Body

Sarcoma is an aggressive form of cancer responsible for up to 20 percent of childhood cancers. Tumors often first appear in the extremities and the abdomen. Surgery is a primary treatment, but it often is combined with chemotherapy. This week in ACS Central Science, researchers propose a scheme to target chemotherapy medications specifically to sarcomas, leading to greater efficacy and fewer side effects.

CLEVELAND, Ohio (Wednesday, July 13, 2016)--More data analysis about hot flashes from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN) has been published today in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS). A study by Ping G. Tepper, PhD, and colleagues shows that the progression of vasomotor symptoms (VMS) across the menopause transition appears to be significantly and independently associated with a number of sociodemographic, reproductive hormone, and psychosocial factors.

A new streamlined approach to genetic testing for women with ovarian cancer provides testing rapidly and affordably, allowing many more patients to benefit from personalised cancer management and their relatives to benefit from cancer prevention strategies.

The new approach offers cancer patients the opportunity to get gene testing at one of their routine cancer clinic appointments instead of having to be referred to a separate genetic testing clinic.

Scientists have discovered a new method of creating human stem cells which could solve the big problem of the large-scale production needed to fully realise the potential of these remarkable cells for understanding and treating disease.

The discovery has been made by a team of scientists at The University of Nottingham, Uppsala University and GE Healthcare in Sweden.

Many bacteria use specialized toxins to attack and infect other cells. Scientists at EPFL and the University of Bern have now modeled a major such toxin with unprecedented resolution, uncovering the way it works step-by-step.

There are more different kinds of trees in the Amazon rainforest than anywhere else on earth, but the exact number has long been a mystery. In 2013, scientists estimated that the number of species was around 16,000--no one had ever counted them all up, though. In a new paper in Scientific Reports, the same scientists delved into museum collections from around the world to confirm just how many tree species have been recorded in the Amazon so far--and how many have yet to be discovered.

Environmental records obtained from archaeological sites in South Africa's southern Cape suggest climate may not have been directly linked to cultural and technological innovations of Middle Stone Age humans in southern Africa after all.

Bacteria are rapidly developing resistance mechanisms to combat even the most effective antibiotics. Each year in the United States over 23,000 people die as a result of bacterial infections that have no treatment options, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Infections with antibiotic-resistance bacteria are extremely difficult to treat, requiring costly or toxic medications that do not always work. Scientists are constantly working to understand the mechanisms bacteria use to outsmart antibiotics and develop resistance.

The BioScience Talks podcast features discussions of topical issues related to the biological sciences.

A new study led by researchers of the University of Barcelona and the Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio), published in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution, proves once more that evolution does not always imply more complexity or more genes in living beings.

FINDINGS

Chapman University has published research on how breastfeeding rates differ among white, black and Hispanic mothers. The study looked to see if ethnic and racial disparities in breastfeeding could be explained by differences in the use of formula in hospitals, family history of breastfeeding, mother's belief that "breast is best"; and demographic measures including poverty, education and relationship status.

Washington, DC - July 12, 2016 - Ebola and Marburg filovirus disease outbreaks have typically occurred as isolated events, confined to central Africa. However, the recent Ebola epidemic spread to several African countries, and caused 11,000 deaths. That epidemic underscored the need to develop vaccines and therapeutics that could be used to fight future disease outbreaks.

WHAT: Scientists at the National Institutes of Health are reporting new, unexpected details about the fundamental structure of collagen, the most abundant protein in the human body. In lab experiments, they demonstrated that collagen, once viewed as inert, forms structures that regulate how certain enzymes break down and remodel body tissue. The finding of this regulatory system provides a molecular view of the potential role of physical forces at work in heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and other disease-related processes, they say.

Philadelphia, PA, July 12, 2016 - Understanding the effects of age and disease on sexual wellbeing is crucial as sexual health is increasingly associated with vitality. In a new study published in The American Journal of Medicine, researchers looked at the role metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease play in postmenopausal women's sexual health.