics, researchers report on a 25-year follow-up of infants studied in Costa Rica for iron deficiency.

The development of an easy to use, low cost method of detecting dengue virus in mosquitoes based on gold nanoparticles is reported in BioMed Central's open access journal Virology Journal. The assay is able to detect lower levels of the virus than current tests, and is easy to transport and use in remote regions.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Children with more genetic risks for asthma are not only more likely to develop the condition at a young age, but they are also more likely to continue to suffer with asthma into adulthood. The finding reported by Duke University researchers is one of the latest to come from a 40-year longitudinal study of New Zealanders.

The authors say the drug "seems to reduce the risk of death and suicide by more than 60% compared with placebo" and suggest this review "reinforces lithium as an effective agent to reduce the risk of suicide in people with mood disorders."

Mood disorders are a leading cause of global disability. The two main types are unipolar disorder (often called clinical depression) and bipolar disorder (often called manic depression). Both are serious, long term conditions involving extreme mood swings, but people with bipolar depression also experience episodes of mania or hypomania.

The results show that each 0.1 g per day or 0.1% energy per day increment of intake of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFA) derived from fish was associated with a 5% reduction in risk. To achieve this risk reduction, intake of oily fish such as salmon, tuna or sardines should be 1-2 portions per person per week.

South Asians (from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh) may have to exercise more than white Europeans to achieve the same levels of fitness and reduce their risk of diabetes.

Researchers at the University of Glasgow have found that lower fitness levels in middle-aged men of South Asian origin are contributing to higher blood sugar levels and increased diabetes risk compared with white men.

Researchers from the Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research in Tokyo have discovered that forced elongation of telomeres (extensions on the end of chromosomes) promotes the differentiation of cancer cells, probably reducing malignancy, which is strongly associated with a loss of cell differentiation. They report their findings in a manuscript published online ahead of print, in the journal Molecular and Cellular Biology.

"Cancer cells may maintain short telomeres to maintain their undifferentiated state," says Hiroyuki Seimiya, a researcher on the study.

KNOXVILLE—A mother's prolonged use of antibacterial soaps containing the chemical triclocarban may harm nursing babies, according to a recent study from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

The study, which was conducted on rats, showed that exposure to the compound may reduce the survival rates of babies.

Scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have trapped the ribosome, a protein-building molecular machine essential to all life, in a key transitional state that has long eluded researchers. Now, for the first time, scientists can see how the ribosome performs the precise mechanical movements needed to translate genetic code into proteins without making mistakes.

The discovery confirms the model proposed by the team in 2008 to account for observations that could not be explained by the established model of mitochondrial function. Mitochondria are the organelles in the interior of cells that, among other functions, extract energy from nutrients and convert it into a form that can be used by the cell for its vital processes.

TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State University researchers have discovered for the first time that temperature determines where key soil microbes can thrive — microbes that are critical to forming topsoil crusts in arid lands. And of concern, the scientists predict that in as little as 50 years, global warming may push some of these microbes out of their present stronghold in colder U.S. deserts, with unknown consequences to soil fertility and erosion.

The findings are featured as the cover story of the June 28 edition of the journal Science.

MANHATTAN, Kan. -- The world's food supply got a little more plentiful thanks to a scientific breakthrough.

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — In what researchers say is the first public health study of the aerial mosquito spraying method to prevent West Nile virus, a UC Davis study analyzed emergency department records from Sacramento area hospitals during and immediately after aerial sprayings in the summer of 2005. Physicians and scientists from the university and from the California Department of Public Health found no increase in specific diagnoses that are considered most likely to be associated with pesticide exposure, including respiratory, gastrointestinal, skin, eye and neurological conditions.

Scientists have discovered a diverse multitude of microbes colonizing and thriving on flecks of plastic that have polluted the oceans—a vast new human-made flotilla of microbial communities that they have dubbed the "plastisphere."