Body

PROVIDENCE, RI – Individuals with heart disease are twice as likely to suffer from depression as the general population, an association the medical community has largely been unable to explain. Now, a new study by researchers at The Miriam Hospital, in conjunction with The Montréal Heart Institute, University of Montréal and McGill University, reveals there may be genetic variations that contribute to depression in heart disease patients.

With the current outbreak of swine flu, and in the absence of a vaccine or treatment at present, the only way to contain the virus is to get people around the world to take precautionary measures. In a special editorial1 in the latest issue of Springer's International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, Johannes Brug, Arja Aro, and Jan Hendrik Richardus show that there are three key parameters that convince people to take precautions. Firstly, they need to be aware of the risk to them.

Doctors have issued a warning about excessive cola consumption after noticing an increase in the number of patients suffering from muscle problems, according to the June issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice.

"We are consuming more soft drinks than ever before and a number of health issues have already been identified including tooth problems, bone demineralisation and the development of metabolic syndrome and diabetes" says Dr Moses Elisaf from the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Ioannina, Greece.

Four major US national laboratories have worked together to develop a computer model to help airport authorities screen passengers for pandemic influenza. The tool can help estimate false negatives, people with influenza who slip through the screening process, and so assess the risk of infected passengers unknowingly spreading disease across the nation.

For the first time UK scientists have shown what the food poisoning bug Salmonella feeds on to survive as it causes infection: glucose.

Their discovery of Salmonella's weakness for sugar could provide a new way to vaccinate against it. The discovery could also lead to vaccine strains to protect against other disease-causing bacteria, including superbugs.

"This is the first time that anyone has identified the nutrients that sustain Salmonella while it is infecting a host's body," says Dr Arthur Thompson from the Institute of Food Research.

WALNUT CREEK, CA - After a genome is sequenced and automatically annotated, researchers often manually review the predicted genes and their functions in order to improve accuracy and coverage across the vast genetic code of the particular target organism or community of organisms. These annotations drive the publication of high-profile science relevant to advancing bioenergy research and our understanding of biogeochemistry—the biological, chemical, physical, and geological processes that regulate our environment.

Santa Barbara, California – A team of researchers, addressing long-standing conflicts in ecology and evolutionary science, has provided key directions for the future of community ecology. The team comprehensively synthesized emerging work that applies knowledge of evolutionary relationships among different species—phylogenetics—to understanding species interactions, ecosystems and biodiversity.

UCSF scientists have created a method of quickly identifying large numbers of the genetic material known as short hairpin RNA — also called shRNA – that turns genes on and off.

The method, which the research team has used to create a library of 22,000 of these "on-off" switches for roughly 600 human genes, provides a tool for scientists throughout the world, with ultimate impacts on the study of the genetic basis of diseases ranging from HIV to high cholesterol, Parkinson's disease or cancer. The team is currently working on creating an shRNA library for the entire human genome.

Osteoporosis and periodontitis are common diseases whose sufferers must cope with weakness, injury and reduced function as they lose bone more quickly than it is formed. While the mechanism of bone destruction in these diseases is understood, scientists have had less information about how bone formation is impaired.

Now, researchers at the UCLA School of Dentistry, working with scientists at the University of Michigan and the University of California, San Diego, have identified a potential new focus of treatments for osteoporosis, periodontitis and similar diseases.

A new tool will help researchers identify the minute changes in DNA patterns that lead to cancer, Huntington's disease and a host of other genetic disorders. The tool was developed at North Carolina State University and translates DNA sequences into graphic images, which allows researchers to distinguish genetic patterns more quickly and efficiently than was historically possible using computers.

Research by Peter Barnes (Imperial College, London) and colleagues may explain the effectiveness of common treatments for allergic inflammation and may point the way to targets for new treatments for allergic diseases, according to a study published in this week's open-access journal PLoS Medicine.

Many young children who get a severe skin rash develop asthma months or years later. Doctors call the progression from eczema, or atopic dermatitis, to breathing problems the atopic march. In this week's issue of PLoS Biology, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report another step taken towards understanding the process of atopic march.

Many young children who get a severe skin rash develop asthma months or years later. Doctors call the progression from eczema, or atopic dermatitis, to breathing problems the atopic march.

Now scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have uncovered what might be the key to atopic march. They've shown that a substance secreted by damaged skin circulates through the body and triggers asthmatic symptoms in allergen-exposed laboratory mice.

The essential chromosomal protein complex cohesin has crucial roles in sister chromatid cohesion, DNA repair and transcriptional regulation. Despite its conserved function, cohesin's disparate association patterns in different organisms did not quite add up. New research published in the open access journal Genome Biology works towards completing the cohesin puzzle, reconciling some of these differences.