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Upton, NY -- An international team of researchers from the United States, Korea, and France has sequenced and analyzed the genomes of two important laboratory strains of E. coli bacteria, one used to study evolution and the other to produce proteins for basic research or practical applications. The findings will help guide future research and will also open a window to a deeper understanding of classical research that is the foundation of our understanding of basic molecular biology and genetics.

Patients with chronic hepatitis C and advanced liver disease who drink three or more cups of coffee per day have a 53% lower risk of liver disease progression than non-coffee drinkers according to a new study led by Neal Freedman, Ph.D., MPH, from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The study found that patients with hepatitis C-related bridging fibrosis or cirrhosis who did not respond to standard disease treatment benefited from increased coffee intake. An effect on liver disease was not observed in patients who drank black or green tea.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or primary liver cancer forms in the epithelial tissue of the liver and is most commonly caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV). In the U.S., the National Cancer Institute (NCI) estimates that 15,000 men and 6,000 women are diagnosed with HCC each year. Worldwide, HCC accounts for 632,000 cases with the highest regions being Western Pacific and Africa according to a 2004 World Health Organization (WHO) report.

A happy youth can influence where a fruit fly chooses to live as an adult, according to new research in the American Naturalist. The study, led by Judy Stamps from the University of California at Davis, provides new insight into how animals choose places to live and raise their young.

A targeted chemotherapy for the treatment of skin cancer is one step closer, after a team of University of Alberta researchers successfully synthesized a natural substance that shows exceptional potential to specifically treat this often fatal disease.

U of A chemistry professor Dennis Hall said after three years of work, his research team has successfully produced the substance called Palmerolide A.

Radiologists at Duke University Medical Center have developed a scale called the Duke Abdominal Assessment Scale (DAAS) to assist clinicians in determining the severity of disease and the need for surgery in infants with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), according to a study in the November issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

A medical imaging procedure known as lung scintigraphy may be more reliable than pulmonary CT angiography (CTA) for identifying or excluding pulmonary embolism (PE) in pregnant patients, according to a study published in the November issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

Researchers have found recent evidence that shows the growth of external, off-hours teleradiology services (EOTSs) has slowed in recent years, despite a significant increase in the number of radiology practices using those services between 2003 and 2007, according to a study in the November issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

ATLANTA — Did you know that millions of tons of fruits and vegetables in the United States end up in the trash can before being eaten, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture?

Scientists have for the first time produced liver cells from adult skin cells using the induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology.

The study, led by the University of Edinburgh's MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, paves the way for the creation of a stem cell library that can be used for in vitro hepatic disease models.

Children whose bones are "older" than their chronological age may be at an increased risk of hypertension, according to a study reported today (19 October) in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.(1) As a result, the investigators suggest that markers of biological maturity should be evaluated in hypertensive children, and that physical activity and diet may deter the accelerated development of biological maturity.

Researchers are building the environmental equivalent of the ASX200 as a means of monitoring the health of Australian marine ecosystems.

The state of an ecosystem can be understood by measuring the right ecological characteristics, just as the ASX200 index shows the state of the Australian stock market by following 200 selected stocks.

CSIRO Wealth from Oceans Flagship scientist Dr Keith Hayes, one of the leaders of the project, says the difficult part is selecting which characteristics to track.

Genetic information from an extinct species of bison preserved in permafrost for thousands of years could help improve modern agricultural livestock and breeding programs, according to University of Adelaide researchers.

Researchers from the University's Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD) worked with an international team of genomics researchers to analyse the genetic mutations of an ancient bison, many modern cattle breeds and members of the larger ruminant family tree, including deer, antelopes, and giraffes.

The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) released new data today showing that a staggering 285 million people worldwide have diabetes. The latest figures from the IDF Diabetes Atlas indicate that people in low and middle-income countries (LMCs) are bearing the brunt of the epidemic, and that the disease is affecting far more people of working age than previously believed.

When mother and daughter cells are created each time a cell divides, they are not exactly alike. They have the same set of genes, but differ in the way they regulate them. New research now reveals that these regulatory differences between mother and daughter cells are directly linked to how they prepare for their next split. The work, a collaboration between scientists at Rockefeller University and the State University of New York, Stony Brook, may ultimately lead to a better understanding of how cell division goes awry in different types of cancer.