Body

Researchers from The Manchester Collaborative Centre for Inflammation Research (MCCIR), University of Manchester have made an important step forward in finding a potential treatment for an infection that affects over a billion people worldwide.

Gastrointestinal parasitic infections, which are worm infections in the intestine, affect nearly one quarter of the world population and have been heavily linked with poverty in poorer regions.

Since the mTOR pathway can be activated with L-leucine, Xu asked whether leucine would be able to stimulate the sluggish mTOR pathway in RBS cells and ameliorate the associated cellular defects. Remarkably, L-leucine treatment "rescued" some RBS cell defects including protein synthesis and cell growth.

New England's Native tribes, whose sustainable ways of farming, forestry, hunting and land and water management were devastated by European colonists four centuries ago, can help modern America adapt to climate change.

Reston, Va. – Several newly identified markers could provide valuable insight to predict the risk of rupture abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA), according to new research published in the October issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Imaging with positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) has shown that dense white blood cells in the outermost connective tissue in the vascular wall, increased C-reactive protein and a loss of smooth muscle cells in the middle layer of the vascular wall are all factors that may indicate future AAA rupture.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A research team led by a molecular plant pathologist at the University of California, Riverside has discovered the mechanism by which an aggressive fungal pathogen infects almost all fruits and vegetables.

The team discovered a novel "virulence mechanism" — the mechanism by which infection takes place — of Botrytis cinerea. This pathogen can infect more than 200 plant species, causing serious gray mold disease on almost all fruits and vegetables that have been around, even at times in the refrigerator, for more than a week.

A massive data analysis of natural genetic variants in humans and variants in cancer tumors has implicated dozens of mutations in the development of breast and prostate cancer, a Yale-led team has found.

The newly discovered mutations are in regions of DNA that do not code for proteins but instead influence activity of other genes. These areas represent an unexplored world that will allow researchers and doctors to gain new insight into the causes and treatment of cancer, said the scientists.

WATERLOO, Ont. (Thursday, October 3, 2013) -- Facebook and Twitter could provide vital clues to control infectious diseases by using mathematical models to understand how we respond socially to biological contagions.

Cold and flu season prompts society to find ways to prevent the spread of disease though measures like vaccination all the way through to covering our mouths when we cough and staying in bed. These social responses are much more difficult to predict than the way biological contagion will evolve, but new methods are being developed to do just that.

Researchers can now identify DNA regions within non-coding DNA, the major part of the genome that is not translated into a protein, where mutations can cause diseases such as cancer.

Their approach reveals many potential genetic variants within non-coding DNA that drive the development of a variety of different cancers. This approach has great potential to find other disease-causing variants.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a disease in which cardiac muscle thickens, weakening the heart, can be prevented from developing for several months in mice by reducing production of a mutant protein, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard Medical School.

The work takes a first step toward being able to treat or prevent the leading cause of sudden death in athletes and sudden heart-related death inpeople under 30 in the United States.

Mitochondria are the power plants of cells, manufacturing chemical fuel so a cell can perform its many tasks. These cellular power plants also are well known for their role in ridding the body of old or damaged cells.

Saving the whales often means knowing—sometimes genetically—one group of whales from another, say researchers attempting to define populations of a medium-sized and poorly understood baleen whale that is sometimes targeted by Japan's scientific whaling program. In a new study, scientists from Wildlife Conservation Society, the American Museum of Natural History, Columbia University, NOAA, and other groups are working to define separate groups and subspecies of the Bryde's whale in the Indian and western Pacific Oceans.

A genetic and demographic analysis of river herring populations along the U.S. east coast, published October 2 in Evolutionary Applications, has identified distinct genetic stocks, providing crucial guidance for efforts to manage their declining populations.

3D printing isn't just cheaper, it's also greener, says Michigan Technological University's Joshua Pearce.

Even Pearce, an aficionado of the make-it-yourself-and-save technology, was surprised at his study's results. It showed that making stuff on a 3D printer uses less energy—and therefore releases less carbon dioxide—than producing it en masse in a factory and shipping it to a warehouse.

Autumn is usually not such a great time for big special effects movies as the summer blockbusters have faded and those for the holiday season have not yet opened. Fall is more often the time for thoughtful films about small subjects, which makes it perfect for the unveiling of a new movie produced by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A tag team of two bacteria, one of them genetically modified, has a good chance to reduce or even eliminate the deadly disease African trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness, researchers at Oregon State University conclude in a recent mathematical modeling study.

African trypanosomiasis, caused by a parasite carried by the tsetse fly, infects 30,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa each year and is almost always fatal without treatment. In a 2008 epidemic, 48,000 people died.