Body | Page 3599 | Science Codex

Genome analysis will reveal how bacteria in our guts make themselves at home

Researchers from the Institute of Food Research and The Genome Analysis Centre have published the genome sequence of a gut bacterium, to help understand how these organisms evolved their symbiotic relationships with their hosts.

The relationship between gut bacteria and the gastrointestinal tract is one of IFR's main research areas. Key to understanding the role of bacteria in establishing and maintaining gut health is knowledge of how the very close relationship between the bacteria and their hosts has evolved to be mutually beneficial to both.

Adult stem cells carry their own baggage: Epigenetics guides stem cell fate

Bethesda, MD—Adult stem cells and progenitor cells may not come with a clean genetic slate after all. That's because a new report in the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) shows that adult stem or progenitor cells have their own unique "epigenetic signatures," which change once a cell differentiates. This is important because epigenetic changes do not affect the actual make up in a cell's DNA, but rather, how that DNA functions.

More than bacon: Genetic alterations in pig tissue may allow for human transplantation

Bethesda, MD—A sizzling genetic discovery by Chinese scientists may one day allow pig tissue to be transplanted successfully into humans. Their research presented in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology (http://www.jleukbio.org) represents a major step forward toward filling the shortage of vital organs for human transplantation.

New clues to the cause of Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, have identified a series of novel proteins in human cerebrospinal fluid. The proteins, which carry specific sugar molecules, are found in greater concentrations in patients with dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease than in patients with dementia caused by other diseases. This gives hope for new forms of treatment in the future.

Many more lungs suitable for transplantation

Four patients now have new lungs thanks to a purpose-built machine used for the first time worldwide by Sahlgrenska University Hospital. Acquired for research at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, the new machine will contribute to more lung transplants in the long term.

Built by a company in Lund, the machine is used to assess and treat the function of donors' lungs before transplantation. While the lungs of many donors are of good quality, some can swell on account of the fluid that gathers in them, rendering them unsuitable for transplantation.

Many a mickle makes a muckle: How changes in animals' size and shape arise

The transcription of genes is tightly controlled, with a bewildering array of regulatory DNA sequences interacting with a similarly large number of proteins and other factors to determine which genes are active when and where. Understanding how it all works has challenged countless molecular biologists over the past decades but we are now starting to make significant progress. Even so, we have scarcely begun to understand how the entire complexity evolves to give differences in the size and shape of organisms.

Using DNA in fight against illegal logging

Advances in DNA 'fingerprinting' and other genetic techniques led by Adelaide researchers are making it harder for illegal loggers to get away with destroying protected rainforests.

DNA fingerprinting for timber products has grown in international recognition due to research led by the University of Adelaide that traces individual logs or wood products back to the forests where they came from.

Fire brings communities together -- 'You're from the government, we trust you'

CORVALLIS, Ore. – As homes and cities expand closer to forests and wildlands across the American West, increasing wildfire threats have created an unlikely new phenomena – confidence in government.

Recent studies show that people in neighborhoods adjacent to public forest lands can and do trust natural resource managers to a surprising degree, in part because the risks they face are so severe.

Antivenom against lethal snake gives hope to developing countries

Researchers from the Australian Venom Research Unit (AVRU) at the University of Melbourne have collaborated with scientists from the University of Papua New Guinea and the University of Costa Rica, to develop new antivenom against the lethal Papuan taipan.

The preclinical studies of this antivenom have been published in the international journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Shortening time between CPR and shocks improves cardiac-arrest survival

DALLAS – June 29, 2011 – Reducing the intervals between giving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and an electronic defibrillator shock after cardiac arrest significantly improves survival, according to UT Southwestern Medical Center emergency medicine doctors involved in an international study.

UBC researchers invent new drug delivery device to treat diabetes-related vision loss

A team of engineers and scientists at the University of British Columbia has developed a device that can be implanted behind the eye for controlled and on-demand release of drugs to treat retinal damage caused by diabetes.

Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of vision loss among patients with diabetes. The disease is caused by the unwanted growth of capillary cells in the retina, which in its advanced stages can result in blindness.

IASLC welcomes publication of CT screening results from National Lung Screening Trial

The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) today welcomed the publication of positive results of the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST).

The NLST study, published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that lung cancer deaths fell by 20% and all-cause mortality fell by 7% when heavy smokers were screened regularly using low-dose spiral computed tomography (CT) compared with standard chest x-ray. The NLST study followed more than 53,000 current and former smokers ages 55-74.

CT scans unleash a breakthrough in catching early stage lung cancer

CHICAGO— The National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) is the first scientific study that provides clear evidence that CT screening significantly reduces the death rate due to lung cancer. NLST data shows 20 percent fewer lung cancer deaths among trial participants who had the CT scan compared with the chest x-ray. Until now, no screening test for lung cancer has proven effective in detecting tumors at an early, more treatable stage.

Scientists develop method to determine order of mutations that lead to cancer

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Zeroing in on the early cell mutations that enable a cancer to grow is one of the best ways to find a personalized therapy to stop it. Scientists were able to use a statistical approach for the first time to map out the order in which these abnormalities form to analyze the pattern of DNA changes in advanced skin and ovarian tumors.

Salt-loving microbe provides new enzymes for the production of next-gen biofuels

In order to realize the full potential of advanced biofuels that are derived from non-food sources of lignocellulosic biomass—e.g., agricultural, forestry, and municipal waste, and crops such as poplar, switchgrass and miscanthus—new technologies that can efficiently and cost-effectively break down this biomass into simple sugars are required. Existing biomass pretreatment technologies are typically derived from the pulp and paper industry and rely on dilute acids and bases to break down the biomass.