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Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have uncovered a previously unknown fail-safe (compensatory) pathway that potentially protects the brain and other organs from genetic and environmental threats. The discovery could provide new ways to diminish the negative consequences of genetic mutations and environmental toxins that cause neurological diseases and other maladies.

The findings are published in the Sept. 16 issue of the journal Molecular Cell.

MADISON — The genome of even a single organism is packed with information. A new paper, building on recent advances in sequencing capability, now reports the complete genomes of 17 different strains of mice, creating an unparalleled genetic resource that will aid studies ranging from human disease to evolution.

The phrase "no guts, no glory" doesn't just apply to athletes who are striving to excel.

Salmon and other fish predators take the adage literally, by having up to three times the "gut" capacity they need on a daily basis just so they can "glory" when prey is abundant, University of Washington researchers have discovered.

SAN FRANCISCO — Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute have begun to uncover how the virus that causes most Merkel cell carcinoma – a rare and aggressive skin cancer – operates, meaning that a rational chemotherapeutic target for this cancer could be developed in the near future.

SAN FRANCISCO — Researchers are investigating a potential treatment and noninvasive imaging modality for pancreatic cancer that shows promise, according to researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, N.Y., and Genelux Corporation in San Diego, Calif.

SAN FRANCISCO — Researchers are working to discover how genes interact with each other to lead to cancer progression. This research is expected to lead the way toward the discovery of new targeted therapies against breast cancer, according to a study presented at the Second AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Basic Cancer Research, held here Sept. 14-18, 2011.

PHILADELPHIA — Glioblastoma is among the most lethal cancers, but scientists have uncovered a novel growth mechanism that suggests patients with glioblastoma could be treated with cholesterol-lowering agents, according to a study published in Cancer Discovery, the newest journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study suggests that blocking cancer cells' access to cholesterol may offer a new strategy for treating glioblastoma, the most common and deadly form of brain cancer, and perhaps other malignancies. The potential treatment could be appropriate for tumors with a hyperactive PI3K signaling pathway, which accounts for up to 90 percent of glioblastomas cases.

Blocking the uptake of large amounts of cholesterol into brain cancer cells could provide a new strategy to battle glioblastoma, one of the most deadly malignancies, researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have found.

Cold Spring Harbor, NY -- Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and the University of Southern California (USC) today published the first quantitative evidence supporting the notion that the genome-wide "bookmarking" of DNA with methyl molecules – a process called methylation – and the underlying DNA sequences corresponding with these marks, have co-evolved in a kind of molecular slow-dance over the 6 million years since humans and chimps diverged from a common ancestor.

UCLA researchers have found that the hormone estrogen may help reverse advanced pulmonary hypertension, a rare and serious condition that affects 2 to 3 million individuals in the U.S., mostly women, and can lead to heart failure.

The condition causes a progressive increase in blood pressure in the main pulmonary artery, which originates in the heart's right ventricle and delivers blood to the lungs. The rise in pressure impairs heart function by enlarging the right ventricle, potentially leading to heart failure.

Toronto—Scientists have found a control switch that regulates stem cell "pluripotency," the capacity of stem cells to develop into any type of cell in the human body. The discovery reveals that pluripotency is regulated by a single event in a process called alternative splicing.

HOUSTON -- (Sept. 16, 2011) – Using a diversity of DNA sequencing and human genome analytic techniques, researchers led by Baylor College of Medicine have identified some cases of developmental delay or cognitive disorders associated with a sudden chromosomal catastrophe that occurred early in development, perhaps during cell division when DNA is replicated.

Rising temperatures in the northeast Atlantic Ocean have already led to major shifts in the abundance of commercially important fish stocks. That's according to a report published online on September 15 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, that is the first to consider the absolute abundance of species as opposed to their presence or absence alone.

Most of the time, being ill with the flu is little more than a nuisance. Other times, it can spark an exaggerated immune response and turn deadly. Researchers reporting in the September 16th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, have now traced the origins of this severe immune response -- called a cytokine storm -- to its source.