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MAYWOOD, Il. -- A new study could point the way to the development of better drugs to fight a deadly form of childhood leukemia called mixed-lineage leukemia (MLL).

The study will help researchers in their search for what could be the first highly effective drug for MLL. Such a drug would work by disabling a protein that turns normal blood cells into cancer cells.

Researchers from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and the University of Virginia reported results online Dec. 13 in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Tiny nanoprobes have shown to be effective in delivering cancer drugs more directly to tumor cells - mitigating the damage to nearby healthy cells - and Purdue University research has shown that the nanoprobes are getting the drugs to right cellular compartments.

It may seem odd to add scent to products like sewing thread, automobile tires, and tennis balls, as some companies have done. But a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research says scent helps consumers remember product information.

"Product scent may be particularly effective at enhancing memory for product information as a function of its ability to enhance a product's distinctiveness within its surrounding context," write authors Aradhna Krishna (University of Michigan), May Lwin (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore), and Maureen Morrin (Rutgers University).

Imagine a huge spool of film containing thousands of sequences of random scenes. Without a talented editor, a screening would have no meaning.

The RNA "spools" that make up DNA in our genes need careful editing, too. Genes are composed of meaningful sequences, called exons, separated by meaningless junk sections called introns. In order for cells to produce RNA — the material that is required to create proteins that are vital for life — they must precisely remove meaningless introns and bind meaningful exons together, a process called "splicing".

Planning—regarding money or time—can bring tangible benefits to consumers. A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research discovered what makes planners tick.

Expert consumers like to be surprised by unusual product formats, while novices crave familiarity, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

Why are an increasing number of Turkish women wearing veils in a secular country where the practice is banned in public buildings? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research says one factor is fashion.

A modified blood adult stem-cell transplant regimen has effectively reversed sickle cell disease in 9 of 10 adults who had been severely affected by the disease, according to results of a National Institutes of Health study in the Dec. 10 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The trial was conducted at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., by NIH researchers at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

FAIRBANKS, Alaska—Scientists have identified a novel antifreeze molecule in a freeze-tolerant Alaska beetle able to survive temperatures below minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Unlike all previously described biological antifreezes that contain protein, this new molecule, called xylomannan, has little or no protein. It is composed of a sugar and a fatty acid and may exist in new places within the cells of organisms.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — There are approximately 1,200 species of bats worldwide. Of that total, only six are known to roost with their heads pointed upward. Investigators did not know why, because they knew next to nothing about one key group.

In all vertebrates, including humans, bones, muscles and tendons work together to give the skeleton its characteristic balance of stability and movement. Now, new research uncovers a previously unrecognized interaction between tendons, which connect muscles to bones, and the developing embryonic skeleton. This study, published by Cell Press in the December 15th issue of the journal Developmental Cell, demonstrates that tendons drive the development of specific bone features that are needed for a strong skeletal system.

A team of researchers from the Astrobiology Centre (INTA-CSIC) has shown that hydrogen cyanide, urea and other substances considered essential to the formation of the most basic biological molecules can be obtained from the salt Prussian blue. In order to carry out this study, published in the journal Chemistry & Biodiversity, the scientists recreated the chemical conditions of the early Earth.

The study, led by Dr. Shiela Strauss, Associate Professor of Nursing and Co-Director of the Statistics and Data Management Core for NYU's Colleges of Dentistry and Nursing, examined data from 2,923 adult participants in the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey who had not been diagnosed with diabetes. The survey, conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States.

(PHILADELPHIA) Researchers from Thomas Jefferson University are one step closer to developing a vaccine against the AIDS disease.

Led by Matthias J. Schnell, Ph.D., director of the Jefferson Vaccine Center, the researchers found that a rabies virus–based vaccine administered to monkeys protected against the simian equivalent of the HIV virus (SIV). The data were published in the journal Vaccine.

Older adults experience a number of medication-related problems, including under treatment, suboptimal drugs, suboptimal dosing, and non-adherence, which can have negative effects on their quality of life. Now new research (1), from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows that blacks have more medication-related problems than whites, and non-adherence to medical regimens is a particular issue for this group. Dr.