Body

Earthworms could be used to extract toxic heavy metals, including cadmium and lead, from solid waste from domestic refuse collection and waste from vegetable and flower markets, according to researchers writing in the International Journal of Environment and Waste Management.

Researchers have finally found a compound that may offer the first effective and hormone-free birth control pill for men. The study in the August 17th Cell, a Cell Press publication, shows that the small molecule makes male mice reversibly infertile without putting a damper on their sex drive. When the animals stop taking this new form of birth control, their sperm rebound and they are again able to sire perfectly healthy offspring.

HOUSTON - (Aug. 17, 3012) – A small molecule that can worm its way past the barrier that separates blood and sperm and snuggle into a crucial pocket needed in the process of making sperm may spell the future for male contraception.

SEATTLE – Poxviruses, a group of DNA-containing viruses that includes smallpox, are responsible for a wide range of diseases in humans and animals. They are highly virulent and able to cross species barriers, yet how they do so has been largely a mystery because of their low mutation rates.

SALT LAKE CITY – Scientists have discovered that poxviruses, which are responsible for smallpox and other diseases, can adapt to defeat different host antiviral defenses by quickly and temporarily producing multiple copies of a gene that helps the viruses to counter host immunity. This discovery provides new insight into the ability of large double-stranded DNA viruses to undergo rapid evolution despite their low mutation rates, according to a study published by University of Utah researchers in the Aug. 17, 2012, issue of Cell.

The Dana-Farber/Baylor collaboration started when Bradner told Matzuk that he was testing JQ1 as an inhibitor of a member of a family of bromodomain proteins, and he wanted to know whether JQ1 would have an effect on a spermatogenic-specific member of that family called BRDT. This question was based on earlier research from Debra Wolgemuth, PhD, and her group at Columbia University that revealed that mice lacking BRDT were infertile.

In multiple sclerosis, the immune system attacks nerves in the brain and spinal cord, causing movement problems, muscle weakness and loss of vision. Immune cells called dendritic cells, which were previously thought to contribute to the onset and development of multiple sclerosis, actually protect against the disease in a mouse model, according to a study published by Cell Press in the August issue of the journal Immunity.

LA JOLLA, CA – August 16, 2012 – Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have made a breakthrough in understanding a class of cells that help wounds in skin and other epithelial tissues heal, uncovering a molecular mechanism that pushes the body into wound-repair mode.

The findings, which appear in an advance, online version of the Immunity on August 16, 2012, focus on cells known as γδ (gamma delta) T cells. The new study demonstrates a skin-cell receptor hooks up with a receptor on γδ T-cells to stimulate wound healing.

HOUSTON - A metabolic protein that nourishes cancer cells also activates tumor-promoting genes by loosening part of the packaging that entwines DNA to make up chromosomes, a team led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reports in the Aug. 16 issue of Cell.

PHILADELPHIA, August 16, 2012 – Without other risk factors, all Americans born between 1945 and 1965 should have a one-time screening for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) according to new recommendations being published early online today in Annals of Internal Medicine, the flagship journal of the American College of Physicians. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also recommends that all persons identified with HCV should receive a brief alcohol screening and intervention and be referred to appropriate care and treatment services for HCV and related conditions.

Fairfax, Va.--The popular spice turmeric packs more than just flavor — it shows promise in fighting devastating viruses, Mason researchers recently discovered.

Curcumin, found in turmeric, stopped the potentially deadly Rift Valley Fever virus from multiplying in infected cells, says Aarthi Narayanan, lead investigator on the new study and a research assistant professor with Mason's National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases.

Ramadan dinners in the Danish Parliament, staff parties without either pork or alcohol and prayer rooms at the airport are all examples of how religion is becoming more visible in public spaces.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Birds of a feather flock together and – according to a new analysis – so do their lice.

After a surgeon stitches up a patient's abdomen, costly complications -- some life-threatening -- can occur. To cut down on these postoperative problems, Johns Hopkins undergraduates have invented a disposable suturing tool to guide the placement of stitches and guard against the accidental puncture of internal organs.

Dinosaurs-like creatures may have injured themselves during leisurely deep-sea diving trips and not from resurfacing too quickly, as previously thought.

A recent study identified bone deformities on the fossilized remains of Ichthyosarians, which were giant dolphin-like reptiles that first appeared about 245 million years ago.

The lesions were similar to those human divers develop as a result of changes in body pressure, and suggest the reptiles suffered from a version of 'the bends'.