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Planning for emergencies must take into account the growing numbers of frail elderly people who will by virtue of shifting demographics be involved in any natural or manmade disaster, according to US researchers writing in the International Journal of Emergency Management.

A Chinese scientist group working in College of Life Science, Zhejiang University, has shown that, as mammalian Igf2 CpG island, goldfish Igf2 CpG island has a parental differentially methylated region (DMR). These results indicate that the evolutionary foundation of genomic imprinting exists in lower vertebrates and genomic imprinting should not be considered as a unique evolutionary event of mammals. The study is reported in volume 54 (Issue 8, April, 2009) of Chinese Science Bulletin.

A team of University of Oregon biologists, using fruit flies, has created a way to isolate RNA from specific cells, opening a new window on how gene expression drives normal development and disease-causing breakdowns.

While DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) provides an identical genetic blueprint in every cell, RNA (ribonucleic acid) decodes genetic instructions that turn protein molecules on and off in different cell types.

BETHESDA, Md. (May 18, 2009) Pregnant women who are indigenous to the Andes Mountains deliver more blood and oxygen to their fetuses at high altitude than do women of European descent. The study helps explain why babies of Andean descent born at high altitude weigh more than European babies born at altitude.

The research, published in The American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology found that at high altitude:

An international team of scientists has identified a nesting population of leatherback sea turtles in Gabon, West Africa as the world's largest. The research, published in the May issue of Biological Conservation, involved country-wide land and aerial surveys that estimated a population of between 15,730 and 41,373 female turtles using the nesting beaches. The study highlights the importance of conservation work to manage key sites and protected areas in Gabon.

ATS 2009, SAN DIEGO— New HIV therapies have prolonged lives and improved health for patients with HIV, but the treatments have also brought the longer-term effects of the disease into sharper focus.

Boston, MA -- Newly identified gene variants associated with the age at which females experience their first menstrual period and the onset of menopause may help shed light on the prevention of breast and endometrial cancer, osteoporosis, and cardiovascular disease.

Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School, along with collaborators from research institutions across Europe and the United States, have for the first time identified two genes that are involved in determining when girls begin menstruation. The work will be published in Nature Genetics this weekend.

A research team may have broken the stubborn impasse that has frustrated the invention of an effective HIV vaccine, by using an approach that bypasses the usual path followed by vaccine developers. By using gene transfer technology that produces molecules that block infection, the scientists protected monkeys from infection by a virus closely related to HIV—the simian immunodeficiency virus, or SIV—that causes AIDS in rhesus monkeys.

A team of atmospheric chemists has moved closer to what's considered the "holy grail" of climate change science: the first-ever direct detections of biological particles within ice clouds.

The team, led by Kimberly Prather and Kerri Pratt of the University of California at San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, sampled water droplet and ice crystal residues at high speeds while flying through clouds in the skies over Wyoming.

ATS 2009, SAN DIEGO—Exposure to particulate matter has been recognized as a contributing factor to lung cancer development for some time, but a new study indicates inhalation of certain particulates can actually cause some genes to become reprogrammed, affecting both the development and the outcome of cancers and other diseases.

The research will be presented on Sunday, May 17, at the 105th International Conference of the American Thoracic Society in San Diego.

ATS 2009, SAN DIEGO— Individuals suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) can experience significant savings in healthcare costs by employing a self-treatment program with the judicious use of medications, according to the results of a new study. The self-treatment program achieves these savings by reducing the duration of flare-ups.

Dutch researchers presented their findings on Sunday, May 17, at the American Thoracic Society's 105th International Conference in San Diego.

ATS 2009, SAN DIEGO— Could sleep be a critical component to maintaining a healthy body weight? According to new research to be presented on Sunday, May 17, at the American Thoracic Society's 105th International Conference in San Diego, body mass index (BMI) is linked to length and quality of sleep in a surprisingly consistent fashion.

ATS 2009, SAN DIEGO—A new study using advanced cardiac imaging technology indicates that cardiac abnormalities experienced by some marathon runners following competition are temporary, and do not result in damage to the heart muscle. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Manitoba, marked the first use of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, or CMR, in a post-marathon setting.

The research will be presented on Sunday, May 17, at the 105th International Conference of the American Thoracic Society in San Diego.

ATS 2009, SAN DIEGO—A large, well-controlled, multi-national clinical trial program has demonstrated the effectiveness and safety of what may become the first FDA-approved medicine for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or IPF.

In a Phase III clinical study program called "CAPACITY," investigators discovered that the oral anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory agent, pirfenidone, could slow the deterioration of lung capacity in patients suffering from IPF.