Body

Physicists of the University of Vienna together with researchers from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna developed nano-machines which recreate principal activities of proteins. They present the first versatile and modular example of a fully artificial protein-mimetic model system, thanks to the Vienna Scientific Cluster (VSC), a high performance computing infrastructure. These "bionic proteins" could play an important role in innovating pharmaceutical research. The results have now been published in the renowned journal "Physical Review Letters".

Pompe disease, a severe glycogen storage disease appearing in Lapphunds is caused by a genetic defect in acid α-glucosidase gene. The same genetic mutation also causes the equivalent disease in humans. Based on this finding, canine Pompe disease can now be diagnosed with a genetic test.

This research was completed at the Canine Genetics Research Group lead by professor Hannes Lohi in the University of Helsinki and Folkhälsan Research Center in Finland and will be published in PLOS ONE on February 14, 2013.

Experts from the Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes and the University of Barcelona (UB) collected and studied different crustacean specimens during recent expeditions to Madagascar, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, the Philippines and French Polynesia.

Chemists at the University of Liverpool have created a new technique that could be used in industry to separate complex organic chemical mixtures.

Chemical feedstocks containing benzene are used extensively in industry to create modern materials and polymers. Their use relies heavily on distillation techniques which separate complex mixtures into more simple molecules used as building blocks to develop drugs, plastics and new materials. These distillation techniques can be expensive and involve large amounts of energy for hard-to-separate mixtures.

The Achilles heel of the body – getting over damage to tendons can be a long and painful process. By combining the nuclear tests of the 1950s with tissue samples and modern technology, a research collaboration between the Aarhus University and University of Copenhagen now reveals why the healing process is so slow.

The most common genetic cause of Parkinson's is not only responsible for the condition's distinctive movement problems but may also affect vision, according to new research by scientists at the University of York.

Parkinson's, the second most common form of neurodegenerative disease, principally affects people aged over 60. Its most common symptom is tremor and slowness of movement (bradykinesia) but some people with Parkinson's also experience changes in vision.

From sore feet to backaches, blame it on human evolution.

"Because we are the only mammals to walk on two feet," says Bruce Latimer, an anthropologist from the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine.

Latimer will present "A Backache of Longstanding: An Evolutionary Perspective on the Human Vertebral Column" at the 2013 American Association for the Advancement of Science's annual meeting in Boston, Feb. 14-18. His talk will be featured in the session, "The Scars of Human Evolution."

BOSTON - The notion of "personalizing" health care through the use of an individual's genetic code has attracted considerable enthusiasm and investment. Impressive examples, confirmed through formal studies of clinical validity and utility, suggest that we have only scratched the surface of applications to treat disease more precisely, identify risk factors for complex disease, and guide preventative measures.

More people are meeting recommended goals in the three key markers of diabetes control, according to a study conducted and funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

DALLAS – Feb. 15, 2013 – Two studies by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center could lead to new treatments for lupus and other autoimmune diseases and strengthen current therapies for viral, bacterial, and parasitic infections.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Researchers don't know the exact cause of Behçet's disease, a chronic condition that leads to oral and genital sores and serious complications such as blindness, but new research brings better understanding to what makes some people more susceptible to being affected.

Forcepflies are usually known as earwigflies, because the males have a large genital forceps that resembles the cerci of earwigs. A new species of forcepfly Meropeidae (Mecoptera) from Brazil was described, representing only the 3rd extant species described in this family and the 1st record of the family from the Neotropical region.

The richer the assortment of amphibian species in a pond, the more protection that community of frogs, toads and salamanders has against a parasitic infection that can cause severe deformities, including the growth of extra legs.

The findings, published in a paper in this week's issue of the journal Nature, support the idea that greater biodiversity in large-scale ecosystems, such as forests or grasslands, may also provide greater protection against diseases, including those that affect humans.

(Boston) – A breast cancer risk prediction model developed for African Americans tends to underestimate risk in certain subgroups, according to a new study from the Slone Epidemiology Center (SEC) at Boston University. The model predicted estrogen receptor (ER)-negative breast cancer, which is a more aggressive form of breast cancer that disproportionately affects African American women, more poorly than ER-positive breast cancer.

San Diego, CA, February 15, 2013 – Guided grocery store trips, menu labeling at restaurants, community gardens, and video-game-based exercise programs are among several promising, culturally appropriate ways to prevent obesity among Latino children, according to a new collection of studies from Salud America! The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Research Network to Prevent Obesity Among Latino Children published in a supplement to the March issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.