Body

The significant role of beta cell 'hubs' in the pancreas has been demonstrated for the first time, suggesting that diabetes may due to the failure of a privileged few cells, rather than the behaviour of all cells.

Researchers used optogenetic and photopharmacological targeting to precisely map the role of the cells required for the secretion of insulin.

The team believe that the findings, published in Cell Metabolism, could pave the way for therapies that target the 'hubs'.

DALLAS, July 21, 2016 -- Bleeding inside the lining of the brain (subarachnoid hemorrhage) is significantly more common among smokers, especially female smokers, than among people who do not smoke, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Stroke.

Dating back nearly 150 years, a classic example of symbiosis has been the lichen: a mutually helpful relationship between an alga and a fungus.

Now, that well-known dualistic relationship is being challenged. Researchers at the University of Montana, working together with colleagues from Austria, Sweden and Purdue University, have found that some of the world's most common lichen species actually are composed of three partners -- not the widely recognized two.

By following honeyguides, a species of bird, people in Africa are able to locate bees' nests to harvest honey. Research now reveals that humans use special calls to solicit the help of honeyguides and that honeyguides actively recruit appropriate human partners. This relationship is a rare example of cooperation between humans and free-living animals.

When honey-hunters in Mozambique call out to birds in the hopes that their feathered companions will lead them to honey, the birds, in fact, recognize and respond to these specialized calls, a new study confirms. The results reveal how birds are able to attach a specific meaning to the human's call for cooperation, representing a rare case of mutualism between humans and a wild animal. Indicator indicator is a species of bird that's known to act as a honeyguide for humans, flitting from tree to tree to indicate where beehives are hidden above.

The classical view of lichens - formed by a symbiosis between an algae and a single fungus - is too simple, suggests a new study. The study's results reveal that a third species also contributes to this symbiotic relationship, one of the oldest- and best-known symbioses on Earth. For more than 140 years, scientists have thought that lichens arise from algae or cyanobacteria living among the filaments of a fungus. Recently, it has been suggested that another species may play a role in forming complete, functioning thalli, the leafy or shrubby features of lichens.

Gut bacteria in modern humans and apes are not simply acquired from the environment, a new study suggests, but instead coevolved for millions of years with hominids to help shape our immune systems. The results pave the way for studies informing the evolutionary processes underlying the unique symbiotic relationships between us and our microbes. How the bacteria that inhabit our gut came to be there remains unknown. In particular, scientists have been unclear about the role symbiosis played in shaping gut microbiome composition.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - For nearly 150 years, lichens have been the model organisms of symbiosis. Now researchers have uncovered an unexpected third partner embedded in the lichen cortex or "skin" - yeast.

Do regional practice patterns for radiotherapy for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) breast cancer increase the likelihood of mastectomy when there is a second breast cancer in women who did not receive radiotherapy at the initial DCIS diagnosis?

In a new article published online by JAMA Oncology, Rinaa S. Punglia, M.D., M.P.H., of Harvard Medical School, Boston, and coauthors used population-based databases to examine regional radiotherapy practice patterns for DCIS and their effect on the use of mastectomy.

In an effort to expand the number of cancer gene mutations that can be specifically targeted with personalized therapies, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center looked for combinations of mutated genes and drugs that together kill cancer cells. Such combinations are expected to kill cancer cells, which have mutations, but not healthy cells, which do not. The study, published July 21 in Molecular Cell, uncovered 172 new combinations that could form the basis for future cancer therapies.

Approximately one in 10 adults in the U.S. have tinnitus, and durations of occupational and leisure time noise exposures are correlated with rates of tinnitus and are likely targetable risk factors, according to a study published online by JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Synthetic biology allows researchers to program cells to perform novel functions such as fluorescing in response to a particular chemical or producing drugs in response to disease markers. In a step toward devising much more complex cellular circuits, MIT engineers have now programmed cells to remember and respond to a series of events.

Experts led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have tackled a language barrier that is an obstacle to using precision medicine to enhance medication safety and effectiveness - the lack of standard pharmacogenetic terminology. The results appear today in the journal Genetics in Medicine.

Prometheus, the mythological Greek heroic deity, has been given a namesake in a new species of tiny rain frog, discovered in southwestern Ecuador. The name was chosen by the international team of scientists, led by Dr Paul Szekely, Ovidius University, Constanta, Romania, in acknowledgement of the Prometeo program, funded by the Ecuadorian government.

In West Africa, men who have sex with men are exposed to a high risk of HIV infection and could benefit from stronger prevention including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). This is what is suggested by the first data from ANRS CohMSM, a study led by Christian Laurent (Institut de recherche pour le développement, unité TransVIHMI) and his colleagues, the first results of which will be presented at AIDS 2016 in Durban, South Africa (18 to 22 July).