Boston, MA – Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and a team of collaborators have observed for the first time that the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) increases by many folds following infection with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). This finding implicates EBV as a contributory cause to multiple sclerosis. The study appears in an advance online edition of the journal Annals of Neurology and will appear in a later print edition.
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Adding a new link to our understanding of the complex chain of chemistry that keeps living cells alive, a team of researchers from the University of Vermont (UVM), the University of Utah, Vanderbilt University and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has demonstrated for the first time the specific activity of the protein NEIL3, one of a group responsible for maintaining the integrity of DNA in humans and other mammals. Their work reported last week* sheds new light on a potentially important source of harmful DNA mutations.
A section of the Arctic Ocean seafloor that holds vast stores of frozen methane is showing signs of instability and widespread venting of the powerful greenhouse gas, according to the findings of an international research team led by University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists Natalia Shakhova and Igor Semiletov.
Increased appetite and insulin resistance can be transferred from one mouse to another via intestinal bacteria, according to research being published online this week by Science magazine.
The finding strengthens the case that intestinal bacteria can contribute to human obesity and metabolic disease, since previous research has shown that intestinal bacterial populations differ between obese and lean humans.
We may like to eat mussels steamed in white wine, but we also like to find mussels at the beach. Mostly they are burrowed into the ground or tethered to rocks. But if you look closer you will find a mollusc which has adapted to life and nutrition in a special and fascinating way. Mussels thrive in rocky seashore habitats, in spite of the enormous physical demands present there. This is in no small part due to the evolution of the byssus, which mussels employ to tether themselves to accessible surfaces.
Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, have identified a protein called Sestrin that serves as a natural inhibitor of aging and age-related pathologies in fruit flies. They also showed that Sestrin, whose structure and biochemical function are conserved between flies and humans, is needed for regulation of a signaling pathway that is the central controller of aging and metabolism.
Fairbanks, Alaska—A section of the Arctic Ocean seafloor that holdsvast stores of frozen methane is showing signs of instability andwidespread venting of the powerful greenhouse gas, according to thefindings of an international research team led by University of AlaskaFairbanks scientists Natalia Shakhova and Igor Semiletov.
The Cretaceous–Tertiary mass extinction, which wiped out the dinosaurs and more than half of species on Earth, was caused by an asteroid colliding with Earth and not massive volcanic activity, according to a comprehensive review of all the available evidence, published today in the journal Science.
Two Dartmouth biologists have found that brown anole lizards make an interesting choice when deciding which males should father their offspring. The females of this species mate with several males, then produce more sons with sperm from large fathers, and more daughters with sperm from smaller fathers. The researchers believe that the lizards do this to ensure that the genes from large fathers are passed on to sons, who stand to benefit from inheriting the genes for large size.
BOSTON, Mass. (Mar. 4, 2010) Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. We hear this mantratime and again. When it comes to carbon‹the "Most Wanted" element in termsof climate change‹nature has got reuse and recycle covered. However, it's upto us to reduce. Scientists at Harvard Medical School are trying to meetthis challenge by learning more about the carbon cycle, that is, the processby which carbon moves from the atmosphere into plants, oceans, soils, theearth's crust, and back into the atmosphere again.
A Henry Ford Hospital study has shown a link between Vitamin D levels and basal cell carcinoma, a finding that could lead researchers to better understand the development of the most common form of skin cancer.
In a small study, researchers at Henry Ford and Wayne State University found elevated levels of Vitamin D enzymes and proteins in cancerous tissue taken from 10 patients compared to normal skin tissue taken from them.
Waltham, MA—Despite the loss of the Democrats' supermajority necessary to pass comprehensive national healthcare reform, new federal legislation is needed to promote greater efficiency in the medical delivery system.
When people get exposed to the mycobacterium responsible for tuberculosis (TB), some will become sick with a disease that is a major cause of mortality around the world while others simply don't. Now, researchers reporting in the March 5th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, can point to one important reason for this variation in susceptibility or resistance: genetic differences among individuals in levels of an immune enzyme (LTA4H) that is involved in the production of leukotriene B, a pro-inflammatory fatty acid immune signaling molecule.
In a significant leap forward in the understanding of how specific types of tissue are determined to develop in mammals, an international team of scientists has succeeded in mapping the entire network of DNA-binding transcription factors and their interactions. This global network, indicating which factors can combine to determine cell fate, will be published in the March 5 issue of the journal Cell.
Boston, MA (March 4, 2010)—Angelman Syndrome is a rare but serious genetic disorder that causes a constellation of developmental problems in affected children, including mental retardation, lack of speech, and in some cases, autism. Over a decade ago, researchers found that AS was caused by mutation in a single gene, but no one had been able to explain how this defect resulted in the debilitating neurological symptoms of the disease.