Body

Common hippopotami (Hippopotamus amphibius) are vulnerable to extinction in the wild, but reproduce extremely well under captive breeding conditions. Females can give birth to up to 25 young over their 40 year lifespan – evidently too many for zoos to accommodate. Captive populations of hippopotamus must therefore be controlled. Male castration is useful in this respect because it can simultaneously limit population growth and reduce inter-male aggression. However, documented cases of successful hippo castrations are scant.

A possible new method for treating pancreatic cancer which enables the body's immune system to attack and kill cancer cells has been developed by researchers.

The method uses a drug which breaks down the protective barrier surrounding pancreatic cancer tumours, enabling cancer-attacking T cells to get through. The drug is used in combination with an antibody that blocks a second target, which improves the activity of these T cells.

Amborella trichopoda, a sprawling shrub that grows on just a single island in the remote South Pacific, is the only plant in its family and genus. It is also one of the oldest flowering plants, having branched off from others about 200 million years ago. Now, researchers from Indiana University, with the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI), Penn State University, and the Institute of Research for Development in New Caledonia, have determined a remarkable expansion of the genome of the plant's critical energy-generating structures.

This news release is available in German.

Even the so-called high-Tc superconductors still require very low temperatures of minus 200 degrees centigrade. While cooling down to these temperatures involves substantial effort, superconductors are already employed in many areas, e.g., for magnetic resonance tomography in medical applications. Despite extensive research, materials providing lossless conduction of electricity at room temperature are missing up to now.

Motion fascinates physicists. It becomes even more intriguing when observed in vivo in biological cells. Using an ingenious setup, Japanese scientists have now calculated the force of molecular motors acting on inner components of biological cells, known as organelles. In a new study, published in EPJ E, the focus is on mitochondria - akin to micrometric range cellular power plants - travelling along microtubules in a cell.

We are fundamentally dependent on the presence of copper in the cells of the body. Copper is actually part of the body's energy conversion and protective mechanisms against oxygen radicals, as well as part of the immune system, and it also has great importance for the formation of e.g. hormones and neurotransmitters.

TEMPE, Ariz. – A group of researchers from Arizona State University are part of a larger team reporting a major advance in the study of human proteins that could open up new avenues for more effective drugs of the future. The work is being reported in this week's Science magazine.

In the paper, "Serial femtosecond crystallography of G-protein-coupled receptors," the team reports that they have been successful in imaging at room temperature the structure of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) with the use of an x-ray free-electron laser.

SAN FRANCISCO (December 20, 2013) — In 2013, researchers at the California Academy of Sciences discovered 91 new plant and animal species and two new genera, enriching our understanding of the complex web of life on Earth and strengthening our ability to make informed conservation decisions. The new species, previously unknown to science, include 38 different ants, 12 fishes, 14 plants, eight beetles, two spiders, one reptile, and one amphibian. In addition, Academy scientists discovered a new genus of beetle and a previously unidentified genus of sea fan.

Approximately 1 out of every 6 American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and this year alone there are expected to be nearly a quarter of a million new cases diagnosed, making prostate cancer the most common malignancy among men in the United States. Center for Nuclear Receptors & Cell Signaling (CNRCS) Assistant Professor Daniel Frigo and his research team recently published a study investigating the processes through which androgen receptors affect prostate cancer progression.

Porto Alegre, Brazil - Researchers at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), the university hospital (Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, HCPA) and the Children's Cancer Institute (Instituto do Câncer Infantil do Rio Grande do Sul, ICI-RS) in Porto Alegre, Brazil, have shown that manipulating an epigenetic mechanism, which regulates gene expression, may promote cell death and favor maturation towards less malignant-prone phenotypes in pediatric brain cancer cell lines.

UPTON, NY--Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have identified a new way to regulate the production of phenols, a class of plant products with a wide range of applications for humans. These compounds serve as an important source of flavors, fragrances, and pigments; some are of interest for their possible health-promoting effects; and through their contribution to the construction of plant cell walls, (poly)phenols are the major factor influencing how easy it is to convert biomass to biofuels.

The role of microRNAs (miRNAs) is fundamental for the correct moment-to-moment adjustment in the expression of target genes. "Before this study, we already knew that these small molecules could be packaged into small vesicles and exported to the extracellular space, to be later captured by other cells and in this way play an important role in intercellular communication," explains CNIC researcher Carolina Villarroya, the first author on the study.

Women's perceptions of what is considered normal and desirable female genitalia may be influenced by exposure to modified images, suggests a new study published today (20 December) in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Requests for labiaplasty (reducing and making the labia minora symmetrical) has become the most widely performed female genital cosmetic procedure covered by the NHS over the past decade, increasing five-fold between 2001 and 2010.

The researchers say the current regulation process "seems to be entirely inadequate" and they call for a revised system for introducing new orthopaedic devices.

The high failure rate of some metal-on-metal hip replacements has highlighted the need for an adequate evidence base for orthopaedic implants. Many implants are available to orthopaedic surgeons, but it is not known how many of these have evidence of clinical effectiveness to support their use.

Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, hitchhikes in ticks for dissemination to mammalian hosts--including humans. An article in the 19 December issue of PLOS Pathogens identifies HrpA, an RNA helicase, as a crucial player in the transmission from ticks to mammals.