Body

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers have discovered a genetic variation that may contribute to how empathetic a human is, and how that person reacts to stress. In the first study of its kind, a variation in the hormone/neurotransmitter oxytocin's receptor was linked to a person's ability to infer the mental state of others.

Scientists at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK, have shown how plants can protect themselves against genetic damage caused by environmental stresses. The growing tips of plant roots and shoots have an in-built mechanism that, if it detects damage to the DNA, causes the cell to 'commit suicide' rather than pass on its defective DNA.

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles, found in everything from cosmetics to sunscreen to paint to vitamins, caused systemic genetic damage in mice, according to a comprehensive study conducted by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

(PHILADELPHIA) A protein long thought to be a secondary regulator in the heart's response to stressors like hypertension actually appears to be a primary regulator according to researchers from the Center for Translational Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University. The data will be presented in the Late Breaking Science session at the American Heart Associations Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Fla.

Plants don't mind sharing space with their kin but when they're potted with strangers of the same species they start invigorating their leaves, a study by McMaster University reveals.

The research, which appears in the current issue of the American Journal of Botany, suggests non-kin plants will not only compete underground for soil nutrients, but will attempt to muscle out the competition above ground in the ongoing struggle for light.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – An accidental discovery in a laboratory at Oregon State University has apparently solved a quest that over thousands of years has absorbed the energies of ancient Egyptians, the Han dynasty in China, Mayan cultures and more – the creation of a near-perfect blue pigment.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – A powerful new breast cancer treatment could result from packaging one of the newer drugs that inhibits cancer's hallmark wild growth with another that blocks a primordial survival technique in which the cancer cell eats part of itself, researchers say.

With 900,000 assisted reproduction treatments annually such as IVF and intrauterine inseminations in Europe the Commission's proposal to screen both partners before each treatment could lead to costs of over EUR 140 million annually. These figures do not include the additional overhead costs such as administration, personnel and documentation that the hospitals would have to carry on top of that. The new interpretation of the EU Directive would have substantial implications on the costs of fertility treatments in Europe.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2009 — A first-of-its kind inhalable measles vaccine for developing countries, where the disease remains a scourge. A "nanogenerator" that could recharge iPods and other electronic devices with a shake. And for Fido and Fluffy, a long-awaited once-a-month pill for both ticks and fleas.

Kansas State University's Joseph Craine, research assistant professor in the Division of Biology, and KC Olson, associate professor in animal sciences and industry, have teamed up with some other scientists from across the United States to look into the possible effects of climate change on cattle nutrition.

MAYWOOD, Ill. -- Adults who use pet therapy while recovering from total joint-replacement surgery require 50 percent less pain medication than those who do not. These findings were presented at the 18th Annual Conference of the International Society of Anthrozoology and the First Human Animal Interaction Conference (HAI) in Kansas City, Mo.

Drivers who engaged in self-harm were at increased risk of motor vehicle crashes, even after controlling for psychological distress and substance abuse, found a study (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj090459.pdf of 18 871 Australian drivers published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal)) (www.cmaj.ca).

When muscle cells need repair, they use odor-detecting tools found in the nose to start the process, researchers have discovered.

The results are published online and scheduled for publication in the November issue of the journal Developmental Cell.

Found on the surfaces of neurons inside the nose, odorant receptors are molecules that bind and respond to substances wafting through the air. Researchers have shown that one particular odorant receptor gene, MOR23, is turned on in muscle cells undergoing repair.

Determining what triggers the death of retinal cells, called photoreceptors, could hold the key to stopping blinding disorders caused by a wide range of eye diseases, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in the November journal Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science.

Acute heart attack patients received an average total dose of ionizing radiation equal to 725 chest X-rays from medical tests during their hospital stay, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2009.