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Unexpected find opens up new front in effort to stop HIV

HIV adapts in a surprising way to survive and thrive in its hiding spot within the human immune system, scientists have learned. While the finding helps explain why HIV remains such a formidable foe after three decades of research – more than 30 million people worldwide are infected with HIV – it also offers scientists a new, unexpected way to try to stop the virus.

The work by researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center and Emory University was published Dec. 10 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Johns Hopkins scientists crack genetic code for form of pancreatic cancer

Scientists at Johns Hopkins have deciphered the genetic code for a type of pancreatic cancer, called neuroendocrine or islet cell tumors. The work, described online in the Jan. 20 issue of Science Express, shows that patients whose tumors have certain coding "mistakes" live twice as long as those without them.

2 bacterial enzymes confer resistanceto common herbicide, say MU researchers

COLUMBIA, Mo. – In an article in the Nov. 23 issue of the journal The Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, researchers with Dow AgroSciences and the University of Missouri report on two bacterial enzymes that, when transformed into corn and soybeans, provide robust resistance to the herbicide 2,4-D. The discovery may soon provide Missouri corn and soybean growers a solution to the growing problem of herbicide-resistant weeds.

Dow AgriSciences, MU researcher develop a way to control 'superweed'

COLUMBIA, Mo. – They pop up in farm fields across 22 states, and they've been called the single largest threat to production agriculture that farmers have ever seen. They are "superweeds" – undesirable plants that can tolerate multiple herbicides, including the popular gylphosate, also known as RoundUp – and they cost time and money because the only real solution is for farmers to plow them out of the field before they suffocate corn, soybeans or cotton.

Scientists find industrial pollutants in Eastern Lake Erie carp

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Researchers from Upstate New York institutions, including the University at Buffalo, have documented elevated levels of two industrial pollutants in carp in eastern Lake Erie, adding to the body of scientific work demonstrating the lasting environmental effects of human activity and waste disposal on the Great Lakes.

Islands in the sky: How isolated are mountain top plant populations?

How isolated are mountain top plant populations?

Do mountain tops act as sky islands for species that live at high elevations? Are plant populations on these mountain tops isolated from one another because the valleys between them act as barriers, or can pollinators act as bridges allowing genes to flow among distant populations?

NFL linemen recover from back surgery, and so can you

CHICAGO --- If NFL linemen can recover from back surgery and return to their spine-bruising careers, so can you get back into your "game" of horsing around with your kids or working out at the gym after back surgery.

That's the good news from a new Northwestern Medicine study that found 80 percent of NFL lineman – whose spines are especially vulnerable to degeneration – were able to return to play many more games after the surgery. These elite athletes spend a lot of time in a squatting stance that puts tremendous stress on their spine.

Defense mechanism against bacteria and fungi deciphered

Defense mechanism against bacteria and fungi deciphered

Preventing tooth decay in the youngest American Indians

Preventing tooth decay in the youngest American Indians

INDIANAPOLIS – A study conducted in four American Indian communities in the Pacific Northwest presents an effective strategy to convince mothers to switch young children from drinking sweetened soda to water and shows that eliminating these sugary drinks from the diets of the youngest members of the tribe significantly decreased tooth decay.

With cloud computing, the mathematics of evolution may get easier to learn

With cloud computing, the mathematics of evolution may get easier to learn

Researchers reveal function of novel molecule that underlies human deafness

New research from the University of Sheffield has revealed that the molecular mechanism underlying deafness is caused by a mutation of a specific microRNA called miR-96. The discovery could provide the basis for treating progressive hearing loss and deafness.

New Anglo-Swiss research questions impact of GM wheat on insects

An Anglo-Swiss research project has found that the impact of disease-resistant genetically-modified wheat plants on insects may be negligible.

Many studies have looked at the effects of genetically-modified (GM) plants on single non-target insects. However, agro-ecosystems are characterised by numerous insect species forming food webs. This study is the first to investigate different transgenic disease-resistant wheat lines and their effect on the structure of whole aphid-parasitoid food webs.

Nanoworld in color

Nanoworld in color

Monk seal and hump-backed dolphin are threatened by fishing activities off coast of Mauritania

Monk seal and hump-backed dolphin are threatened by fishing activities off coast of Mauritania

Sensors to detect explosives, monitor food being developed at UH

Sensors to detect explosives, monitor food being developed at UH

HOUSTON, Jan. 20, 2011 – Monitoring everything from explosives to tainted milk, materials for use in creating sensors for detection devices have been developed by a University of Houston (UH) chemist and his team. The findings recently appeared simultaneously in three journals.