Body

Researchers from UCL have found that cycling is safer than driving for young males, with 17 to 20 year old drivers facing almost five times greater risk per hour than cyclists of the same age.

The researchers looked at hospital admissions and deaths in England between 2007 and 2009 for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers. These were studied by age-group and sex. The research is published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Researchers examining how the hormone jasmonate works to protect plants and promote their growth have revealed how a transcriptional repressor of the jasmonate signaling pathway makes its way into the nucleus of the plant cell.

They hope the recently published discovery will eventually help farmers experience better crop yields with less use of potentially harmful chemicals.

"This is a small piece of a bigger picture, but it is a very important piece," said Maeli Melotto, a University of Texas at Arlington assistant professor of biology.

WASHINGTON – Press coverage of synthetic biology in the United States and Europe increased significantly between 2008 and 2011, according to a report released today by the Synthetic Biology Project at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

In the latest issue of the Journal of Animal Science, researchers at Clemson University and the University of Florida examine the impact of exercise on mare reproductive health and embryo transfer.

HOUSTON (Dec. 5, 2012) – In 1999, Dr. Huda Zoghbi (http://www.bcm.edu/pediatrics/neurology/?pmid=14881) and colleagues at Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu) identified the genetic cause of Rett syndrome (a neurological disorder that begins after birth) – MECP2 mutation.

TORONTO, Dec. 5, 2012—Researchers at St. Michael's hospital have identified 29 proteins that are likely to be involved in the spread of kidney cancer. The discovery will help physicians recognize which tumours are going to behave more aggressively and provide those patients with more intensive treatment and closer followup.

A recent University of Colorado Cancer Center review in the journal Advances in Nutrition shows that rice bran offers promising cancer prevention properties. Meanwhile, an ongoing clinical trial is testing the effectiveness of rice bran in preventing the recurrence of colon cancer.

Rosemont, Ill. – For years, research has shown a link between smoking and an increased risk for low back pain, intervertebral (spine) disc disease, and inferior patient outcomes following surgery. A new study, published in the December 2012 Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS), also found that smokers suffering from spinal disorders and related back pain, reported greater discomfort than spinal disorder patients who stopped smoking during an eight-month treatment period.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- An invasive grass species may be one reason fires are bigger and more frequent in certain regions of the western United States, according to a team of researchers.

Researchers used satellite imagery to identify cheatgrass, a plant species accidentally introduced by settlers in the west during the 1800s, in a disproportionately high number of fires in the Great Basin, a 600,000 square-kilometer arid area in the west that includes large sections of Nevada, as well as parts of Utah, Colorado, Idaho, California and Oregon.

Our bodies contain far more microbial genes than human genes. And a new study suggests that just as human DNA varies from person to person, so too does the massive collection of microbial DNA in the intestine.

New research is revealing how red blood cells are made and how the body regulates the amount of haemoglobin that is packaged in red blood cells at any time. Genomic analysis techniques have doubled the number of genetic regions that are likely to be involved in red blood cell formation and subsequent study using fruit flies has given insights into what these regions do.

Boston, MA – Recent research has shown that there are new cells that develop in the heart, but how these cardiac cells are born and how frequently they are generated remains unclear. In new research from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), researchers use a novel method to identify these new heart cells and describe their origins.

This research is published in Nature on December 5, 2012.

A sophisticated imaging system (MIMS) demonstrates cell division in the adult mammalian heart.

RICHMOND, Va. (Dec. 5, 2012) – Approximately 68 percent of U.S. adults are overweight or obese, according to the National Cancer Institute, which puts them at greater risk for developing cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and a host of other chronic illnesses. But an international team of scientists led by Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center researcher Andrew Larner, M.D., Ph.D., has successfully reversed obesity in mice by manipulating the production of an enzyme known as tyrosine-protein kinase-2 (Tyk2).

ITHACA, N.Y. – A bit reminiscent of the Terminator T-1000, a new material created by Cornell researchers is so soft that it can flow like a liquid and then, strangely, return to its original shape.

Rather than liquid metal, it is a hydrogel, a mesh of organic molecules with many small empty spaces that can absorb water like a sponge. It qualifies as a "metamaterial" with properties not found in nature and may be the first organic metamaterial with mechanical meta-properties.

Johns Hopkins researchers have used a small synthetic molecule to stimulate cells to move and change shape, bypassing the cells' usual way of sensing and responding to their environment. The experiment pioneers a new tool for studying cell movement, a phenomenon involved in everything from development to immunity to the spread of cancer.