Body

A mutual epidemiological relationship between aggressive periodontitis and myocardial infarction has already been shown in the past. Scientists at the universities of Kiel, Dresden, Amsterdam and Bonn have now presented the first evidence of a shared genetic variant on chromosome 9, which maps to a genetic region that codes for the "antisense RNA" Anril, as reported in the latest edition of the specialist journal PLoS Genetics.

The extinction of species is a consequence of their inability to adapt to new environmental conditions, and also of their competition with other species. Besides selection and the appearance of new species, the possibility of adaptation is also one of the driving forces behind evolution. According to the interpretation that has been familiar since Darwin, these processes increase the "fitness" of the species overall, since, of two competing species, only the fittest would survive. LMU researchers have now simulated the progression of a cyclic competition of three species.

CHICAGO — Michigan State University researchers are dramatically speeding up identification of genes that affect the structure and function of chloroplasts, which could lead to plants tailored specifically for biofuel production or delivering high levels of specific nutrients.

Our ability to conserve and protect wildlife is at risk because we areunable to accurately gauge how our environment is changing over time,says new research out today in Conservation Letters.

The study shows that people may not realise species are declining allaround them, or that their local environment may have changeddramatically since their parents' and grandparents' days, and even intheir own lifetime.

The mapping of the entire yeast genome in 1996 marked the beginning of a revolution in biological and medical research. The human genome was mapped in 2001, and by now the number of characterised species is approaching 1000, most of which are bacteria. The next advance is only a few years away – mapping the genetic evolution of individual multicellular animals, including humans.

Researchers have developed and tested a synthetic atherosclerosis drug that can reduce the build-up of dangerous blood vessel plaques without producing the side-effect of fatty liver disease (which leads to its own set of problems like diabetes). The encouraging results of this study in mice could lead to a new type of drug to treat or even prevent atherosclerosis.

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes of Cardiovascular Disease (GICD) have found that an enzyme associated with the synthesis of fat in the body is also an element in healthy skin and hair.

The enzyme is acyl CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase 1 or DGAT1. Mice that lack DGAT1 have many interesting characteristics. For example, they are lean, resistant to diet-induced obesity, are more sensitive to insulin and leptin, and have abnormalities in mammary gland development and skin.

If you've ever tried capturing a lizard, you'll know how difficult it is. But if you do manage to corner one, many have the ultimate emergency quick release system for escape. They simply drop their tails, leaving the twitching body part to distract the predator as they scamper to safety. According to Gary Gillis from Mount Holyoke College, USA, up to 50% of some lizard populations seem to have traded some part of their tails in exchange for escape. This made Gillis wonder how this loss may impact on a lizard's mobility and ability to survive.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13—A team of researchers in Chicago has developed a way to examine cell biopsies and detect never-before-seen signs of early-stage pancreatic cancer, according to a new paper in the Optical Society (OSA) journal Optics Letters. Though the new technique has not yet proven effective in double-blind clinical trials, it may one day help diagnose cancers of the pancreas and, potentially, other organs at their earliest and most treatable stages, before they spread.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – New research findings out of Wake Forest University School of Medicine and the University of Wisconsin may help provide some direction for men diagnosed with prostate cancer about whether their cancer is likely to be life-threatening.

Even when faced with distractions, monkeys are able to consistently choose the path of greatest reward, according to a study conducted by researchers from Princeton and Stanford Universities. The study, published February 13th in the open-access journal PLoS Computational Biology, adds to the growing evidence that animal foraging behavior can approach optimality, and could provide a basis for understanding the computations involved in this and related tasks.

Colorado State University researchers have discovered that mosquitoes that transmit deadly viruses such as dengue avoid becoming ill by mounting an immediate, potent immune response. Because their immune system does not eliminate the virus, however, they are able to pass it on to a new victim. In a study published February 13 in the open-access journal PLoS Pathogens, the researchers show that RNA interference – the mosquito immune response -- is initiated immediately after they ingest blood containing dengue virus, but the virus multiplies in the mosquitoes nevertheless.

Diabetic patients are less likely to suffer from acute respiratory failure during severe sepsis. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Critical Care studied 930 million hospitalisations over a 25-year period to investigate the protective effect, adding to our knowledge of both diabetes and sepsis.

Very few women follow the nutritional and lifestyle recommendations before they become pregnant, even when pregnancy is in some sense planned, finds a study published on bmj.com today.

Nutrition and lifestyle advice is widely available for women during pregnancy, but much less emphasis is given to advice for women who may become pregnant. Yet promoting good health and nutrition before pregnancy may be at least as important as during pregnancy as the time around conception is vital for the development of the baby.

A University of British Columbia researcher put a number to the impact of climate change on world fisheries at today's Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Chicago.

A team of researchers from UBC's Sea Around Us Project and Princeton University used computer models to simulate changes in ocean temperature and current patterns caused by various climate change scenarios –and how they affect 1,066 commercially important fish and shellfish species from around the world, including cod, herring, sharks, groupers and prawns.