Body

Infectious disease specialists at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center have identified a protein that regulates the body's immune response to cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common pathogen that causes lifelong infections and can lead to devastating illness in newborns and those with weakened immune systems.

Bacteria are invisible to the naked eye, but they reside on nearly every surface humans encounter—including the skin. Uncovering the role these microorganisms play in human health is a major focus of research in skin microbiology, but little is known about the identity or function of skin bacteria in other mammals.

Athens, Ga. – Developmental biologists at the University of Georgia are discovering new roles for a specific gene known as Max's Giant Associated protein, or MGA. A little studied protein, MGA appears to control a number of developmental processes, and also may be connected to cancer development.

The researchers detail their findings in a paper published recently in the journal Developmental Cell.

Scientists seeking a more efficient way of protecting the heart of Africa's wildlife—the Greater Virunga Landscape—have developed a method to make the most of limited enforcement resources, according to a new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society, the University of Queensland, Imperial College London, and the Uganda Wildlife Authority.

NEW YORK (March 26, 2014) – Migraine sufferers who experienced reduced stress from one day to the next are at significantly increased risk of migraine onset on the subsequent day, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the Montefiore Headache Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University. Stress has long been believed to be a common headache trigger.

CINCINNATI—It's not the size of the stomach that causes weight loss after a specific type of bariatric surgery, but rather a change in the gut metabolism, say researchers from the University of Cincinnati (UC), the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

PITTSBURGH, March 26, 2014 – A breast cancer therapy that blocks estrogen synthesis to activate cancer-killing genes sometimes loses its effectiveness because the cancer takes over epigenetic mechanisms, including permanent DNA modifications in the patient's tumor, once again allowing tumor growth, according to an international team headed by the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI).

Boston, MA — A large international consortium of researchers has produced the first comprehensive, detailed map of the way genes work across the major cells and tissues of the human body. The findings describe the complex networks that govern gene activity, and the new information could play a crucial role in identifying the genes involved with disease.

Scientists have built the clearest picture yet of how our genetic material is regulated in order to make the human body work.

They have mapped how a network of switches, built into our DNA, controls where and when our genes are turned on and off.

University of Edinburgh scientists played a leading role in the international project – called FANTOM5 – which has been examining how our genome holds the code for creating the fantastic diversity of cell types that make up a human.

That question is likely to stir debate in coming years in many of the more-than-60 countries that provide newborn screening, as whole-genome sequencing (WGS) becomes increasingly affordable and reliable. Newborn screening programs – which involve drawing a few drops of blood from a newborn's heel – have been in place since the late 1960s, and are credited with having saved thousands of lives by identifying certain genetic, endocrine or metabolic disorders that can be treated effectively when caught early enough.

Patients with leukocyte adhesion deficiency, or LAD, suffer from frequent bacterial infections, including the severe gum disease known as periodontitis. These patients often lose their teeth early in life.

New research by University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine researchers, teaming with investigators from the National Institutes of Health, has demonstrated a method of reversing this bone loss and inflammation.

(WASHINGTON, March 26, 2014) – Research published online today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology, presents an unprecedented look at five unique blood cells in the human body, pinpointing the location of key genetic regulators in these cells and providing a new tool that may help scientists to identify how blood cells form and shed light on the etiology of blood diseases.

In a series of studies involving 140 American men and women with liver tumors, researchers at Johns Hopkins have used specialized 3-D MRI scans to precisely measure living and dying tumor tissue to quickly show whether highly toxic chemotherapy – delivered directly through a tumor's blood supply – is working.

Resistance is not futile when it comes to a new method to more efficiently convert biomass to biofuels.

New research by scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in conjunction with the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) suggests that a type of bacterial resistance may provide more efficient production of biofuels.

Significant progress toward creating "homo minutus" - a benchtop human -was reported at the Society of Toxicology meeting on Mar. 26 in Phoenix.

The advance - successful development and analysis of a liver human organ construct that responds to exposure to a toxic chemical much like a real liver- was described in a presentation by John Wikswo, the Gordon A. Cain University Professor and Director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Integrative Biosystems Research and Education (VIIBRE) at Vanderbilt University.