Body | Page 806 | Science Codex

Prion-like protein found in plants

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Whitehead Institute scientists have determined that a plant protein involved in the timing of flowering could in fact be a prion. This is the first time that a possible prion has been identified in plants.

Infamous for causing fatal degenerative brain diseases, such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, known more commonly as "mad cow disease," Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and scrapie, prions are proteins that have the ability to self-perpetuate when they assume a particular conformation. They can be inherited separately from DNA.

Making precision medicine a reality: Genomics researchers find road map to disease origin

TUCSON, Ariz. - Researchers are one step closer to understanding the genetic and biological basis of diseases like cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's and rheumatoid arthritis - and identifying new drug targets and therapies - thanks to work by three computational biology research teams from the University of Arizona Health Sciences, University of Pennsylvania and Vanderbilt University.

The gut microbiomes of infants have an impact on autoimmunity

Exposure to pathogens early in life is beneficial to the education and development of the human immune system.

Exposure to particulate air pollutants associated with numerous types of cancer

In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) published a series of monographs on the evaluation of various carcinogenic risks. In a monograph on air pollution, the organization pointed out the difficulty of assessing the effects of pollution on multiple types of cancers, given their different etiologies, risk factors and variability in the composition of air pollutants in space and time. However, the IARC identified certain key components of air pollution, including particulates.

Exposure to particulate air pollutants associated with numerous cancers

Researchers have found that long-term exposure to environmental pollutants was associated with increased risk of mortality for many types of cancer in an elderly Hong Kong population.

The study between the University of Birmingham and University of Hong Kong, published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, adds to growing concern around the health risks of prolonged exposure to ambient fine particulate matter.

Metal hip replacements implanted since 2006 more prone to failure

Metal on metal hip replacements implanted since 2006 are more prone to failure and the need for further surgery, finds research looking at revision rates at one hospital trust for the DePuy Pinnacle device, and published in the online journal BMJ Open.

A higher rate of manufacturing issues since 2006, with more than a third of hips manufactured outside the stated specifications, may be to blame, suggest the researchers.

Hospital self-harm cases have steadily risen among men in England since 2008

The number of hospital cases of self-inflicted harm, such as cutting and overdosing on prescription meds, has risen steadily since 2008 in England among men, reveals research published in the online journal BMJ Open.

But only around half of those who go to hospital after the incident receive a specialist mental health assessment, as national guidelines stipulate they should, the data show.

This is of particular concern as episodes of self-harm precede death in one in every two cases of suicide, the researchers point out.

A cell senses its own curves: New research from the MBL Whitman Center

WOODS HOLE, Mass. -- Can a cell sense its own shape? Working in the Marine Biological Laboratory's Whitman Center, scientists from Dartmouth College developed an ingenious experiment to ask this question. Their conclusion - Yes - is detailed in a recent paper in the Journal of Cell Biology.

HPV vaccination expected to reduce cancer in all races, may not eliminate all disparities

Boston, MA - Human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers occur more frequently, and sometimes with more deadly consequences, among Hispanics, blacks, and American Indian and Alaska Natives than among whites. A new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health finds that HPV vaccination is expected to reduce the cancer burden across all racial/ethnic groups. However, some disparities in cancer burden may persist and widen in the years to come if their causes--such as lack of access to diagnoses and treatment--aren't addressed.

New gene testing technology finds cancer risks 'hiding in plain sight'

A research team led by an award-winning genomicist at Western University has developed a new method for identifying mutations and prioritizing variants in breast and ovarian cancer genes, which will not only reduce the number of possible variants for doctors to investigate, but also increase the number of patients that are properly diagnosed.

These potentially game-changing technologies, developed by Peter Rogan, PhD, students and his collaborators from Western's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, reveal gene variants that were missed by conventional genetic testing.

Genetic risk factors of disparate diseases share similar biological underpinnings

PHILADELPHIA - The discovery of shared biological properties among independent variants of DNA sequences offers the opportunity to broaden understanding of the biological basis of disease and identify new therapeutic targets, according to a collaboration between the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Arizona Health Sciences, and Vanderbilt University. The group published their findings this month in npj Genomic Medicine.

Black raspberry improves cardiovascular risk in metabolic syndrome

A new study shows that black raspberry extract can significantly lower a key measure of arterial stiffness-an indicator of cardiovascular disease. Black raspberry intake was also associated with increased levels of circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), which help repair and regenerate damaged arteries, according to the study published in Journal of Medicinal Food.

Want to eat better? Sorry, we're closed

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Getting more nutritious meals on the tables of low-income Americans could depend on the hours the stores in their neighborhoods keep.

Stores likely to sell fresh produce aren't open as long in areas with more socioeconomic struggles, and that problem is more pronounced in neighborhoods where many African Americans live, new research from The Ohio State University has found.

In affluent neighborhoods, 24-7 access to a wide array of foods is far more common.

A long-noncoding RNA regulates repair of DNA breaks in triple-negative breast cancer cells

PHILADELPHIA - The discovery of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) has dramatically changed the understanding of the biology of diseases such as cancer. The human genome contains about 20,000 protein-coding genes - less than 2 percent of the total - but 70 percent of the genome is made into non-gene-encoding RNA.

Gene therapy halts pulmonary hypertension progression in large animal pre-clinical study

Scientists have used a novel gene therapy to halt the progression of pulmonary hypertension, a form of high blood pressure in the lung blood vessels that is linked to heart failure, according to a study led by Roger J. Hajjar, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Cardiovascular Research Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The study was published online this week, and will appear in the May 3 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC).