Body

Lexington, Ky (Oct. 13, 2015) -- Kids skin their knees playing outside. People prick their fingers with needles trying to sew a button back onto a shirt. Others cut themselves while chopping vegetables.

Platelets prevent these minor injuries from being fatal.

Because plants cannot pick up and move, they have evolved a plethora of strategies to cope with environmental stresses, whether they bring a harsh spell of drought or a browsing deer.

A new type of cancer therapy based on seemingly unrelated elements of malaria and cancer is showing promise for development. Kairos Therapeutics, a Vancouver-based biotech company spun-out of The Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD), has partnered with VAR2 Pharmaceuticals to advance the technology into clinical trials.

(Boston)-- Researchers have developed and validated a new tool to help identify unstable or high risk atherosclerotic plaques--inflamed fatty deposits in the artery wall and a main contributor to cardiovascular disease (CVD). This breakthrough may lead to better identifying which plaques are considered at the highest risk for rupturing and causing a heart attack or stroke.

A University of Colorado Cancer Center study recently published online ahead of print in the journal Oncotarget reports "robust antitumor activity" of the drug TAK-733 in cells and mouse models of colorectal cancer. In all, 42 of 54 tested cell lines were sensitive to the drug, as were 15 of 20 tumors grown on mice from patient samples. Nine of these patient-derived tumors showed regression, meaning that tumor tumors shrank in response to the drug.

Some anomalies in fetuses must be treated before delivery to prevent infant death or the risk of serious complications. Fortunately, fetuses can be operated in the womb, thanks to advanced technologies in ultrasound, fiber-optics, and laser surgery. The Fetal Therapy Center at CHU Sainte-Justine, the University of Montreal's affiliated children's hospital, specializes in treating "twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome" (TTTS), a serious disorder that occurs in identical twins who share a placenta but are carried in separate amniotic sacs.

Life is quirky. Although the molecules that make up all living things obey physical and chemical laws, they do so with a puzzling twist. How did the distinctive molecular features of life emerge, and what can they tell us about life on Earth and elsewhere in the universe?

Water-dependent wildlife populations in sensitive African dryland regions need continued access to limited surface water resources -- even as human development increases in these areas -- because restricting access and concentrating wildlife populations along riparian regions can impact water quality and, potentially, human health, according to Virginia Tech research published this week in the journal PLOS ONE.

Balanced chromosomal abnormalities (BCAs), a category of structural changes to the human genome, may account for a large portion of birth defects related to brain development and function, according to research presented at the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) 2015 Annual Meeting in Baltimore.

In The BMJ this week, experts discuss the evidence and current guidelines on the controversial topic of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

"Alcohol is not essential to the health or well being of a pregnant woman and is known to be harmful to her baby," argue Mary Mather, a retired paediatrician, and Kate Wiles, a doctoral research fellow in obstetric medicine at Guys and St Thomas NHS Trust.

They say "the only ethical advice that can be given is complete abstinence from alcohol in pregnancy."

A team of researchers including scientists from the University of Georgia has identified many of the genetic changes that take place in burying beetles as they assume the role of parent. Their findings, published recently in the journal Nature Communications, may provide clues about the fundamental genetics of parenthood in insects and other animals.

- In most teaching hospitals, after-hours patient responsibility is covered by resident physicians, who are always able to call a supervising senior physician for advice on handling situations that may come up. But which situations require immediate consultation and which can wait until the next day can sometimes be unclear.

Caltech biologists have developed a nonsurgical method to deliver long-term contraception to both male and female animals with a single shot. The technique--so far used only in mice--holds promise as an alternative to spaying and neutering feral animals.

The approach was developed in the lab of Bruce Hay, professor of biology and biological engineering at Caltech, and is described in the October 5 issue of Current Biology. The lead author on the paper is postdoctoral scholar Juan Li.

Fresh research at Sahlgrenska Academy has found that antioxidants can double the rate of melanoma metastasis in mice. The results reinforce previous findings that antioxidants hasten the progression of lung cancer. According to Professor Martin Bergö, people with cancer or an elevated risk of developing the disease should avoid nutritional supplements that contain antioxidants.

Scientists have calculated more precise measurements of heritability--the influence of underlying genes--in nine autoimmune diseases that begin in childhood. The research may strengthen researchers' abilities to better predict a child's risk for associated autoimmune diseases.

Autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes, Crohn's disease and juvenile idiopathic arthritis, collectively affect one in 12 persons in the Western Hemisphere. They represent a significant cause of chronic disability.