STANFORD, Calif. — People who use in vitro fertilization to conceive children often have leftover embryos and must decide whether to store them, dispose of them or possibly donate them for research. A new process developed by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine allows these people to make this decision in the privacy of their own homes — without any interaction with clinic personnel or scientists who might benefit from the research.
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A paper published by Cell Press in the April 8th issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell reveals a new and more efficient method for reprogramming adult mouse and human cells into an embryonic stem cell-like state and could lead to better strategies for developing stem cells for therapeutic use.
PHILADELPHIA - Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have devised a totally new and far more efficient way of generating induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), immature cells that are able to develop into several different types of cells or tissues in the body. The researchers used fibroblast cells, which are easily obtained from skin biopsies, and could be used to generate patient-specific iPSCs for drug screening and tissue regeneration.
Cave life is known to favor the evolution of a variety of traits, including blindness and loss of eyes, loss of pigmentation, and changes in metabolism and feeding behavior. Now researchers reporting online on April 7 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, have added sleeplessness to that list.
"Cave-adapted fish sleep less—much less—than closely related surface fish," said Richard Borowsky of New York University. "In some ways, their sleep phenotypes are similar to those of humans with sleep disorders."
New Rochelle, NY, April 7, 2011—New recommendations from the American Thyroid Association (ATA) on outpatient radioiodine (131I) treatment aim to minimize unintended radiation exposure and maximize the safety of patients, their families, and the public. The new ATA recommendations are presented in the April issue of Thyroid, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com).
PORTLAND, Ore. – Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University's Oregon National Primate Research Center may have good news for women at high-risk for ovarian cancer who also want to have children. The research suggests that a layer of cells, which serve as the "breeding ground" for ovarian cancer, may be removed yet allow the women to have children. This would be a vast improvement over the current prevention strategy for women at high risk for ovarian cancer: Removal of the ovaries entirely.
AMES, Iowa – A newly discovered gene introduced into soybean plants has increased the amount of protein in the plant's seed and could hold promise for helping meet nutritional needs of a hungry world.
Eve Wurtele, professor of genetics, development and cell biology; and Ling Li, an adjunct assistant professor and an associate scientist working in her laboratory, have placed a gene found only in Arabidopsis plants into soybean plants and increased the amount of protein in the soybean seeds by 30 to 60 percent.
A newly identified chemical sex attractant, or pheromone, of the emerald ash borer could mean improved traps for monitoring and controlling the tree-killing beetle. That's the goal of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) entomologist Allard Cossé and his colleagues.
Menlo Park, Calif.—April 7, 2011—BioParadox, Inc., a regenerative medicine company pioneering point-of-care biologic treatments for cardiovascular disease, today announced data supporting the use of VitaKine® Platelet Cell Therapy (PCT) as a promising treatment for heart attack patients. The results of a preclinical cardiac study were presented at the 2nd Annual Translational Regenerative Medicine Forum in Washington, D.C.
A new index has been developed to help conservationists better understand how close species are to extinction.
The index, developed by a team of Australian researchers from the University of Adelaide and James Cook University, is called SAFE (Species Ability to Forestall Extinction).
WASHINGTON, April 7, 2011 – DNA's role as the master blueprint of the cell means that even small sequence changes can have catastrophic consequences. For this reason, much of our understanding of cancer development comes from studying how cells copy DNA and repair sequence errors -- and how these processes can go wrong.
WASHINGTON (April 8, 2011) — The meeting Experimental Biology 2011 (EB 2011) begins April 9 and runs through April 13 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. This year's meeting is expected to attract some 13,000 scientists and exhibitors.
WASHINGTON, April 7, 2011 – Moms-to-be long have been told by their doctors and baby-related books and websites that staying fit during pregnancy is good for both mother and child. When it was reported a couple of years back that exercising strengthens a fetus' heart control, many pregnant women took heed and hit the ground running, literally. Some signed up for prenatal yoga classes; others found new ways to incorporate low-impact aerobic activities into their daily lives.
WASHINGTON, April 7, 2011 – What do blinking fireflies, the cellular power plants that are human mitochondria, parasitic worms in sub-Saharan Africa and synthetic sugars have in common? At first glance, not a lot; but, after a good hard look, they represent bright threads in the tapestry of knowledge for those trying to patch the gaps between chemical biology, technology, therapies and cures.
WASHINGTON, April 7, 2011 – Timing is everything. That's especially true when it comes to the activation of enzymes created by the pancreas to break down food. When the timing is right, those enzymes are activated only when they reach the gut, where they get to work releasing and distributing nutrients that we need to survive. If the timing is wrong and the enzymes are activated too soon, they break down the pancreas itself, which is painful and sometimes fatal.