Body

JUPITER, FL, September 26, 2013 – It's difficult and time-consuming to produce accurate computer models of molecules, primarily because traditional modeling methods are limited in their ability to handle alternative molecular shapes and, consequently, are subject to multiple errors.

WASHINGTON, DC—The quest for evidence of life on Mars could be more difficult than scientists previously thought.

A scientific paper published today details the investigation of a chemical in the Martian soil that interferes with the techniques used by the Curiosity rover to test for traces of life. The chemical causes the evidence to burn away during the tests.

In search of clues to life's presence on Mars – now or in the past – Curiosity checks Martian soil and rocks for molecules known as organic carbon compounds that are the hallmark of living organisms on Earth.

RENO, Nev. – New regulatory approaches may be needed to assess environmental risks of agricultural growth promoters, and similar human pharmaceuticals, following research that shows a newly found reversion mechanism allows unexpected persistence of the steroidal substances in aquatic environments.

Results of the research will be published in an article in the renowned journal Science – the weekly journal of AAAS, the science society – next month and are available immediately online in Science Express.

When termites munch on wood, the small bits are delivered to feed a community of unique microbes living in their guts, and in a complex process involving multiple steps, these microbes turn the hard, fibrous material into a nutritious meal for the termite host. One key step uses hydrogen to convert carbon dioxide into organic carbon—a process called acetogenesis—but little is known about which gut bacteria play specific roles in the process.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A recent study from Rhode Island Hospital has found that a change in the way police respond to drug-related overdose emergencies could contribute to improved outcomes of the victims and to the communities where overdoses occur. The study found that while law enforcement officers often serve as medical first responders, there is a lack of clarity as to what police can do, or should do, at the scene of an overdose. The study is published online in advance of print in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

Cancer encompasses a complex group of diseases traditionally defined by where in the body it originates, as in lung cancer or colon cancer. This framework for studying and treating cancer has made sense for generations, but molecular analysis now shows that cancers of different organs have many shared features, while cancers from the same organ or tissue are often quite distinct.

New NOAA-led research on tagged humpback whales in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary reveals a variety of previously unknown feeding techniques along the seafloor. Rather than a single bottom feeding behavior, the whales show three distinct feeding approaches: simple side-rolls, side-roll inversions, and repetitive scooping.

LA JOLLA, CA -- September 26, 2013 -- Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have discovered an important process by which special immune cells in the skin help heal wounds. They found that these skin-resident immune cells function as "first responders" to skin injuries in part by producing the molecule known as interleukin-17A (IL-17A), which wards off infection and promotes wound healing.

Invasive species are among the world's greatest threats to native species and biodiversity. Once invasive plants become established, they can alter soil chemistry and shift nutrient cycling in an ecosystem. This can have important impacts not only on plant composition, diversity, and succession within a community, but also in the cycling of critical elements like carbon and nitrogen on a larger, potentially even global, scale.

Since the publication in 2000 of a report titled "To Err is Human" by the Institute of Medicine which called for a reduction in preventable medical errors, there has been an increasing demand for making improvements in the quality and measurement of health care outcomes. Although many measures have been developed, they tend to be complex, labor intensive, have an unclear relationship with improved outcomes, and concentrate on processes of care rather than clinical outcomes.

"Our results suggest that the bristle worm possesses independent, endogenous monthly and daily body clocks that interact," Tessmar-Raible says. "Taking this together with previous and other recent reports, evidence accumulates that such a multiple-clock situation might be the rule rather than the exception in the animal kingdom."

Kyriacou and colleagues used a combination of environmental and molecular manipulations of the daily clock to show that when the 24-hour circadian clock is disrupted in the sea louse, the 12.4-hour tidal clock keeps right on ticking.

Although heavily studied, the specific genetic causes of "complex diseases," a category of disorders which includes autism, diabetes and heart disease, are largely unknown due to byzantine genetic and environmental interactions.

Scientists have used a brand new technique for examining individual stem cells to uncover dramatic differences in the gene expression levels – which genes are turned 'up' or 'down'– between apparently identical 'sister' pairs.

The research, published today (Thursday) in Stem Cell Reports, was conducted and funded by The Institute of Cancer Research, London. It provides the latest evidence that despite having identical DNA, sister stem cells can display considerable differences in their molecular characteristics.

Becoming obese or remaining lean can depend on the dynamics of the mitochondria, the body's energy-producing "battery," according to two new studies by Yale School of Medicine researchers featured as the cover story in the Sept. 26 issue of the journal Cell.

University of Leicester researchers have revealed that coastal animals have their own biological tidal timer, which is separate from their 24-hour body clock.

Experts from the University's Department of Genetics have published a paper in Current Biology which reveals the discovery of an independent clock driving coastal animals' tidal rhythms.