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Australian and New Zealand researchers have accelerated research into Multiple Sclerosis by discovering two new locations of genes which will help to unravel the causes of MS and other autoimmune disease.

Their findings will be published today in the prestigious journal Nature Genetics.

Palo Alto, CA—Cellulose is a fibrous molecule that makes up plant cell walls, gives plants shape and form and is a target of renewable, plant-based biofuels research. But how it forms, and thus how it can be modified to design energy-rich crops, is not well understood. Now a study led by researchers at the Carnegie Institution's Department of Plant Biology has discovered that the underlying protein network that provides the scaffolding for cell-wall structure is also the traffic cop for delivering the critical growth-promoting molecules where needed.

WHAT: Most vaccines that protect against viruses generate infection-fighting proteins called antibodies that either block infection or help eliminate the virus before it can cause disease. Attempts to create a vaccine that induces antibodies that prevent HIV infection or disease, however, have so far been unsuccessful. But several recent studies suggest promising new research directions for the development of an antibody-based HIV vaccine, according to John R.

FAIRBANKS, Alaska—It is a misinterpretation of the application of the bedrock of scientific naming with regard to the number of moose species that Kris Hundertmark, a University of Alaska Fairbanks wildlife geneticist at the Institute of Arctic Biology, seeks to correct.

The adoption of Carl Linnaeus' two-part, genus-species system of naming, called taxonomy, has been used for centuries on all described organisms on Earth and is considered one of the greatest triumphs in science.

LA JOLLA, CA, June 12, 2009—New research by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute and other institutions provides a close-up look at the cone-shaped shell that is the hallmark of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), revealing how it is held together—and possible ways to break it apart.

PHILADELPHIA – Older women suffering from clinical frailty stand to benefit from the first potential medical treatment for the condition, according to a study presented today by Penn Medicine researchers at ENDO, The Endocrine Society's 91st Annual Meeting. Ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite, was administered to older women diagnosed with frailty, a common geriatric syndrome characterized by unintentional weight loss, weakness, exhaustion and low levels of anabolic hormones which increases risk of falls, hospitalizations, disability, and death.

Researchers at the Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) are the first to have cloned mice in Spain. Cloe, Cleo and Clona are three female brown-coloured mice and were born respectively on 12 May, 3 June and 10 June. By means of nuclear transfer techniques, scientist collected mature oocytes, removed their chromosomes and substituted them for the nucleus of an adult somatic cell. The cloning of mice is part of a research being carried out to study new ways to improve the efficiency of the cloning process.

Copenhagen, Denmark, Friday 12 June 2009: Over half (56%) of people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) also have periodontitis (a chronic inflammatory disease of the gum and surrounding ligaments and bones that hold the teeth in place), displaying fewer teeth than healthy matched controls, high prevalence of oral sites presenting dental plaque and advanced attachment loss (the extent of periodontal support that has been destroyed around a tooth) (chi square p<0.05), according to the results of a new study presented today at EULAR 2009, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheum

Copenhagen, Denmark, Friday 12 June 2009: After five years of receiving infliximab (IFX) anti-TNF therapy, 61.8% of patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) showed substantial clinical benefit (ASAS40, ASsessment in AS, 40-response) and 27.6% achieved ASAS partial remission.

The IShow is for young inventors what "American Idol" is for young performers, and a pair of local researchers has won a coveted spot in the IShow finale in Palm Desert, Calif., this weekend.

If their unique health-monitoring device wins at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Innovation Showcase, also known as the IShow, on Sunday, University of Houston MBA student Nithin Rajan and Steve Xu, who both work at the Abramson Center for the Future of Health in the Texas Medical Center, could receive up to $10,000 in seed funding from ASME. And that's just the beginning.

Copenhagen, Denmark, Friday 12 June 2009: 92.8% of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) suffer anxiety and depression which significantly affects both their physical and emotional quality of life (QoL), according to the results of a new study presented today at EULAR 2009, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Copenhagen, Denmark. Logistic regression analysis revealed that depression was the most significant factor shown to affect QoL (p=0.015; OR=0.18; CI 95%:0.045-0.72).

Almost 90 per cent of the world's population will not have timely access to affordable supplies of vaccines and antiviral agents in the current influenza pandemic, but it is possible that inexpensive generic drugs that are readily available, even in developing countries, could save millions of lives.

That's the conclusion reached by an extensive review and analysis by immunisation expert Dr David Fedson, published online by Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses within hours of the World Health Organization declaring a pandemic.

Copenhagen, Denmark, Friday 12 June 2009: When a patient's first symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) occur in winter, the severity of their RA (as measured by the modified Total Sharp Score, mTSS, an assessment of erosion and joint space narrowing) was rated more severe at six months, when compared to patients whose RA first became symptomatic in summer (Odds Ratio (OR) =2.82 [1.14;7], p=0.0255).

Copenhagen, Denmark, Friday 12 June 2009: First line treatment with anakinra (an interleukin-1 (IL-1) receptor antagonist), results in a 'good' clinical response (ACRp90) in patients newly diagnosed with systemic onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SoJIA), and restores the deficient IL-18 response of natural killer (NK) cells*, according to a new study presented today at PReS 2009, a joint congress with the 2009 Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Fairbanks, Alaska—The Greenland ice sheet is melting faster than expected according to a new study led by a University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher and published in the journal Hydrological Processes.

Study results indicate that the ice sheet may be responsible for nearly 25 percent of global sea rise in the past 13 years. The study also shows that seas now are rising by more than 3 millimeters a year—more than 50 percent faster than the average for the 20th century.