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Hundreds of new kinds of animal species surprised international researchers systematically exploring waters off two islands on the Great Barrier Reef and a reef off northwestern Australia -- waters long familiar to divers.

The expeditions, affiliated with the global Census of Marine Life, help mark the International Year of the Reef and included the first systematic scientific inventory of spectacular soft corals, named octocorals for the eight tentacles that fringe each polyp.

A study in northern China indicates that genetically modified cotton, altered to express the insecticide, Bt, not only reduces pest populations among those crops, but also reduces pests among other nearby crops that have not been modified with Bt. These findings could offer promising new ideas for controlling pests and maximizing crop yields in the future.

The report will be published by the journal Science on Friday, 19 September. Science is the journal of AAAS, the nonprofit science society.

DURHAM, N.C. -- In addition to pruning cells out of the way during embryonic development, the much-studied process of programmed cell death, or apoptosis, has been newly found to exert significant mechanical force on surrounding cells.

This mechanical force may be harnessed throughout biology by tissues to aid wound formation, organ development and other processes that require cell movement, according to a Duke University team that melds biology with physics to investigate force at the cellular level.

DALLAS – Sept. 18, 2008 – Immature, or "baby," fat cells lurk in the walls of the blood vessels that nourish fatty tissue, just waiting for excess calories to help them grow into the adult monsters responsible for packing on the extra pounds, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found in mice.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators have gained new insight into how the cell's vast array of proteins would instantly be reduced to a confusion of lethally malfunctioning molecules without a system for proteins to "accessorize" in order to regulate their function.

CT colonography (CTC), known as virtual colonoscopy, is as accurate at screening for colorectal cancers and pre-cancerous polyps as conventional colonoscopy, the current screening standard, according to the National CT Colonography Trial, a nationwide multi-center study that included the San Francisco VA Medical Center.

Developing countries that want the benefits of cutting-edge health care possibilities based on the genetic variation of individual citizens and sub-populations need to foster the new science at home, says a major new Canadian study published today by Nature Publishing Group.

A hormone found at higher levels when the body produces its own "home grown" fat comes with considerable metabolic benefits, according to a report in the September 19th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication. The newly discovered signaling molecule is the first example of a lipid-based hormone—most are made up of proteins--although the researchers said they expect it will not be the last.

In the new issue of Cell Stem Cell, scientists report that the same transcription factor, which is crucial for the survival of different stem cell types, can behave differently.

This study clearly showed for the first time that different types of stem cells are defined by exclusive combinations of genes working together, and this is under the influence of a single key stem cell factor (called Sall4).

Boston, MA -- Scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) have identified in mice a newly discovered class of hormones -- lipokines, according to a report in the September 19, 2008, issue of Cell. Furthermore, they have implicated a lipokine as a molecule in mice that helps stop or even reverse obesity-related conditions such as insulin resistance and "fatty liver."

Lipokines are hormones made from lipids, or fats. All other known hormones -- chemical signals secreted into the blood that regulate distant cells and organs -- are steroid- or protein-based.

The Montreal water treatment plant dumps 90 times the critical amount of certain estrogen products into the river. It only takes one nanogram (ng) of steroids per liter of water to disrupt the endocrinal system of fish and decrease their fertility.

These are the findings of Liza Viglino, postdoctoral student at the Université de Montréal's Department of Chemistry, at the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Drinking Water Treatment and Distribution, who is under the supervision of Professors Sébastien Sauvé and Michèle Prévost.

Experts claim that internationally adopted children can undergo puberty at an early age making them more susceptible to a variety of health risks as adults: abdominal obesity, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even certain cancers.

But are internationally adopted children really more at risk?

"It depends on their country of origin and on their living conditions up until their adoption," says Hélène Delisle, a professor at the Université de Montréal's Department of Nutrition.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - How fat cells become after being exposed to a specialized electrical field is helping researchers determine whether cells are normal, cancerous or a stage of cancer already invading other parts of the body.

More than 7,000 school pupils from across the UK will be taking part in the trial of a new positive thinking programme led by the University of Bath designed to prevent children developing problems with depression.

Around one in ten children have symptoms which place them at high risk of becoming seriously depressed. If left unmanaged, these symptoms could have a significant impact upon the child's everyday life and increase the possibility of mental health problems in young adulthood.

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