Body

Smokers who received gain-framed messaging from quitline specialists (i.e., stressing the benefits of quitting) had slightly better cessation outcomes than those who received standard-care messaging (i.e., potential losses from smoking and benefits of quitting), according to a new study published online January 7 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Researchers also established that quitline specialists can be trained to provide gain-framed messaging with good fidelity.

Gene variants associated with increased circulating levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation, are not associated with an increased risk of cancer, according to a new brief communication published online January 7 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A recent study about movement of bird species during the Cold War outlines one of the perils facing an expanding global economy – along with international trade comes the potential for a significant increase in invasive species that can disrupt ecosystems.

The research found that during an extended period following World War II, when most trade and travel was interrupted between Eastern Europe and its western counterparts, there were far fewer introduced bird species.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Just one more pound may help a newborn avoid tuberculosis later in life.

Researchers at the University of Michigan looked at how much protection additional birth weight added against developing the disease years later. They found that every 1.1 pounds of birth weight decreases the risk of developing tuberculosis later by 46 percent among identical twins.

Washington, DC (January 8, 2010) – Based on a comprehensive analysis of the latest scientific findings and new data, a group of the nation's leading environmental scientists are calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S Army Corps of Engineers to stay all new mountaintop mining permits. In today's edition of the journal Science, they argue that peer-reviewed research unequivocally documents irreversible environmental impacts from this form of mining which also exposes local residents to a higher risk of serious health problems.

Fossils may provide tantalizing clues to human history but they also lack some vital information, such as revealing which pieces of human DNA have been favored by evolution because they confer beneficial traits — resistance to infection or the ability to digest milk, for example. These signs can only be revealed through genetic studies of modern humans and other related species, though the task has proven difficult.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---University of Michigan researchers have discovered the rules that dictate the three-dimensional shapes of RNA molecules, rules that are based not on complex chemical interactions but simply on geometry.

The work, done by a team led by Hashim M. Al-Hashimi, is described in the Jan. 8, 2010, issue of the journal Science.

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA, January 2010 -- A long-term study showing the changes in habitat associations of polar bears in response to sea ice conditions in the southern Beaufort Sea has implications for polar bear management in Alaska.

WORCESTER, Mass. – A collaboration between the University of Massachusetts Medical School, the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University and the Broad Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has identified a genetic locus on canine chromosome 7 which coincides with an increased risk of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) susceptibility. The findings, published in the January 2010 edition of Molecular Psychiatry, suggest that particular genetic proteins may possibly influence central nervous system development and increase the risk of OCD.

WORCESTER, Mass. – A collaboration between the University of Massachusetts Medical School, the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University and the Broad Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has identified a genetic locus on canine chromosome 7 which coincides with an increased risk of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) susceptibility. The findings, published in the January 2010 edition of Molecular Psychiatry, suggest that particular genetic proteins may possibly influence central nervous system development and increase the risk of OCD.

Researchers at the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research of the Jewish General Hospital and McGill University in Montreal have discovered a previously unsuspected link between two different genetic pathways which suppress the growth of cancer tumours. This breakthrough, they say, could lead to new treatments for some of the deadliest and most intractable forms of cancer; including prostate cancer, brain cancer and melanoma.

NEW YORK (Jan. 7, 2010) -- A tumor's genetic profile is often useful when diagnosing and deciding on treatment for certain cancers, but inexplicably, genetically similar leukemias in different patients do not always respond well to the same therapy. Weill Cornell Medical College researchers believe they may have discovered what distinguishes these patients by evaluating the "epigenetic" differences between patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

A new study has shown that metformin, a drug often used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus, is safe for use in treating patients who have both diabetes and advanced heart failure. The study was published in the Journal of Cardiac Failure by researchers at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and is now online (http://www.onlinejcf.com/article/S1071-9164(09)01132-4/abstract).

UC researcher finds that when it comes to hooking up with the opposite sex, genital complexities do matter.

Charles Darwin spent eight years studying barnacles and their genitalia. In much less time than that, University of Cincinnati evolutionary biologist Michal Polak (and co-author Arash Rashed now at the University of California, Berkeley) have confirmed one of Darwin's theories: that genitalia complexities in some male species have developed because they assist the male in "holding her securely."

Biologists have developed an efficient way to genetically modify human embryonic stem cells. Their approach, which uses bacterial artificial chromosomes to swap in defective copies of genes, will make possible the rapid development of stem cell lines that can both serve as models for human genetic diseases and as testbeds on which to screen potential treatments, they say.