Body

Chemists at UC San Diego have produced the first high resolution structure of a nano-scale square made from ribonucleic acid, or RNA. The structure was published in a paper in this week's early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by a team of chemists headed by Thomas Hermann, an assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UCSD.

ORLANDO, FL (April 4, 2011) – New findings by Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers link a common variant of the powerful anticancer gene p53 to increased inflammatory responses following DNA damage. The results may help explain why African Americans, who more frequently possess this variant, tend to be more susceptible to certain kinds of inflammation-related diseases and cancers, such as type II diabetes and colorectal cancer.

Caterpillars that masquerade as twigs to avoid becoming a bird's dinner are actually using clever behavioural strategies to outwit their predators, according to a new study.

Researchers at the universities of Exeter, Liverpool, Liverpool Hope and Glasgow have shown that when it comes to the art of camouflage, things are never quite the way they seem.

The study, published online today in the journal PNAS, reveals that twig-mimicking caterpillars choose their location to maximise their chances of fooling their predators into thinking they are twigs.

SALT LAKE CITY, April 4, 2011 – Fossil teeth of African animals show that during the past 10 million years, different plant-eating critters began grazing on grass at different times as many switched from a salad-bar diet of tree leaves and shrubs, says a University of Utah study.

BOSTON – Women with extremely low body fat, including runners and dancers, as well as women with eating disorders, are prone to develop hypothalamic amenorrhea, a condition in which their menstrual periods cease, triggering such serious problems as infertility and osteoporosis.

Researchers at King's College London and Osaka University in Japan have identified specific bone marrow cells that can transform into skin cells to repair damaged skin tissue, according to a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

MADISON — Scientists from the Morgridge Institute for Research, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of California and the WiCell Research Institute moved gene therapy one step closer to clinical reality by determining that the process of correcting a genetic defect does not substantially increase the number of potentially cancer-causing mutations in induced pluripotent stem cells.

Washington, D.C.—Formaldehyde, a poison and a common molecule throughout the universe, is likely the source of the solar system's organic carbon solids—abundant in both comets and asteroids. Scientists have long speculated about the how organic, or carbon-containing, material became a part of the solar system's fabric. New research from Carnegie's George Cody, along with Conel Alexander and Larry Nittler, shows that these complex organic solids were likely made from formaldehyde in the primitive solar system.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A species of algae long known to associate with spotted salamanders has been discovered to live inside the cells of developing embryos, say scientists from the U.S. and Canada, who report their findings in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

This is the first known example of a eukaryotic algae living stably inside the cells of any vertebrate.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study of telephone customer service representatives shows just how important it is for employees to start the workday in a good mood.

Researchers found that employees' moods when they clocked in tended to affect how they felt the rest of the day. Early mood was linked to their perceptions of customers and to how they reacted to customers' moods.

And most importantly to managers, employee mood had a clear impact on performance, including both how much work employees did and how well they did it.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have described a previously unknown role for the cilia protein IFT88 in mitosis, the process by which a dividing cell separates its chromosomes containing the cell's DNA into two identical sets of new daughter cells. Published in advance online by Nature Cell Biology, this newly discovered function for IFT88 suggests a possible alternative or contributory cause for cilia-related diseases such as primary ciliary dyskinesia, and polycystic kidney disease.

DURHAM, N.C. – The number of endangered leatherback sea turtle nests at 68 beaches in Florida has increased by 10.2 percent a year since 1979, according to a new Duke University-led study published in the current issue of the journal Ecological Applications.

Some beaches posted annual increases of more than 16 percent, others as low as 3.1 percent.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say a "stress response" mechanism used by normal cells to cope with harsh or demanding conditions is exploited by cancer cells, which transmit the same stress signal to surrounding cells, triggering an inflammatory response in them that can aid tumor growth.

DURHAM, N.C. – Tens of thousands of albatrosses and other far-ranging seabirds are killed each year after they become caught in longline fishing gear. Innovative new models developed by a Duke University-led research team may help reduce these casualties by more precisely projecting where and when birds and boats are likely to cross paths.

Much of the risk of developing incontinence before middle age is determined by our genes. Genetic factors can explain half of people's susceptibility to urinary incontinence, a study of twins at the University of Gothenburg and Karolinska Institutet (Sweden) reveals.