Body

For a cell in an embryo, the secret to becoming part of the baby's body instead of the placenta is to contract more and carry on dancing, scientists at EMBL have found. The study, published today in Nature, could one day have implications for assisted reproduction.

An analysis using genetics finds that increased low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and possibly triglyceride (TG) levels are associated with a lower risk of diabetes, and increased LDL-C and TG levels are associated with an increased risk of coronary artery disease, according to a study published online by JAMA Cardiology.

Researchers are urging surgeons to reconsider using a particular type of thread for a procedure to prevent premature birth, after new research found this thread was associated with an increased rate of premature birth and baby death compared with a thinner thread.

In a new study, researchers at Imperial College London analysed 671 UK women who received a cervical stitch procedure to prevent miscarriage or premature birth.

In ocean expanses where oxygen has vanished, newly discovered bacteria are diminishing additional life molecules. They help make virtual dead zones even deader.

Bacteria depleting nitrogen is a natural process in oxygen minimum zones (OMZs), ocean regions that have no detectable O2. But as climate change progresses, OMZs are ballooning, drawing researchers to study their biochemical processes and possible ramifications for the global environment.

The idea that plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) is protective against coronary heart disease has been part of medical conventional wisdom for five decades. HDL-C has traditionally been considered the most important component of so-called "good cholesterol" HDL. However, drug trials that increased HDL-C have failed to support a causal role for the amount of cholesterol carried in HDL in reducing the risk of coronary heart disease.

SAN FRANCISCO (August 3, 2016) - Household insects -- our most overlooked roommates -- are grabbing the spotlight after centuries in the shadows. Prior research in the growing study of life indoors has shown that our homes support a variety of bugs in the far reaches of cupboard corners and attic alcoves. Now, researchers are looking beyond the nooks and crannies to consider the socioeconomic context of these households.

Austin, TX - A recent publication in Current Pharmaceutical Design, by Kenneth Blum, PhD and associates entitled: Neuronutrient Amino-Acid Therapy Protects Against Reward Deficiency Syndrome: Dopaminergic Key to Homeostasis and Neuroplasticity may have clinical relevance in providing evidence for the "hatching of the addiction egg" with possible solutions.

Cancer treatments based on laser irridation of tiny nanoparticles that are injected directly into the cancer tumor are working and can destroy the cancer from within. Researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute and the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Copenhagen have developed a method that kills cancer cells using nanoparticles and lasers. The treatment has been tested on mice and it has been demonstrated that the cancer tumors are considerably damaged. The results are published in the scientific journal, Scientific Reports.

Twitter users who are happy tend to be more connected with other happy users. This is the confirmation of a property of social networks known as assortativity: a measure of to what extent people who tend to connect with each other share certain characteristics. A study conceived by Vera Pancaldi and Daniel Rico from the Structural Biology and Biocomputing Programme at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), led by Alfonso Valencia, has redefined this measure in order to better understand the 3D organisation of DNA inside the cell nucleus.

The proboscidean fossil record in China is characterized by a high evolutionary rate, wide spatio-temporal distribution and richness of environmental indicators. Therefore, proboscideans make important indicator fossils for reconstructing terrestrial palaeoenvironments in the Chinese late Cenozoic.

A new generation of drugs that prevent cancer and Alzheimer's could be developed, thanks to research from the University of Warwick.

Dr Ioannis Nezis at the School of Life Sciences has led a research team to identify, and create a database of, the proteins needed for an essential cellular process, autophagy, which keeps our bodies healthy, but which declines as we age.

Soft electronic devices, such as a smartphone on your wrist and a folding screen in your pocket, are looking to much improve your lifestyle in the not-too-distant future. That is, if we could find ways to make electronic devices out of soft organic materials instead of the existing rigid inorganic materials.

Scientists at the University of Basel have developed nanoparticles which can serve as efficient contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging. This new type of nanoparticles produce around ten times more contrast than the actual contrast agents and are responsive to specific environments. The journal Chemical Communications has published these results.

As part of a phase II study at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Berlin Institute of Health, two obese patients with a rare genetic disorder were given a drug treatment to stimulate the satiety center in the brain. After only a few weeks, both patients, which were severely hyperphagic before the study start, showed a normalization of their hunger feeling as well as a significant reduction of body weight. Results from this study have been published in the current edition of the New England Journal of Medicine*.

New research from North Carolina State University connects several pesticides commonly used by farmers with both allergic and non-allergic wheeze, which can be a sensitive marker for early airway problems.