Body

Researchers at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have chemically modified an anti-diabetic agent so as to make its action dependent on light. The resulting prototype compound, termed JB253, induces release of insulin only when pancreas cells are exposed to blue light.

A Mount Sinai-led research team has discovered a new kind of stem cell that can become either a liver cell or a cell that lines liver blood vessels, according to a study published today in the journal Stem Cell Reports. The existence of such a cell type contradicts current theory on how organs arise from cell layers in the embryo, and may hold clues to origins of, and future treatment for, liver cancer.

Can you ditch the strips and dump the dentist for whiter teeth? From "The Dr. Oz Show" to YouTube videos, experts say you can reclaim those pearly whites simply by mixing fruit, such as strawberries, with some baking soda, and applying the all-natural concoction to your teeth.

It's cheap, easy, and oh-so-organic. But does it work?

Unfortunately not, says an University of Iowa dental researcher, who compared a homemade strawberry-baking soda recipe with other remedies, such as over-the-counter products, professional whitening, and prescribed whitening products.

WORCESTER, MA – A team of scientists led by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine (UMMSM) have identified what is likely a key genetic pathway underlying bipolar (manic depressive) disorder, a breakthrough that could lead to better drugs for treating bipolar affective disorder, as well as depression and other related mood disorders.

COLUMBIA, Mo. – As more and more high schools around the country drop home economics classes due to budget cuts or changes in educational priorities, many high school students are left without basic skills, such as preparing meals and sewing. Now, researchers have found that a significant gap exists in the amount of "common" clothes repair skills possessed by members of the baby boomer generation and millennials.

One of the planet's leading questions is how to produce enough food to feed the world in an increasingly variable climate. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations predicts that food production must rise 70% over the next 40 years to feed a growing global population, and plants are one major component of the necessary rise in food production. Plants—grains, cereals, fruits, vegetables, and more—feed humans directly and indirectly by supporting livestock.

Trained frontline health workers can identify most young infants with possible bacterial infections in low and middle income countries (LMICs) but also may diagnose infections in many uninfected young infants, according to a study published this week in PLOS Medicine.

Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered that melanoma cells are drawn to follow the 'trail' of a naturally-occurring molecule in the body, which directs this serious type of skin cancer to spread, according to research publishing Tuesday in the open access journal PLOS Biology.

CANCER RESEARCH UK scientists have discovered that melanoma cells are drawn to follow the 'trail' of a naturally-occurring molecule in the body, which directs this serious type of skin cancer to spread, according to research published today (Tuesday) in PLOS Biology.

The team at the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute at the University of Glasgow, revealed that melanoma cells give themselves the 'green light' to move using the molecule - a type of fatty chemical called lysophosphatidic acid (LPA). This signal prompts them to travel and spread in the body.

HEIDELBERG, 14 October 2014 – Researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine have discovered a link between a protective mechanism used by cells and the activation of muscle stem cells. Cells use autophagy to recycle cellular "building blocks" and generate energy during times of nutrient deprivation. The scientists report in The EMBO Journal that when this protective mechanism is operational it also seems to assist in the activation of stem cells.

Pancreatic cancer likely takes between 10 and 20 years to develop, providing the potential for a very "broad window" of intervention if detected early, which may be possible for people who inherit a predisposition, say Australian clinical researchers.

CINCINNATI – Doctors at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have developed a new technique for treating the eye cancer retinoblastoma to improve the odds for preventing eye loss, blindness or death in children with advanced forms of the disease.

Philadelphia, PA, October 13, 2014 – There has been much interest in the potential for using probiotic bacteria for treating skin diseases and other disorders. Japanese researchers have now found that milk that has been fermented using a probiotic dairy starter can also benefit the skin of young healthy women, reports the Journal of Dairy Science®.

Probiotics have been defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization-World Health Organization as "live microorganisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit to the host."

ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell University researchers have uncovered details of how the deadly Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) enters host cells, and offer possible new avenues for treatment.

The study, appearing online this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, discovered that a common protease enzyme known as furin activates the MERS-CoV to fuse with cell membranes and enter host cells.

Hawai'i's sea turtles are afflicted with chronic and often lethal tumors caused by consuming non-native algae "superweeds" along coastlines where nutrient pollution is unchecked. The disease that causes these tumors is considered the leading cause of death in endangered green sea turtles. The new research was just published in the scientific journal PeerJ.