Body

Since 1994, many thousands of women with breast cancer from families severely affected with the disease have been tested for inherited mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2. The vast majority of those patients were told that their gene sequences were normal.

Atlanta, GA (October 23, 2013)—Research suggests that fetal exposure to mycophenolic acid products (MPA)—which are drugs taken by transplant recipients to prevent rejection—may increase the risk of birth defects and spontaneous abortions. Results of this study will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2013 November 5-10 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA.

DURHAM, N.H. -- For the first time ever, scientists have documented a widespread extinction of bees that occurred 65 million years ago, concurrent with the massive event that wiped out land dinosaurs and many flowering plants. Their findings, published this week in the journal PLOS ONE, could shed light on the current decline in bee species.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The bacteria in the human mouth – particularly those nestled under the gums – are as powerful as a fingerprint at identifying a person's ethnicity, new research shows.

Scientists identified a total of almost 400 different species of microbes in the mouths of 100 study participants belonging to four ethnic affiliations: non-Hispanic blacks, whites, Chinese and Latinos.

When walking with female romantic partners, males tend to slow down by about 7%, according to new research published Oct 23 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, by Cara Wall-Scheffler and colleagues at Seattle Pacific University.

Emotionally intelligent people have the ability to manipulate others to satisfy their own interest, according to new research published October 23 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, by Yuki Nozaki and colleagues at Kyoto University.

Giraffe species may only breed with each other based on the timing of rainfall in their local environments, according to new research published October 23 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, by Henri Thomassen and colleagues at UCLA.

A unique plant that lives underground uses multiple mechanisms to boost photosynthesis and offers new insights into how plants adapt to extreme conditions, according to new research published October 23 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, by Katie Field and colleagues at the University of Sheffield and other institutions.

A 3-year-old Mississippi child born with HIV and treated with a combination of antiviral drugs unusually early continues to do well and remains free of active infection 18 months after all treatment ceased, according to an updated case report published Oct. 23 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Early findings of the case were presented in March 2013 during a scientific meeting in Atlanta, but the newly published report adds detail and confirms what researchers say is the first documented case of HIV remission in a child.

You can almost set your watch to it.

A familiar sight to local beachgoers, the box jellyfish Alatina moseri is known for showing up in big numbers on Waikīkī Beach 8 to 12 days after each full moon.

Continuing a pioneering jellyfish beach count effort initiated in the 1980s by Honolulu lifeguard Landy Blair, researchers at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa have published an analysis of 14 years of monthly jellyfish collection data.

A common food additive can block a deadly new strain of avian influenza virus from infecting healthy cells, report researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine in the online journal, PLOS ONE.

The compound, in wide use as a preservative, binds to a part of the flu virus that has never been targeted by any existing antiviral drug, raising hopes for its effectiveness against multi-drug-resistant flu viruses.

Without sweat, we would overheat and die. In a recent paper in the journal PLOS ONE, USC faculty member Krzysztof Kobielak and a team of researchers explored the ultimate origin of this sticky, stinky but vital substance — sweat gland stem cells.

Kobielak and his team used a system to make all of the sweat gland cells in a mouse easy to spot: labeling them with green fluorescent protein (GFP), which is visible under ultraviolet light.

Washington, DC— Children's National pediatrician and researcher, Lisa Tuchman, MD, MPH, co-authored a new study on cystic fibrosis (CF) care that found patients had a less rapid decline in pulmonary function and no other significant health-related changes after transitioning from pediatric to adult care.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study reveals that tumors release factors into the bloodstream that inhibit the repair of damaged muscle fibers, and that this contributes to muscle loss during cancer wasting. The condition, also called cancer cachexia, accompanies certain types of cancer, causes life-threatening loss of body weight and lean muscle mass, and is responsible for up to one-in-four cancer deaths. There is no treatment for the condition.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA—Treating aggressive lung cancer with the diabetes drug metformin along with radiation and chemotherapy may slow tumor growth and recurrence, suggests new preliminary findings from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania being presented during an oral abstract session October 28 at the 15th World Conference on Lung Cancer.