Body

Pancreatic cancer is a particularly devastating disease. At least 94 percent of patients will die within five years, and in 2013 it was ranked as one of the top 10 deadliest cancers.

Routine screenings for breast, colon and lung cancers have improved treatment and outcomes for patients with these diseases, largely because the cancer can be detected early. But because little is known about how pancreatic cancer behaves, patients often receive a diagnosis when it's already too late.

Two University of Iowa researchers recently tested the ability of the world's most advanced weather forecasting models to predict the Sept. 9-16, 2013 extreme rainfall that caused severe flooding in Boulder, Colo.

The results, published in the December 2013 issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters, indicated the forecasting models generally performed well, but also left room for improvement.

The potential is there for bacteria and other microbes to be genetically engineered to perform a cornucopia of valuable goods and services, from the production of safer, more effective medicines and clean, green, sustainable fuels, to the clean-up and restoration of our air, water and land. Cells from eukaryotic organisms can also be modified for research or to fight disease. To achieve these and other worthy goals, the ability to precisely edit the instructions contained within a target's genome is a must.

LA JOLLA, CA—February 6, 2014—A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has discovered an unusual bacterial protein that attaches to virtually any antibody and prevents it from binding to its target. Protein M, as it is called, probably helps some bacteria evade the immune response and establish long-term infections.

ANN ARBOR—Dengue fever and West Nile fever are mosquito-borne diseases that affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide each year, but there is no vaccine against either of the related viruses.

A team of scientists at the University of Michigan and Purdue University has discovered a key aspect both to how the viruses replicate in the cells of their host and how they manipulate the immune system as they spread.

An international team of researchers, led by scientists from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Indiana University, have identified a protein that broadly regulates how genetic information transcribed from DNA to messenger RNA (mRNA) is processed and ultimately translated into the myriad of proteins necessary for life.

The current standard of care treatment for chlamydia sometimes fails to eradicate the disease, according to a review published ahead of print in Infection and Immunity, and the culprit may be in the gut.

Washington, D.C., February 6, 2014—Dietary supplement users take these products as just one component of a larger effort to develop a healthier lifestyle, according to a newly published review in Nutrition Journal, a peer-reviewed scientific publication.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Molecular biologists from Indiana University are part of a team that has identified a protein that regulates the information present in a large number of messenger ribonucleic acid molecules that are important for carrying genetic information from DNA to protein synthesis.

The new work, published today in Cell Reports, finds that the protein ADR-1 binds to messenger ribonucleic acid, or mRNA, and then enhances RNA editing, a process that allows a gene to be present as multiple mRNAs that can then each affect gene expression differently.

Cars inch forward slowly in traffic jams, but molecules, when jammed up, can move extremely fast.

New research by Northwestern University researchers finds that water molecules traveling through tiny carbon nanotube pipes do not flow continuously but rather intermittently, like stop-and-go traffic, with unexpected results.

New Rochelle, NY, February 6, 2014—The ability to reprogram adult cells so they return to an undifferentiated, pluripotent state—much like an embryonic stem cell—is enabling the development of promising new cell therapies. Accelerating progress in this field will depend on identifying factors that promote pluripotency, such as the Brg1 protein described in a new study published in BioResearch Open Access, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

Fairfax, Va. – Feb. 6, 2014 – A first-of-its-kind study by researchers at George Mason University's Department of Global and Community Health and Indiana University's Center for Sexual Health Promotion draws some conclusions to an age-old question: What does love have to do with sex, in particular, among gay and bisexual men in the United States?

A new Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC study not only uncovers new details on how bundles of nerves and arteries interact with stem cells but also showcases revolutionary techniques for following the cells as they function in living animals.

Principal investigator Yang Chai, director of the Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology at the Ostrow School of Dentistry, and research associate Hu Zhao authored the article, which appears February 6, 2014 in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 6, 2014 – Scientists at the University of Utah identified mutations in three key genes that determine feather color in domestic rock pigeons. The same genes control pigmentation of human skin.

"Mutations in these genes can be responsible for skin diseases and conditions such as melanoma and albinism," says Michael Shapiro, associate professor of biology and senior author of the study published online Feb. 6 in the journal Current Biology.

Our immune system wages an internal battle every day to protect us against a broad range of infections. However, researchers have found that our immune response can sometimes make us vulnerable to the very bacteria it is supposed to protect us from. A study published by Cell Press on February 6th in the journal Immunity reveals that the immune protein interleukin-22 (IL-22) actually enhances the growth of dangerous bacteria, like Salmonella, which causes food poisoning, and curbs the growth of healthy bacteria commonly found in the gut.