Body

New Rochelle, NY, August 7, 2012—The body's natural reaction to reject replacement proteins represents a major obstacle to the successful use of gene therapy to cure a range of life-threatening diseases. A novel method that uses the body's own immune cells to induce tolerance to a specific protein was shown to suppress the rejection response, as described in an article in Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.(http://www.liebertpub.com).

PHILADELPHIA – Bioengineered replacements for tendons, ligaments, the meniscus of the knee, and other tissues require re-creation of the exquisite architecture of these tissues in three dimensions. These fibrous, collagen-based tissues located throughout the body have an ordered structure that gives them their robust ability to bear extreme mechanical loading.

Inflammation and cell stress play important roles in the death of insulin-secreting cells and are major factors in diabetes. Cell stress also plays a role in Wolfram syndrome, a rare, genetic disorder that afflicts children with many symptoms, including juvenile-onset diabetes.

Now a molecule has been identified that's key to the cell stress-modulated inflammation that causes insulin cells to die, report scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester and elsewhere.

Psychological scientists have long known that the amount of information we can actively hold in mind at any given time – known as working memory – is limited. Our working memory capacity reflects our ability to focus and control attention and strongly influences our ability to solve problems.

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Dividing tasks among different individuals is a more efficient way to get things done, whether you are an ant, a honeybee or a human.

A new study by researchers at Michigan State University's BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action suggests that this efficiency may also explain a key transition in evolutionary history, from single-celled to multi-celled organisms.

Plains bison are an iconic symbol of America on everything from coins to state flags. Now scientists writing in Conservation Biology are exploring how the cross-breeding of bison with domestic cattle in the late 1800s may still have unwanted effects on modern populations of the species.

Patients in early clinical trials of new-style targeted cancer therapies appear to have a much lower risk of the most serious side-effects than with traditional chemotherapy, according to a new analysis.

Researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust analysed data from 36 Phase I trials run by the organisations' joint Drug Development Unit.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Aug. 7, 2012 – Prescribing calcium and vitamin D supplements for men at risk of bone loss from hormonal treatment for prostate cancer seems like good medicine.

But new research from epidemiologists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center showed that this type of supplementation did not prevent bone loss and, in fact, may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and aggressive prostate cancer. The study was published online in the July issue of the journal The Oncologist.

New Rochelle, NY, August 7, 2012 — Vaccination against human papilloma virus (HPV) is recommended for young women to protect them from HPV infection and cervical cancer. Male HPV immunization is increasingly a topic of debate in the medical community. A timely review of the literature published in Viral Immunology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com), explores whether HPV vaccination of young men is warranted and cost effective.

SAN FRANCISCO, August 7, 2012 -- The American paddlefish -- known for its bizarre, protruding snout and eggs harvested for caviar -- duplicated its entire genome about 42 million years ago, according to a new study published in the journal Genome Biology and Evolution. This finding may add a new twist to the way scientists study how fins evolved into limbs since the paddlefish is often used as a proxy for a more representative ancestor shared by humans and fishes.

Researchers have found that a strain of dysentery-causing bacterium that originated from Europe centuries ago is spreading rapidly to Australia and some developing countries

First author, Dr Kathryn Holt from the University of Melbourne said that the bacterium strain Shingella. sonnei is easily transmitted due to the high levels of drug resistance in developed countries.

"Contrary to standard guidelines, drug treatment and better sanitation alone will not be sufficient for controlling this strain. Vaccine development will be crucial." she said

Phosphorus is a vital element not only for plants but also for all living organisms. In recent times, however, farmers have been faced with a growing shortage of this essential mineral, and the price of phosphate-based fertilizers has been steadily increasing. It is therefore high time to start looking for alternatives. This is not an easy task, because phosphorus cannot be replaced by any other substance.

CAMDEN – A top national award for promising research scientists has been presented to Princeton resident Nir Yakoby, an assistant professor of biology at Rutgers University–Camden.

Yakoby has received a prestigious CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation. The five-year, $686,544 award, which is reviewed and renewed annually based on the scientific progress of the project, supports the Rutgers–Camden researcher's project "Dynamics and Diversity of Bone Morphogenetic Protein Signaling in Epithelial Cells."

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System are helping to quell parents' worry about why infants seem to get sick so often.

It's been believed that, like walking and talking, fighting viral infections is something children will develop when they get older. But a U-M study suggests the natural ability to fight infection is there early on.

Alexandria, VA — Cow's milk protein allergy (CMPA), although difficult to diagnose in young children, shows a causative relationship to otolaryngic symptoms. A new study in the August journal, Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery suggests an elimination diet may help manage such conditions in children under two and reduce the need for more serious upper airway tests and interventions.

"Early recognition of CMPA in association with upper airway disease may subsequently reduce the economic burden and number of procedures required in affected infants," report the authors.