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Athens, Ga. – A newly published genetic sequence and map of foxtail millet, a close relative of switchgrass and an important food crop in Asia, is giving scientists working to increase biofuel and crop yields a powerful new tool.

The effort to develop the detailed genetic sequence and map involved 34 scientists from eight institutions and was spearheaded by researchers from the University of Georgia. The results appear in the early online edition of the journal Nature Biotechnology.

Vancouver, B.C., Canada, June 1, 2012: Canadian scientists are joining with international colleagues to lead new insights into the health implications of different types of trans fat.

Medical scientist Howard Young's research has taken a dramatic, unexpected turn in the last few months, thanks to a serendipitous chain of events that could lead to a genetic test that can predict heart failure in certain people before it happens.

In recent years, a growing body of evidence has linked inflammation to the development of insulin resistance. In insulin resistance, the hormone insulin is less effective in promoting glucose uptake from the bloodstream into other tissues. Obesity is a major factor that contributes to insulin resistance, which can eventually lead to type 2 diabetes. Previous studies have shown that proinflammatory molecules found in fat tissue decreases sensitivity of tissues to insulin.

Overactive epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling has been linked to the development of cancer. Several drug therapies have been developed to treat these EGFR-associated cancers; however, many patients have developed resistance to these drugs and are therefore no longer responsive to drug treatment.

Cleveland -- A team of researchers led by Dr. Goutham Narla at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in collaboration with scientists at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, have discovered a previously unrecognized signaling network disrupted in lung cancer that can be turned back on by a novel combination of two previously approved FDA drugs. The drug combination targets a pathway to treat advanced/late stage lung cancer.

By using a laser microbeam technology called optical tweezers, UC Irvine and UCLA researchers have uncovered fundamental properties of a key molecular signaling system involved with development, cancer and cardiovascular disease.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A recent study of the impact of climate change on butterflies suggests that some species might adapt much better than others, with implications for the pollination and herbivory associated with these and other insect species.

The research, published in Ecological Entomology, examined changes in the life cycles of butterflies at different elevations of a mountain range in central Spain. They served as a model for some of the changes expected to come with warming temperatures, particularly in mountain landscapes.

San Francisco, CA. (June 1, 2012) – An simple technique using local anesthetic mixed with magnetized "ferrofluids" may provide a new approach to preventing a rare but serious complication of spinal anesthesia, reports the June issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

San Francisco, CA. (June 1, 2012) – Exercise helps to alleviate pain related to nerve damage (neuropathic pain) by reducing levels of certain inflammation-promoting factors, suggests an experimental study in the June issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

StopAdvisor is a new web-based smoking cessation program, which takes smokers from preparation for the target quit date to the quit date itself. It achieves this by offering expert advice through a combination of interactive menus and personalised sessions. Post quit date, it encourages users to report important information that the program will use to help them overcome the difficulties they encounter along the way. In their study¹ Robert West and Susan Michie from University College London and collaborators describe the development process of the StopAdvisor intervention.

In a groundbreaking study, Yale School of Medicine researchers and colleagues at the University of Oxford have identified the chromosomal make-up of a human egg. This discovery may soon allow them to avoid using abnormal — or aneuploid — eggs during infertility treatments, and instead to pick eggs that are healthy enough for a successful in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle.

The results are published in the May issue of the journal Human Reproduction.

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An innovative strategy for regenerating skeletal muscle tissue using cells derived from the amniotic fluid is outlined in new research published by scientists at the UCL Institute of Child Health.

CLEVELAND: In a Phase 2 study presented at the 48th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO), clinical researchers from University Hospitals Case Medical Center's Seidman Cancer Center developed a more effective way to treat gynecologic cancers, shortening radiation treatment time from five weeks to three days. The new method, stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), has been used on other types of cancer, but University Hospitals Case Medical Center is the first treatment facility to apply it to gynecologic cancers.