Body

Surgeon Paolo Macchiarini has made his name by successfully transplanting bioengineered stem cell-based trachea, composed of both artificial and biological material. He now plans to use the technique to recreate more complex tissues, such as the oesophagus and diaphragm or organs such as the heart and lungs. He has also made an experimental attempt to regenerate brain in mice and rats. This is part of the news he will be presenting during his seminar at the scientific AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston.

BOSTON -- Society currently faces profound social and environmental challenges that must be met to secure a sustainable future for humanity. A major challenge in achieving this goal is discovering how best to synthesize important findings and ideas from many disciplines and use them to produce scientifically informed social and environmental policy.

A Melbourne-based research team has discovered a genetic defect that can halt cell growth and force cells into a death-evading survival state.

The finding has revealed an important mechanism controlling the growth of rapidly-dividing cells that may ultimately lead to the development of new treatments for diseases including cancer.

Regardless of how a patient's diagnosis of type 2 diabetes is arrived at—through clinical diagnosis based on signs and symptoms (e.g., excessive thirst and/or urination, fatigue, infections, blurred vision) or using opportunistic targeted screening of high-risk patients (e.g., family history of diabetes, history of cardiovascular disease, obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol)— the rate of morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease in seven years follow-up did not significantly differ between the two.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — It has been almost 20 years since the first genetically modified foods showed up in produce aisles throughout the United States and the rest of the world, but controversy continues to surround the products and their regulation.

Bruce Chassy, a professor emeritus of food science and human nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, believes that after thousands of research studies and worldwide planting, "genetically modified foods pose no special risks to consumers or the environment" and are overregulated.

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. -- While most farmers consider viruses and fungi potential threats to their crops, these microbes can help wild plants adapt to extreme conditions, according to a Penn State virologist.

Discovering how microbes collaborate to improve the hardiness of plants is a key to sustainable agriculture that can help meet increasing food demands, in addition to avoiding possible conflicts over scare resources, said Marilyn Roossinck, professor of plant pathology and environmental microbiology, and biology.

Until now, however, it was practically impossible to accurately predict which molecules performed well on the job. They basically had to be identified by trial-and-error.

Now, an international team of scientists around Dr. Georg Heimel and Prof. Norbert Koch from the HZB and the Humboldt University Berlin has unraveled the mystery of what these molecules have in common. Their discovery enables more focused improvements to contact layers between metal electrodes and active materials in organic electronic devices.

Long segments of RNA— encoded in our DNA but not translated into protein—are key to physically manipulating DNA in order to activate certain genes, say researchers at The Wistar Institute. These non-coding RNA-activators (ncRNA-a) have a crucial role in turning genes on and off during early embryonic development, researchers say, and have also been connected with diseases, including some cancers, in adults.

The circadian clocks that control and influence dozens of basic biological processes have an unexpected "snooze button" that helps cells adapt to changes in their environment.

A study by Vanderbilt University researchers published online Feb. 17 by the journal Nature provides compelling new evidence that at least some species can alter the way that their biological clocks function by using different "synonyms" that exist in the genetic code.

DNA preserved in calcified bacteria on the teeth of ancient human skeletons has shed light on the health consequences of the evolving diet and behaviour from the Stone Age to the modern day.

The ancient genetic record reveals the negative changes in oral bacteria brought about by the dietary shifts as humans became farmers, and later with the introduction of food manufacturing in the Industrial Revolution.

Bunions bothering you? How about lower back pain, or impacted wisdom teeth?

As we humans evolved over the millennia to walk on two legs, grow larger brains and shorter jaws, bear big babies and live longer, we've also experienced some negative consequences on our way to becoming the world's most successful primate, at nearly 7 billion strong.

Northwestern University's Chad A. Mirkin, a world-renowned leader in nanotechnology research and its application, has developed a completely new set of building blocks that is based on nanoparticles and DNA. Using these tools, scientists will be able to build -- from the bottom up, just as nature does -- new and useful structures.

BOSTON, MASS.—When difficult biological questions are tackled by creative experts in physics, what can result?

Images of great beauty, accessible for anyone to appreciate, that also offer rich information on fundamental life processes, and rewarding new paths for analysis and insight.

This leading edge of interdisciplinary collaboration in microscopy will be explored in "Innovations in Imaging: Seeing is Believing," Saturday, February 16, 1:30-4:30 PM at the AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston.

BOSTON – (Feb. 17, 2013) – Researchers at Rice University in Houston have found a direct correlation between out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and levels of air pollution and ozone. Their work has prompted more CPR training in at-risk communities.

Rice statisticians Katherine Ensor and Loren Raun announced their findings today at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) conference in Boston.Their research, based on a massive data set unique to Houston, is due to be published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Hairless skin first evolved in humans as a way to keep cool -- and then turned into a canvas to help them look cool, according to a Penn State anthropologist.

About 1.5 to 2 million years ago, early humans, who were regularly on the move as hunters and scavengers, evolved into nearly hairless creatures to more efficiently sweat away excess body heat, said Nina Jablonski, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology. Later, humans began to decorate skin to increase attractiveness to the opposite sex and to express, among other things, group identity.