Chokeberry bushes have for centuries been residents of eastern deciduous forests where their bright red and dark purple fruits continue to be favorite snacks of local bird species. Native Americans have also traditionally eaten dried chokeberries and prepared teas from parts of the plant, and several domesticated varieties now grace contemporary lawns and gardens from coast to coast.
Body
We are not alone—even in our own bodies. The human gut is home to 100 trillion bacteria, which, for millions of years, have co-evolved along with our digestive and immune systems. Most people view bacteria as harmful pathogens that cause infections and disease. Other, more agreeable, microbes (known as symbionts) have taken a different evolutionary path, and have established beneficial relationships with their hosts.
BOZEMAN, Mont. -- Montana State University chemists have determined the structure of an intermediate form of a unique enzyme that participates in some of the most fundamental reactions in biology.
The discovery could lead to understanding life in ancient ecosystems. It could also play a role in producing alternate fuels and fighting pollution, according to MSU researchers who published their findings April 25 in the advance online publication of the journal Nature.
Ann Arbor, Mich. – Could eating grapes slow what's for many Americans a downhill sequence of high blood pressure and insulin resistance leading to heart disease and type 2 diabetes?
Scientists at the University of Michigan Health System are teasing out clues to the effect of grapes in reducing risk factors related to cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. The effect is thought to be due to phytochemicals -- naturally occurring antioxidants – that grapes contain.
DELHI & KAMPALA – Rationing Funds, Risking Lives: World Backtracks on HIV Treatment, the new report from the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC), documents early warning signs resulting from the global pullback on AIDS commitment and funding: caps on the number of people enrolled in treatment programs, more frequent drug stock outs, and national AIDS budgets falling short.
A new study finds that factors known to increase the risk of breast cancer among white women have less influence in Hispanic women. Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study indicates that research is needed to evaluate how breast cancer risk factors differ among ethnic and racial populations.
Using routine data from electronic patient records to select individuals at high risk of developing heart disease, rather than screening all adults aged between 40 and 74 years of age, is just as effective at saving lives but will be cheaper to run, according to research published on bmj.com today.
Despite a significant decrease in heart disease in the last twenty years, heart problems remain the leading cause of ill health and death in the UK. Heart disease also costs the UK economy around £30 billion every year.
ANAHEIM, CA – The use of antibiotics to treat bacterial infections causes a continual and vicious cycle in which antibiotic treatment leads to the emergence and spread of resistant strains, forcing the use of additional drugs leading to further multi-drug resistance.
But what if it doesn't have to be that way?
Diminished bone density is common among menopausal women and raises their risk of osteoporosis, bone fractures and subsequent complications. Research has traditionally focused on therapies that seek to maintain the level of estrogen in the body. This hormone seems to sustain bone health, but it drops to an extremely low level during and after menopause.
Chokeberry bushes have for centuries been residents of eastern deciduous forests where their bright red and dark purple fruits continue to be favorite snacks of local bird species. Native Americans have also traditionally eaten dried chokeberries and prepared teas from parts of the plant, and several domesticated varieties now grace contemporary lawns and gardens from coast to coast.
SALT LAKE CITY, April 25, 2010 – Knocking genes out of action allows researchers to learn what genes do by seeing what goes wrong without them. University of Utah biologists pioneered the field. Mario Capecchi won a Nobel Prize for developing knockout mice. Kent Golic found a way to cripple fruit fly genes. Now, biologist Erik Jorgensen and colleagues have devised a procedure for knocking out genes in nematode worms.
Scientists may be one step closer to being able to generate any type of cells and tissues from a patient's own cells. In a study that will appear in the journal Nature and is receiving early online release, investigators from the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Regenerative Medicine (MGH-CRM) and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI), describe finding that an important cluster of genes is inactivated in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) that do not have the full development potential of embryonic stem cells.
ANAHEIM, CA – Discovered in 1976, cryptosporidium lurks worldwide in water, contaminating swimming pools, water parks, and drinking water supplies. Although it has even been featured on the comedy show The Colbert Report, it is no laughing matter—this microscopic pathogen is a leading cause of diarrhea and malnutrition and the most common source of infection in immune-weakened people such as AIDS patients. It is also a potential bioterrorism agent.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Scientists have combined chemistry and biology research techniques to explain how certain bacteria grow structures on their surfaces that allow them to simultaneously cause illness and protect themselves from the body's defenses.
The researchers are the first to reproduce a specific component of this natural process in a test tube – an essential step to fully understanding how these structures grow.
LOS ANGELES (April 21 2010) –Physician scientists at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute are presenting new findings on heart transplantation rejection factors such as race and gender, the effects of pre-transplant smoking and whether homeless organ donors put recipients at higher risk for complications. The presentations will take place April 21 – 24 in Chicago during the 30th Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation.