General Science

Scientific research published in the current issue of JAMIA reports on a study of genetic variants that influence PAD, made possible by leveraging electronic medical records.

The Johns Hopkins Children's Center top pediatrician is urging a "rethink" of a new sickle cell screening program, calling it an enlightened but somewhat rushed step toward improving the health of young people who carry the sickle cell mutation.

Using a one-of-a-kind instrument designed and built at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, researchers have discovered an unexpected and tantalizing set of energy levels in graphene, a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon with potentially revolutionary electronic properties, when the material is exposed to extremely low temperatures and extremely high magnetic fields.

A team of scientists from the Scripps Research Institute, the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, and the US Naval Research Detachment in Peru has completed a study that could improve the efficacy of diagnosis and treatment strategies for drug-resistant malaria.

Scientists at Harvard Medical School have discovered a small molecule that helps human cells discard disfigured proteins, such as those that may be involved in Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative ailments.

Cancer immunotherapy calls for revised clinical endpoints that differ from those used for chemotherapy, according to an article published online Sept. 8 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

In the Sept. 9 issue of Neuron, Neurogenetic Pharmaceuticals reports proof of concept studies that show its proprietary compound, NGP 555, is effective in preventing the amyloid pathology of Alzheimer's disease in a transgenic mouse model. Early detection, treatment would represent an important advance in preventing AD or hindering its progression to dementia. The study further demonstrates that following chronic treatment with the NGP compound, the mice were devoid of gastrointestinal side effects.

A new study in Nature finds that in addition to Antarctica, New Zealand was warming at the end of the last ice age, indicating that the deep freeze up north, called the Younger Dryas for the white flower that grows near glaciers, bypassed much of the southern hemisphere.

By studying similarities in the genes of Scots Pine trees, scientists have shown that the iconic pine forests of Highland Scotland still carry the traces of the ancestors that colonized Britain after the end of the last ice age, harboring genetic variation that could help regenerate future populations, according to new results in the journal Heredity. The research was carried out by an international team led by Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

A type of neuron that, when malfunctioning, has been tied to epilepsy, autism and schizophrenia is much more complex than previously thought, researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory report in the Sept. 9 issue of Neuron.

Male bedbugs are known to be very unfussy when it comes to mating, mounting any well-fed bug they can see -- regardless of age or gender. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Biology have discovered how immature bedbug nymphs, who would be harmed by the traumatic insemination technique practiced by the males, release alarm pheromones to deter this unwanted attention.

In the latest issue of the journal Nature, Miguel Godinho Ferreira, principal investigator at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência,Portugal, lead a team of researchers to shed light on a paradox that has puzzled biologists since the discovery of telomeres, the protective tips of chromosomes: while broken chromosome ends generated by DNA damage (such as radiation or cigarette smoke) are quickly joined together, telomeres are never tied to each other, thus allowing for the correct segregation of the genetic material.

Yeast could be a powerful ally in the discovery of new therapeutic drugs to treat Parkinson's disease says a scientist presenting his work at the Society for General Microbiology's autumn meeting in Nottingham today. Dr. Tiago Fleming Outeiro from the Instituto de Medicina Molecular in Lisbon, Portugal, describes how his group is slowly uncovering the molecular basis of Parkinson's disease by studying the associated human protein in yeast cells.

Household dust contains up to 1000 different species of microbes, with tens of millions of individual bacterial cells in each gram. And these are just the ones that can be grown in the lab! Dr Helena Rintala, speaking at the Society for General Microbiology's autumn meeting in Nottingham describes how we share our living and working spaces with millions of microbes, not all of whom are bad news.

Dendritic cells are the grand sentinels of the immune system, standing guard 24/7 to detect foreign invaders such as viruses and bacteria, and bring news of the invasion to other immune cells to marshal an attack. These sentinels, however, nearly always fail to respond adequately to HIV, the virus causing AIDS. Now a team of scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center has discovered a sensor in dendritic cells that recognizes HIV, spurring a more potent immune response by the sentinels to the virus.

A new University of Georgia study published in the journal Nature has identified a critical enzyme that keeps traffic flowing in the right direction in the nervous system, and the finding could eventually lead to new treatments for conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

A group of international astronomers in the UK, France and the US, led by the University of Leicester, have found proof to confirm the distance and brightness of the most extreme ultra-luminous X-ray source, which may herald a new type of Black Hole.

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have identified two genes whose mutations appear to be linked to ovarian clear cell carcinoma, one of the most aggressive forms of ovarian cancer. Clear cell carcinoma is generally resistant to standard therapy.

Stanford University researchers have developed a revolutionary, noninvasive way of quickly predicting the future health of premature infants, an innovation that could better target specialized medical intervention and reduce health-care costs.

A team of scientists, led by University of California, San Diego School of Medicine researchers, has synthesized hundreds of new compounds with the potential of reducing the production of the A-beta 42 peptide, a primary component of Alzheimer's disease.