Current primary care policies aimed at reducing obesity and increasing physical activity in children do not work and are very costly to run, according to research published on bmj.com today.
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Killed or disabled viruses have proven safe and effective for vaccinating billions worldwide against smallpox, polio, measles, influenza and many other diseases.
But killed or severely "attenuated" vaccines, which are safer than "live" vaccines, have been largely unsuccessful for many non-viral diseases, including illnesses like tuberculosis and malaria.
ANN ARBOR, Mich.---With all the hype about beneficial antioxidants in everything from face cream to cereal bars, you'd think their targets---oxygen radicals---must be up to no good. It's true, the buildup of oxygen radicals and other reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cells contributes to aging and possibly to diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's.
But in moderate amounts, ROS also help keep cells healthy by controlling cell division, movement and other normal biological processes.
ARGONNE, IL (Sept. 3, 2009) -- Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have developed a systematic method to improve the stability of antibodies. The technique could lead to better biosensors, disease therapeutics and diagnostic reagents and non-laboratory applications, including environmental remediation.
NEW YORK, NY, LA JOLLA and SAN FRANCISCO, CA, SEATTLE, WA, September 3, 2009—Researchers at and associated with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), at The Scripps Research Institute, and at the biotechnology companies Theraclone Sciences and Monogram Biosciences have discovered two powerful new antibodies to HIV that reveal what may be an Achilles heel on the virus. They published their work in Science this week.
Scientists have deciphered a key molecular circuit that enables the body to distinguish viruses from bacteria and other microbes, providing a deep view of how immune cells in mammals fend off different pathogens. The new research, which appears in the September 3 advance online edition of the journal Science, signifies one of the first large-scale reconstructions of a mammalian circuit and offers a practical approach for unraveling the circuits that underpin other important biological systems.
Species living in restricted environments such as the tropics may lack adequate variation in their genes and be unable to adapt to climate change, according to a new study.
Adaptation is a physiological or behavioural change that makes an organism better suited to its environment, and more likely to survive and reproduce. Because adaptations usually occur due to a change (or mutation) in a gene, species with a more varied set of genes to begin with, are likely to have a better basis for adaptation.
NEW YORK, NY, LA JOLLA and SAN FRANCISCO, CA, SEATTLE, WA, September 3, 2009—Researchers at and associated with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), at The Scripps Research Institute, and at the biotechnology companies Theraclone Sciences and Monogram Biosciences have discovered two powerful new antibodies to HIV that reveal what may be an Achilles heel on the virus. They published their work in Science this week.
ATHENS, GA—Potted plants add a certain aesthetic value to homes and offices, bringing a touch of nature to indoor spaces. It has also been shown that many common house plants have the ability to remove volatile organic compounds—gases or vapors emitted by solids and liquids that may have adverse short- and long-term health effects on humans and animals—from indoor air.
SAN MARCOS, TX—In today's frenetic world, many urban dwellers spend more than 80% of the day indoors. Bringing nature in to living spaces by enhancing homes and offices with ornamental plants has become another popular facet of the move to "green" our lives. In addition to their aesthetic beauty, indoor plants have been shown to offer psychological and restorative values, such as reduced tension, better coping mechanisms, and increased concentration and attention.
EAST LANSING, MI—One way to maximize the eco-friendly factor of a structure is to include a green roof—and this doesn't refer to the paint color. "Greening" a roof, or covering a roof with vegetation, is gaining popularity in North America, where the number of green roofs increased 30% from 2006 to 2007. Benefits of green roofs include improved storm water management, energy conservation, reduced noise and air pollution, improved biodiversity, and even a better return on investment than traditional roofing.
Scientists have suspected that spare parts in the genome—extra copies of functional genes that arise when genes or whole genomes get duplicated—might sometimes provide the raw materials for the evolution of new traits. Now, researchers report in a study published online on September 3rd in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, that they have discovered a prime example of this in fish.
HOUSTON - (Sept. 4, 2009) – As part of the intricate ballet of synaptic transmission from one neuron to the next, tiny vesicles – bubbles containing the chemical neurotransmitters that make information exchange possible—travel to the tip of neurons (synapses), where they fuse with the cell's membrane (a process called exocytosis). The extra membrane is then captured in a process called endocytosis and recycled to form a new vesicle to enable the next cycle of release.
When researchers first reported the sequence of the human Y chromosome, they referred to it as a "literal hall of mirrors." That is, the male sex chromosome, and in particular the genes essential for sperm production, are encoded in long stretches of mirror-image sequence. That unique pattern provides the lone Y chromosome with pairs of genes within its own structure that can back each other up, helping to maintain its integrity.
A study in the September 4th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, identifies a gene that springs into action in response to a high fat diet. Mice that lack the gene become essentially immune to growing obese, regardless of their eating habits.