Body

MADISON – In the computer displays of medical equipment in hospitals and clinics, liquid crystal technologies have already found a major role. But a discovery reported from the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggests that micrometer-sized droplets of liquid crystal, which have been found to change their ordering and optical appearance in response to the presence of very low concentrations of a particular bacterial lipid, might find new uses in a range of biological contexts.

A detailed comparison of DNA and RNA in human cells has uncovered a surprising number of cases where the corresponding sequences are not, as has long been assumed, identical. The RNA-DNA differences generate proteins that do not precisely match the genes that encode them.

Just like intelligence agents watching for the real terrorists threatening to attack, monitoring healthcare worker adherence to mandatory hand-washing protocols via hand-washing squads in hospitals can go a long way to stop outbreaks of the opportunistic C. diff bacteria, says Irena Kenneley, an infection prevention and control expert and assistant professor of nursing from the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University.

LA JOLLA, CA—In principle, genetic engineering is simple, but in practice, replacing a faulty gene with a healthy copy is anything but. Using mutated versions of the lamin A gene as an example to demonstrate the versatility of their virus-based approach, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies successfully edited a diseased gene in patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells as well as adult stem cells.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A primary reason that head and neck cancer treatments fail is the tumor cells become resistant to chemotherapy drugs. Now, researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have found that a compound derived from the Indian spice curcumin can help cells overcome that resistance.

RICHMOND, Va. (May 19, 2011) – Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have found that nutrient supplementation, like the kind that is found in leafy greens, spinach and lettuce, may reduce the damage to the heart caused by a powerful anti-cancer drug.

A human drug that both prevents and cures kidney failure in mice sheds light on disabling human mitochondrial disorders, and may represent a potential treatment in people with such illnesses.

"There are no effective cures for mitochondrial diseases, even in animals," said study leader Marni J. Falk, M.D., who cares for children in the Mitochondrial-Genetics Disease Clinic at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "So these striking results in mice may suggest a novel therapy of direct relevance for humans."

ATLANTA – May 19, 2011 – A new report from the American Cancer Society details cancer control efforts and outlines improvements as well as gaps in preventive behavior that contribute to cancer mortality. Increasing rates of obesity observed since the early 1980s appear to have slowed in the past decade, particularly among women and girls, but nearly one in five adolescents and about one in three adults is obese. Vaccination against the virus that causes cervical cancer is up, but smoking declines have stalled.

Men who have been diagnosed with poor sperm quality and who are trying to have children should limit their cell phone use. Researchers have found that while cell phone use appears to increase the level of testosterone circulating in the body, it may also lead to low sperm quality and a decrease in fertility.

GENEVA, 19 May 2011: Today 16 countries announced new commitments to dramatically reduce maternal, newborn and child mortality, as part of the Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Dozens of studies on whether moderate exercise can curb the nicotine cravings of women smokers have added up to an apparent contradiction: it seems to work in short-term, well controlled lab experiments, but then fizzles out in treatment trials. A new study may explain why and help researchers devise a practical therapy.

After corn is processed to make ethanol, what's left of the corn looks something like slightly dampened cornmeal, though a somewhat darker yellow, and not as finely ground. Known as "wet distiller's grains with solubles" (WDGS), this byproduct is sometimes used as a cattle feed ingredient. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists in Clay Center, Neb., are studying the pros and cons of that practice.

A G8 report released today in Paris indicating an increase in financing for women's and children's health was welcomed by the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH).

In 2010, the G8 launched the Muskoka Initiative for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, with an initial commitment of US$5 billion by 2015. The G8 2011 Accountability Report today suggests that collectively the G8 will surpass this initial commitment by roughly 53%.

Chronic lower back pain is a major problem for society – behind only headaches as the most common neurological ailment – and is frequently caused by degeneration of the intervertebral disc.

Researchers have worked for many years to find a way of repairing the wear and tear on the lower back.

Now, in results published in the journal Soft Matter, they have discovered how to permanently replace the workings of the invertebral disc.

Jaws made of bone are commonplace in the animal kingdom. However, how jaws developed in the course of evolution is still a mystery. Under the direction of paleontologist Nicolas Goudemand, a team of researchers from the University of Zurich and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility set about solving this puzzle. Living and extinct jawless animals can yield clues as to the development of the jaw. The researchers studied fossilized conodonts – extinct, eel-shaped animals whose precise relationship with the actual vertebrates is still a matter of debate.