LA JOLLA, CA—Umbilical cord blood cells can successfully be reprogrammed to function like embryonic stem cells, setting the basis for the creation of a comprehensive bank of tissue-matched, cord blood-derived induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells for off-the-shelf applications, report researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the Center for Regenerative Medicine in Barcelona, Spain.
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LA JOLLA, CA – September 30, 2009 –Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have found, crystallized, and biologically characterized a poorly defined component of a key molecular complex that helps people to avoid cancer, but that also helps cancer cells resist chemotherapy.
The research was published in the October 2, 2009 issue of the journal Cell.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA–Highlights of October's Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, include good news on preserving vision in people with type 1 diabetes, a warning from the Cardiovascular Health Study for macular degeneration patients, and a report on how vision impacts well-being across the lifespan.
Today's Type 1 Diabetes Patients Enjoy Better Vision than Those in Decades Past
COLD SPRING HARBOR, N.Y. (Thurs., Oct. 1, 2009) – The study of RNA has long been the tool of choice for understanding where and when genes are expressed in a cell, tissue, or organism during development or under specific physiological or environmental conditions. Recent discoveries have revolutionized our concept of RNA function; it is now known to be active in a much wider set of biological processes than was previously believed.
LOS ALAMOS, New Mexico, October 1, 2009—A Los Alamos National Laboratory geologist is part of an international research team responsible for discovering the oldest nearly intact skeleton of Ardipithecus ramidus, who lived 4.4 million years ago. The discovery reveals the biology of the first stage of human evolution better than anything seen to date.
In a special issue of Science, an international team of scientists has for the first time thoroughly described Ardipithecus ramidus, a hominid species that lived 4.4 million years ago in what is now Ethiopia. This research, in the form of 11 detailed papers and more general summaries, will appear in the journal's 2 October 2009 issue. Science is published by AAAS, the nonprofit science society.
KENT, Ohio – Oct. 1, 2009 – Throw out all those posters and books that depict an ape evolving into a human being, says Kent State University Professor of Anthropology Dr. C. Owen Lovejoy. A biological anthropologist who specializes in the study of human origins, Lovejoy is one of the primary authors who revealed their research findings today on Ardipithecus ramidus, a hominid species that lived 4.4 million years ago in what is now Ethiopia.
A search through decades-old frozen infant stool samples has yielded rich dividends for scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. The team customized a laboratory technique to screen thousands of samples for norovirus, a major cause of acute gastroenteritis outbreaks in people of all ages.
SEATTLE – Whether they can have children is one of the major concerns for adult survivors of childhood and adolescent cancer because fertility can be compromised by cancer treatment. For cancer survivors who can have children, two new studies led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center may help alleviate fears that their childhood disease will adversely impact their newborns.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – With more than 2 million cows on 68,000 farms, Missouri is the third-largest beef producer in the nation. Due to rising feed prices, farmers are struggling to provide feed for the cows that contribute more than $1 billion to Missouri's economy. University of Missouri researcher Monty Kerley, professor of animal nutrition in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, is studying how cows might be able to gain more weight while consuming less, potentially saving farmers up to 40 percent of feed costs.
New Rochelle, NY, October 1, 2009–An innovative technique called L.I.F.E. imaging used successfully to detect bacteria in frozen Antarctic lakes could have exciting implications for demonstrating signs of life in the polar regions of Mars, according to an article published in the current issue of Astrobiology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com). The article is available free online at www.liebertpub.com/ast
Almost three quarters of patients with extensive burns die of the consequences of a severe infection. In the current edition of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2009; 106[38]: 607-13), Timo A. Spanholtz of the Cologne-Merheim Burn Center and his coauthors discuss the acute therapy and follow-up care of burn disease.
Cheaters may prosper in the short term, but over time they seem doomed to fail, at least in the microscopic world of amoebas where natural selection favors the noble.
But why? Shouldn't "survival of the fittest" give the sneaky cheaters an edge? Not necessarily, as it turns out amoebas that cooperate for the benefit of all – and even die for the cause – bring their own genetic weapons to the fight.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Kidneys recovered from deceased donors with acute renal failure (ARF) – once deemed unusable for transplant – appear to work just as well as kidneys transplanted from deceased donors who do not develop kidney problems prior to organ donation, according to a new study by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
ROSEMONT, Ill -- A study published in the October 2009 issue of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery suggests a disconnect between the way wrist-fracture patients and those with a spine or hip fracture are managed and evaluated. The study, conducted in 2007 among 97 percent of the women in Korea, reviewed the incidence of fractures around the hip, spine, and wrist in female patients age 50 and older and the prescription frequencies of bone density scans for osteoporosis, along with the use of medications for its treatment.