Body

Pioneering research led by Indiana University has identified genes from a number of plant species, including the entire mitochondrial genomes from three green algae and one moss, in the mitochondrial genome of Amborella trichopoda. The South Pacific shrub is considered to be the sole survivor – the "last man standing" – of one of the two oldest lineages of flowering plants, while the other lineage comprises the other 300,000 species of flowering plants.

The newly sequenced genome of the Amborella plant addresses Darwin's "abominable mystery" -- the question of why flowers suddenly proliferated on Earth millions of years ago. The genome sequence sheds new light on a major event in the history of life on Earth: the origin of flowering plants, including all major food crop species. On 20 December 2013, a paper by the Amborella Genome Sequencing Project that includes a full description of the analyses performed by the project, as well as implications for flowering plant research, will be published in the journal Science.

Researchers including Jackson Laboratory Professor Gary Churchill, Ph.D., have found a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) difference in cocaine and methamphetamine response between two substrains of the C57BL/6 or "Black 6" inbred laboratory mouse, pointing to Cyfip2 as a regulator of cocaine response with a possible role in addiction.

LA JOLLA, CA — December 19, 2013 — Researchers have used new techniques and one of the brightest X-ray sources on the planet to map the 3-D structure of an important cellular gatekeeper in a more natural state than possible before.

The new approach, published December 20, 2013, in the journal Science, is a major advance in exploring G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs)—a vast, hard-to-study family of proteins that play a key role in human health. GPCRs are targeted by an estimated 40 percent of modern medicines.

Menlo Park, Calif. — Researchers have used one of the brightest X-ray sources on the planet to map the 3-D structure of an important cellular gatekeeper known as a G protein-coupled receptor, or GPCR, in a more natural state than possible before. The new technique is a major advance in exploring GPCRs, a vast, hard-to-study family of proteins that plays a key role in human health and is targeted by an estimated 40 percent of modern medicines.

This news release is available in German.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—December 19, 2013—Research led by scientists at the Gladstone Institutes has identified the precise chain of molecular events in the human body that drives the death of most of the immune system's CD4 T cells as an HIV infection leads to AIDS. Further, they have identified an existing anti-inflammatory drug that in laboratory tests blocks the death of these cells—and now are planning a Phase 2 clinical trial to determine if this drug or a similar drug can prevent HIV-infected people from developing AIDS and related conditions.

UBC researchers have discovered a universal electronic state that controls the behavior of high-temperature superconducting copper-oxide ceramics.

The work, published this week in the journal Science, reveals the universal existence of so-called 'charge-density-waves' -- static ripples formed by the self-organization of electrons in the material's normal state. These ripples carry the seeds out of which superconductivity emerges.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues in The Netherlands and United Kingdom, have produced the first map detailing the network of genetic interactions underlying the cellular response to ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

TB-causing bacteria appear to mask their identity to avoid recognition by infection-killing cells in the upper airways. The bacteria call up more permissive white blood cells in the deeper regions of the lungs and hitch a ride inside them to get into the host's body.

Details on this finding are reported Dec. 16 in the advanced online edition of the journal Nature. The research was a collaboration between the University of Washington and the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute.

Researchers from Southern Medical University in Guangdong, Guangzhou, China, have developed an oral vaccine against Helicobacter pylori, the bacteria responsible for peptic ulcers and some forms of gastric cancer, and have successfully tested it in mice. The research is published ahead of print in the journal Clinical and Vaccine Immunology.

Irvine, Calif., Dec. 19, 2013 — A high-fat diet affects the molecular mechanism controlling the internal body clock that regulates metabolic functions in the liver, UC Irvine scientists have found. Disruption of these circadian rhythms may contribute to metabolic distress ailments, such as diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure.

ST. LOUIS – Saint Louis University researchers have analyzed the microbiomes of people with chronic rhinosinusitis and healthy volunteers and found evidence that some chronic sinus issues may be the result of inflammation triggered by an immune response to otherwise harmless microorganisms in the sinus membranes.

The findings, recently published in JAMA Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, support mounting evidence that inflammation may be the cause of most chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) instead of bacterial infection.

New evidence reported in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on December 19 confirms long-held fears about the fate of scientific data. Careful evaluation of more than 500 randomly selected studies found that the original data behind those published papers have been lost to science at a rapid rate.

Infertility affects up to 15 percent of couples around the world, and in vitro fertilization (IVF) is one way to treat this common condition. A study published by Cell Press December 19th in the journal Cell reveals a safe, accurate, and low-cost method to select genetically normal embryos for the IVF procedure and thereby increase a couple's chance of producing a healthy child.