Body

Jerusalem, May 30, 2012 – The tomato genome sequence – both the domesticated type and its wild ancestor, Solanum pimpinellifolium -- has been sequenced for the first time by a large international team of scientists, including a researcher from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The achievement – an important tool for further development of better tomato production -- by the 300-plus-memberTomato Genome Consortium (TGC) is reported on in the May 31 issue of the journal Nature.

Barcelona, 30th May 2012- The Tomato Genome Consortium has sequenced and assembled the genomic DNA of this fruit species, specifically of a domesticated variety, Heinz 1706. Scientists from several European centres, including Modesto Orozco, David Torrents and Xavier Pastor, researchers from the joint programme between the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS) and the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) have joined forces to obtain the sequence of this fruit belonging to the family Solanaceae.

An omega-3 fatty acid found in fish, known as DHA, prevented age-related vision loss in lab tests, demonstrates recently published medical research from the University of Alberta.

Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry researcher Yves Sauve and his team discovered lab models fed DHA did not accumulate a toxic molecule at the back of the eyes. The toxin normally builds up in the retina with age and causes vision loss.

Despite our inclination to believe equality within a team or group is important, new research suggests that a built-in hierarchy leads to fewer group conflicts and higher productivity.

The research finds a team or group with all high-performers will not outperform teams or groups with an established hierarchy. Teams in which everyone has high power are likely to experience elevated levels of conflict, reduced role differentiations, less coordination and integration, and poorer productivity than teams with a broader distribution of power and status.

Los Angeles, CA (May 30, 2012) Female sex offenders receive lighter sentences for the same crimes than males says a study recently published in Feminist Criminology, a SAGE journal and the official journal of the Division on Women and Crime of the American Society of Criminology.

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– Synthetic platelets have been developed by UC Santa Barbara researchers, in collaboration with researchers at Scripps Research Institute and Sanford-Burnham Institute in La Jolla, Calif. Their findings are published in the journal Advanced Materials in a paper titled "Platelet Mimetic Particles for Targeting Thrombi in Flowing Blood."

CINCINNATI—Cardiovascular researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have identified a genetic variant in a cardiac protein that can be linked to heart rhythm dysfunction.

This is the first genetic variant in a calcium-binding protein (histidine-rich calcium binding protein) found to be associated with ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death in dilated cardiomyopathy patients, opening up new possibilities for treatment.

Dilated cardiomyopathy is a condition in which the heart becomes weakened and enlarged and cannot pump blood efficiently.

MADISON – Breast-cancer researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found that two related receptors in a robust signaling pathway must work together as a team to maintain normal activity in mammary stem cells.

Mammary stem cells produce various kinds of breast cell types. They may also drive the development and growth of malignant breast tumors.

Children today may be busier than ever, but Case Western Reserve University psychologists have found that their imagination hasn't suffered – in fact, it appears to have increased.

Psychologists Jessica Dillon and Sandra Russ expected the opposite outcome when they analyzed 14 play studies that Russ conducted between 1985 and 2008. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQb95itdoCM).

A study led by Manel Esteller, director of the Epigenetics and Cancer Biology Program at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), professor of genetics at the University of Barcelona and ICREA researcher, has completed the first epigenome in Europe. The finding is published in the latest issue of the international scientific journal Epigenetics.

Calcium plays a key role in this cell communication, Kramer explained. A neuron experiences a spike in calcium levels in the axon and synapses when it receives a signal from another neuron. Though a natural rover, mitochondria contain a protein called Miro that detects this rush of calcium and stops the organelles in the synapse. The mitochondria then provide energy as the cell passes a signal along to the next neuron.

Exercise generally helps the nation's 12 million cancer survivors, but researchers are still working toward being able to prove, with scientific certainty, that prescriptions for daily yoga or 20 minutes of walking will likely extend a patient's survival.

SANTA CRUZ, CA--Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have developed a novel approach for eradicating drug-resistant bacteria from wounds and skin infections, using light to trigger the controlled release of nitric oxide. The UCSC team developed a photoactive compound that releases nitric oxide when exposed to light, and loaded it into a porous, biocompatible material that could be applied as a sprayable powder.

Humans spend greater than 90 percent of their time indoors, but we're never alone there. Bacteria and viruses, scientists estimate, make up half of the world's biomass—some 10 nonillion (1 followed by 31 zeros) microorganisms—and we most often meet them within enclosed spaces. So, that's where the modern microbe hunter often looks first. A new report issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) offers guidance to make the hunting more effective.

Because cancer cells grow very quickly, chemotherapy is designed to target cells whose numbers grow rapidly. But this treatment comes with a heavy price — many healthy cells essential for body functions are also targeted and killed by the toxin. This dangerous side-effect has prompted researchers to seek better and more selective ways to kill cancer cells inside the body.