Earth
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A shortage of organs for transplantation -- including kidneys and hearts -- means that many patients die while still on waiting lists. So, research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and other sites has turned to pig organs as an alternative.
Using gene-editing, researchers have modified such organs to prevent rejection, and research with primates shows the modified pig organs are well-tolerated.
Scientists at Hollings Cancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina have found that some cells can divide without a molecule that was previously thought necessary. Their results, published online in the July 2018 issue of Genes and Development, explain how liver cells can regenerate after injury and may help us understand how cancer arises and how cancer cells evolve to have additional mutations, which accelerates growth and spread.
Sea level rise and extreme weather events have become harsh realities for those living along the world's coasts. The record-breaking hurricanes of the past decade in the United States have led to staggering tolls on coastal infrastructure and communities, leading many local governments to consider the benefits of natural coastal barriers.
AUSTIN, Texas -- Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have developed a new approach to treating cancer using enzyme therapy.
The enzyme, PEG-KYNase, does not directly kill cancer cells but instead empowers the immune system to eradicate unwanted cells on its own. PEG-KYNase is designed to degrade kynurenine, a metabolite produced by numerous tumors that suppresses the immune system. The UT team's findings were published in a recent issue of Nature Biotechnology.
Your teenage daughter gets into a shouting match with another kid at school. It turns out that it may have started over something as simple as not understanding one another's tones of voice. Recently published research in the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior shows that the ability to understand what someone is feeling based on their tone of voice can be challenging in mid-adolescence (between 13-15 years of age).
Coral reefs around the world are threatened by warming ocean temperatures, a major driver of coral bleaching. Scientists routinely use sea-surface temperature data collected by satellites to predict the temperature-driven stress on reef communities, but new research shows that surface measurements alone may not accurately predict the full extent of thermal stress on deeper corals.
STRASBURG, PA- A new report has identified an alternative method to deliver nusinersen to patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) using a subcutaneous intrathecal catheter system (SIC) configured by connecting an intrathecal catheter to an implantable infusion port. SMA is a devastating genetic disease that leads to progressive degeneration of motor neurons that control movement, swallowing, and breathing. It is the leading genetic cause of infant death worldwide.
MADISON, Wis. -- After decades of trapping, the last known American marten was spotted on Isle Royale in 1917. Fifty years later, in 1966, the National Park Service planned to reintroduce martens to the national park situated in Lake Superior, but nobody knows if the agency ever followed through. Then, in 1993, martens were confirmed on the island for the first time in 76 years.
Humans instinctively adopt the gait that requires the least amount of energy given the walking conditions. Without realizing it, we are constantly tweaking our pace, stride length and foot lift. But could we consciously play with these parameters in order to influence our energy expenditure?
The world is on fire. Or so it appears in this image from NASA's Worldview. The red points overlaid on the image designate those areas that by using thermal bands detect actively burning fires. Africa seems to have the most concentrated fires. This could be due to the fact that these are most likely agricultural fires. The location, widespread nature, and number of fires suggest that these fires were deliberately set to manage land. Farmers often use fire to return nutrients to the soil and to clear the ground of unwanted plants.
An international team of researchers has determined the function of a new family of proteins associated with cancer and autism. The results have been published in Molecular Cell. The study was supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (RSF).
MIAMI--A new analysis shows that the habitats of three shark species (great hammerhead, tiger, and bull sharks) are relatively well protected from longline fishing in federal waters off the southeastern United States, but that that some prime locations are still vulnerable to fishing.
The new study led by scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science has important implications to further protect these at-risk species from unintentional fishing, known as bycatch, in U.S. federal waters.
CAMBRIDGE, MD (August 23, 2018)--The word Sargassum conjures up images of a vast floating island off the coast of Bermuda, the mystical Sargasso Sea that has fascinated and inspired sailors' tales for hundreds of years.
CINCINNATI - Scientists may be on the road to solving the mystery of a group of mostly incurable blood diseases called myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), which cause people to have immature, malfunctioning bone marrow cells that fuel a diverse set of health problems and can lead to leukemia.
Despite plants and vegetation being key to the Earth's ecosystem, little is known about the origin of their roots. However in new research, published in Nature, Oxford University scientists describe a transitional root fossils from the earliest land ecosystem that sheds light on how roots have evolved.
The findings suggest that plant roots have evolved more than once, and that the characteristics of roots developed in a step-wise manner - with the central root organ evolving first. And the root cap subsequently coming later.