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When there is little water available for plants to grow, their roots form alliances with soil microbes that can promote plant growth even under water-limiting conditions, according to research published Oct. 31 by Daniele Daffonchio and colleagues from the University of Milan, Italy in the open access journal PLOS ONE.

Symbiotic relationships between plants and soil microbial communities are critical to the health of plants. Though the effects of drought on plants are well-known, little is known about how lack of water affects the bacteria around plant roots.

AUSTIN, Texas — Since the age of dinosaurs, most species of day-active mammals have retained the imprint of nocturnal life in their eye structures. Humans and other anthropoid primates, such as monkeys and apes, are the only groups that deviate from this pattern, according to a new study from The University of Texas at Austin and Midwestern University.

Proteins are able to self-assemble into a wide range of highly ordered structures that feature a diverse array of properties. Through biomimicry - technological innovation inspired by nature – humans hope to emulate proteins and produce our own version of self-assembling molecules. A key to accomplishing this is understanding how protein-folding – a process critical to the form and function of a protein – is extended from individual proteins to complex assemblies.

A new study suggests that increasing the amount of sleep that adults get could lead to reduced food intake, but the hormonal process differs between men and women.

Completing the second phase of the 1000 Genomes Project, a multinational team of scientists reports that they have sampled a total of 1092 individuals from 14 different populations and sequenced their full genomes. The researchers described the feat as a collegial effort to equip biologists and physicians with information that can be used to understand the normal range of human genetic variants so that a patient's disease genome can be interpreted in a broader context.

STANFORD, Calif. — Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have used bioengineered mice with livers composed largely of human cells to characterize a drug about to enter early-stage clinical development for combating hepatitis C.

Tests using the new mouse model accurately predicted significant aspects of the drug's behavior in humans — including its interaction with another drug and the profile of its major breakdown products in the body (called metabolites) — far more accurately than would have been achieved using current methods.

The well-established elevated risk of melanoma among people with red hair and fair skin may be caused by more than just a lack of natural protection against ultraviolet (UV) radiation. In an article receiving Advance Online Publication in Nature, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cutaneous Biology Research Center (CBRC)and Cancer Center researchers report finding that the type of skin pigment predominantly found in red-haired, fair-skinned individuals may itself contribute to the development of melanoma.

HOUSTON -- (Nov. 1, 2012) – First, there was the single human reference genome completed in 2003. Then there was the HapMap project to identify the common genetic variants occurring in human beings with the first map published in 2005. Now an international consortium has released the first phase of the 1,000 Genomes Project that profiles the rare and common genetic variations in 1,092 people drawn from 14 human populations from Europe, Africa, East Asia and the Americas.

Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) – inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract – have puzzled the scientific community for decades. Ten years ago, researchers recognized that both genes and the environment contributed to these diseases but knew little about precisely how and why illness occurred. To begin to narrow in on the key pathways involved, they would need thousands of patients' samples, millions of data points, and the commitment of physicians and scientists at dozens of institutions.

In one of the largest studies of its kind, researchers have identified 71 genetic regions newly associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), increasing the total number discovered to date to 163. This new information reveals that there is a vast amount of genetic overlap between Crohn's disease and Ulcerative colitis (the two most common subtypes of IBD), suggesting that they share common biological pathways.

A landmark project that has sequenced 1,092 human genomes from individuals around the world will help researchers to interpret the genetic changes in people with disease.

The first study to break the '1000 genomes barrier' will enable scientists to begin to examine genetic variations at the scale of the populations of individual countries, as well as guiding them in their search for the rare genetic variations related to many diseases.

New Haven, Conn. — A Yale-led scientific team has produced the most comprehensive family tree for birds to date, connecting all living bird species — nearly 10,000 in total — and revealing surprising new details about their evolutionary history and its geographic context.

Analysis of the family tree shows when and where birds diversified — and that birds' diversification rate has increased over the last 50 million years, challenging the conventional wisdom of biodiversity experts.

The world's first family tree linking all living bids and revealing when and where they evolved and diversified since dinosaurs walked the earth has been created by scientists from the University of Sheffield.

Experts used the family tree to map out where the almost 10,000 species of birds live to show where the most diversification has taken place in the world.

By decoding the genomes of more than 1,000 people whose homelands stretch from Africa and Asia to Europe and the Americas, scientists have compiled the largest and most detailed catalog yet of human genetic variation. The massive resource will help medical researchers find the genetic roots of rare and common diseases in populations worldwide.

A number of important questions and issues should be addressed before changes are made to the guidelines for the diagnosis of gestational diabetes, according to a new article by University of Maryland School of Medicine Dean E. Albert Reece, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., published online in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology on Oct. 31. The article publishes in advance of a new National Institutes of Health (NIH) initiative to reconsider diagnostic guidelines for the condition.