Body

Synthetic collagen has a wide range of applications in reconstructive and cosmetic surgery and in the food industry. For proper function in animals a certain number of prolines within the protein need to be hydroxylated. BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Biotechnology reports that for the first time the α1 chain of type 1 collagen has been produced in maize with similar levels of proline hydroxylation to human collagen.

Ground-nesting birds face an uphill struggle to successfully rear their young, many eggs and fledglings falling prey to predators. Now, scientists from the USA have found that some birds eavesdrop on their enemies, using this information to find safer spots to build their nests. The study – one of the first of its kind – is published this week in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Animal Ecology.

Familial hemiplegic migraine is a rare and severe subtype of migraine with aura, an unusual sensory experience preceding the migraine attack. Researchers from the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan, and CNR Institute of Neuroscience in Pisa, Italy, have developed a mouse model of Familial Hemiplegic Migraine type 2 (FHM2) and used it to investigate the migraine's cause. The study will be published on June 23rd in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics.

SUWON, KOREA—Formaldehyde is a major contaminant of indoor air, originating from particle board, carpet, window coverings, paper products, tobacco smoke, and other sources. Indoor volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as formaldehyde can contribute to allergies, asthma, headaches, and a condition known as ''sick building syndrome". The concern is widespread; a 2002 report from the World Health Organization estimated that undesirable indoor volatiles represent a serious health problem that is responsible for more than 1.6 million deaths per year and 2.7% of the global burden of disease.

University of Illinois researchers identified the top pathogens, pests and weeds affecting soybean production in a recent article in Food Security. Soybean aphid, soybean rust, soybean cyst nematode, Sclerotina stem rot and the exotic pathogen, red leaf blotch, were featured as some of the top biotic constraints that may affect soybean production now and in the future.

COLLEGE STATION, TX—Although water consumption and conservation are widely recognized as significant environmental concerns in the United States, most Americans are still unaware of the major impact of landscape irrigation on their regional water supplies. One startling example: a 2004 study of homeowners in College Station, Texas, estimated that more than 24 to 34 million gallons of excess water were used annually for landscape irrigation alone.

A team led by Johns Hopkins researchers has found that a hereditary colon cancer syndrome, familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), is associated with abnormally dense blood vessel growth in the skin lining the mouth.

The finding, reported in the June issue of Familial Cancer, could lead to a quick screening test for FAP, which is normally diagnosed with expensive DNA tests and colonoscopies, and sometimes goes unnoticed until cancer develops.

Boston, MA—Researchers have discovered a new mechanism for the origin of Barrett's esophagus, an intestine-like growth in the esophagus that is triggered by chronic acid reflux and often progresses to esophageal cancer. Studying mice, the researchers found that Barrett's esophagus arises not from mutant cells in the esophagus but rather a small group of previously overlooked cells present in all adults that can rapidly expand to cancer precursors when the normal esophagus is damaged by acid.

This research will be published online in the June 24th issue of Cell.

If the obvious reasons for avoiding recreational drug use aren't off-putting enough, physicians have yet another detrimental consequence to add to the list – crusty, purplish areas of dead skin that are extremely painful and can open the door to nasty infections.

RICHLAND, Wash. – A new computer model of blue-green algae can predict which of the organism's genes are central to capturing energy from sunlight and other critical processes.

"The consensus was that no one would ever measure dinosaur body temperatures, that it's impossible to do," says John Eiler, a coauthor and the Robert P. Sharp Professor of Geology and professor of geochemistry. And yet, using a technique pioneered in Eiler's lab, the team did just that.

HOUSTON -- (June 23, 2011) – The ability to identify self and non-self enables cells in more sophisticated animals to ward off invading infections, but it is critical to even simpler organisms such as the social amoebae Dictyostelium discoideum.

WASHINGTON — Limiting television and other media use, encouraging infants and young children in preschool and child care to spend more time in physically active play, and requiring child care providers to promote healthy sleeping practices are some of the actions needed to curb high rates of obesity among America's youngest children, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine.

Ian Jonsen, a research associate and adjunct professor in the Department of Biology at Dalhousie University and co-lead investigator of the Future of Marine Animal Populations Project (FMAP), has teamed up with Barbara Block at Stanford University and several other American researchers to conclude a two year study entitled, "Tracking apex marine predator movements in a dynamic ocean" published in the science journal Nature released June 22.

NEW YORK (June 23, 2011)—Fish communities in the 21st Century live fast and die young. That's the main finding of a recent study by researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society who compared fish recently caught in coastal Kenya with the bones of fish contained in ancient Swahili refuse heaps in order to understand how to rebuild the current fisheries.