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DENVER – Sarcomatoid carcinomas of the lung include rare subtypes of poorly differentiated non–small-cell lung carcinomas of high grade and aggressive behavior. The biology of these neoplasms is poorly understood and these tumors are aggressive and resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The identification of actionable molecular targets for such infrequent and aggressive diseases is critical for design of new clinical trials. Programmed death-1 (PD-1) is a co-inhibitory inducible receptor present on T-cells and macrophages.

A team of UT Arlington researchers has identified two ruthenium-based complexes they believe could pave the way for treatments that control cancer cell growth more effectively and are less toxic for patients than current chemotherapies.

Scientists at the University of California, San Diego, have designed tiny spherical particles to float easily through the bloodstream after injection, then assemble into a durable scaffold within diseased tissue. An enzyme produced by a specific type of tumor can trigger the transformation of the spheres into netlike structures that accumulate at the site of a cancer, the team reports in the journal Advanced Materials this week.

A recent paper published in the Journal of Animal Science suggests producers may want to adjust pig diets when including distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS). Some producers believe that feeding pigs saturated fats will undo the fat-softening effects of DDGS. Firmer fat means longer-lasting pork.

But researchers from the University of Illinois found that including saturated fats in DDGS diets makes no difference in fat quality.

Blood diseases such as leukemia, multiple myeloma, and myelodysplasia can develop from abnormal bone marrow cells and a dysfunctional bone marrow microenvironment that surrounds these cells. Until now, researchers have been unable to replace the cells that make up the bone marrow microenvironment. Researchers reporting in the May 28 issue of the Cell Press journal Developmental Cell have found that eliminating a gene in the cells found in this microenvironment causes them to die, therefore enabling donor cells to replace them.

The oceans absorb about 25 percent of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted by human activities. Since the industrial revolution, they have taken up about half of the man-made CO2. Billions of planktonic organisms, too tiny to be seen with the naked eye, make this valuable service possible: When carbon dioxide from the atmosphere dissolves in seawater, various species convert it to organic carbon and other organic components during photosynthesis. Jellyfish and pelagic tunicates live on smaller plankton and thus consume organic carbon.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- An Indiana University study has found that a unique omega-3 supplement derived from the New Zealand green-lipped mussel significantly improved lung function and reduced airway inflammation in asthmatics who experience exercise-induced bronchoconstriction, also called exercise-induced asthma.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - While the mutated KRAS oncogene is associated with many cancers, it has not yet been successfully targeted by a therapeutic agent. Scientists are trying to find another way to target the gene by blocking signals from another protein downstream.

The offspring of parents who live to a ripe old age are more likely to live longer themselves, and less prone to cancer and other common diseases associated with ageing, a study has revealed.

DALLAS – May 28, 2013 – A new study on prostate cancer describes a novel class of drugs developed by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers that interrupts critical signaling needed for prostate cancer cells to grow.

A new butterfly species from Texas, given the common name Vicroy's Ministreak, was discovered because of its striking olive green eye color, and was given a formal scientific name (Ministrymon janevicroy). This beautiful new butterfly may be the last truly distinctive butterfly species to be discovered in the United States.

Medical researchers at the University of Alberta have pinpointed a genetic marker for sporadic breast cancer – one of a handful identified to date in Caucasians.

New research from the University of Southampton shows that copper and copper alloys will rapidly destroy norovirus – the highly-infectious sickness bug.

The virus can be contracted from contaminated food or water, person-to-person contact, and contact with contaminated surfaces, meaning surfaces made from copper could effectively shut down one avenue of infection.

A new strain of yellow-green algae, heterococcus sp. DN1, which may prove to be an efficient source for biodiesel, has been discovered in the snow fields of the Rocky Mountains. Research examining this new alga, published in Biotechnology Progress, reveals that H. sp. DN1 was found to grow at temperatures approaching freezing and to accumulate large intracellular stores of lipids. H. sp. DN1 produces the highest quantity of lipids when grown undisturbed with high light in low temperatures.

Charlottesville, VA (May 28, 2013). Selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) is a surgical procedure used to treat spasticity in some children with spastic cerebral palsy. This procedure appears to be effective, but for how long? Researchers from Montreal, Quebec, Canada,* set out to find the answer to this question by studying data from the McGill University Rhizotomy Database on 102 pediatric patients with long-term follow-up. The researchers found that, in the majority of children with spastic cerebral palsy, the benefits of SDR last throughout adolescence and into early adulthood.