Body

Researchers at UCLA report that they have refined a method they previously developed for capturing and analyzing cancer cells that break away from patients' tumors and circulate in the blood. With the improvements to their device, which uses a Velcro-like nanoscale technology, they can now detect and isolate single cancer cells from patient blood samples for analysis.

A new study from the University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business suggests troubling perceptions exist when it comes to women involved in disputes at work.

"Our research shows that when it comes to workplace conflict, women get a bad rap," says PhD candidate Leah Sheppard, who conducted the study with Prof. Karl Aquino. "We show how the negative stereotyping around so-called 'catfights' carry over into work situations."

Four new species from the Steninae subfamily of the large family of rove beetles (Staphylinidae) have been discovered in the Ningxia Autonomous Region, China, as part of an exploration of the insect fauna of the Liupan Shan Natural Reserve, where a large number of specimens has been collected.

Screening for lung cancer with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) in all screening-eligible current and former smokers has the potential to avert approximately 12,000 lung cancer deaths each year in the United States. That is the conclusion of a new analysis published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. By providing a national estimate of potentially avertable lung cancer deaths, the study will help policy makers better understand the possible benefits of LDCT lung cancer screening.

A survey of tanning salon operators in Missouri shows that 65 percent would allow children as young as 10 to 12 years old to use tanning beds. That's despite evidence that any tanning bed use increases the risk of all skin cancers, including melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, later in life.

New parents are pleased when their baby gains weight as expected, but if the rate of weight gain is slow parents can become worried and concerned about their child's future size.

DETROIT – For expectant moms who may contemplate the pros and cons of natural child birth or Caesarian section, a Henry Ford Hospital study suggests that C-section babies are susceptible to developing allergies by age two.

Researchers found that babies born by C-section are five times more likely to develop allergies than babies born naturally when exposed to high levels of common allergens in the home such as those from dogs, cats and dust mites.

The study is being presented Sunday at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology annual meeting in San Antonio.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have identified a new so-called pseudogene that regulates the tumour-suppressing PTEN gene. They hope that this pseudogene will be able to control PTEN to reverse the tumour process, make the cancer tumour more sensitive to chemotherapy and to prevent the development of resistance. The findings, which are published in the scientific journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, can be of significance in the future development of cancer drugs.

An international team of researchers has found that a once-a-month, high-dose injection of a commonly used asthma drug is highly effective in treating teens and adults chronically afflicted with hives and severe, itchy rash. The drug, omalizumab, was tested on 323 people at 55 medical centers for whom standard antihistamine therapy failed to quell their underlying, allergy-like reaction, known as chronic idiopathic urticaria or chronic spontaneous urticaria.

LA JOLLA, CA – February 24, 2013 – Small stretches of DNA in the human genome are known as "pseudogenes" because, while their sequences are nearly identical to those of various genes, they have long been thought to be non-coding "junk" DNA.

But now, a new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) shows how pseudogenes can regulate the activity of a cancer-related gene called PTEN. The study also shows that pseudogenes can be targeted to control PTEN's activity.

Two USC scientists have developed an algorithm that could help make DNA sequencing affordable enough for clinics – and could be useful to researchers of all stripes.

Andrew Smith, a computational biologist at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, developed the algorithm along with USC graduate student Timothy Daley to help predict the value of sequencing more DNA, to be published in Nature Methods on February 24.

Cancer is characterized by uncontrolled cell division and growth. In order to identify new therapeutic targets through which to tackle the disease, scientists seek to clarify the mechanisms that control the expression of genes that favor the development of tumors, in processes such as uncontrolled cell division. Today, Nature has published a paper by the lab headed by Raúl Méndez, ICREA professor at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona).

DALLAS – Feb. 24, 2013 – The Children's Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern has deepened the understanding of the environment within bone marrow that nurtures stem cells, this time identifying the biological setting for specialized blood-forming cells that produce the infection-fighting white blood cells known as T cells and B cells.

In research that could one day improve the success of stem cell transplants and chemotherapy, scientists have found that distinct niches exist in bone marrow to nurture different types of blood stem cells.

Stem cells in the blood are the precursors to infection-fighting white blood cells and oxygen-carrying red blood cells.

The research, by a team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is reported Feb. 24 in the advance online edition of Nature.

MADISON – Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found a new way to accelerate a workhorse instrument that identifies proteins. The high-speed technique could help diagnose cancer sooner and point to new drugs for treating a wide range of conditions.

Proteins are essential building blocks of biology, used in muscle, brain, blood and hormones. If the genes are the blueprints, the proteins patterned on them are the hammers and tongs of life.