Body

Shimmering carapaces and rattling claws make colourful freshwater crabs attractive to pet keepers. To answer the demand, fishermen are busy collecting and trading with the crustaceans, often not knowing what exactly they have handed over to their client.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Scientists may have unlocked the genetic code that determines why many patients with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer fail to respond to the widely used drug tamoxifen.

Patients who have higher levels of several nuclear transport genes - particularly the protein XPO1 - are more likely to be resistant to tamoxifen, resulting in the development of incurable metastatic cancer, according to a new study led by researcher Zeynep Madak-Erdogan at the University of Illinois.

Through this "nanoscale-sculpturing" process, metals such as aluminium, titanium, or zinc can permanently be joined with nearly all other materials, become water-repellent, or improve their biocompatibility. The potential spectrum of applications of these "super connections" is extremely broad, ranging from metalwork in industry right through to safer implants in medical technology. Their results have now been published in the prestigious journal Nanoscale Horizons of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A Florida State University research team, in coordination with a team from Japan, has found that the epithelial tissues that line the surfaces of organs throughout the body intrinsically have hot spots for cancerous tumors.

They discovered this by examining a common household pest -- the fruit fly.

"Flies and humans have a lot in common in terms of genes and pathways for developing cancer," said Wu-Min Deng, professor of biological science at Florida State and the senior author on the paper.

An experimental cancer drug works differently than intended and shows significant promise for stopping melanoma and possibly other forms of cancer, research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine suggests. The findings also indicate the drug may be effective against melanomas that have resisted other forms of treatment.

EUGENE, Ore. - Sept. 7, 2016 -- University of Oregon researchers have found links between the levels of antimicrobial chemicals and antibiotic-resistance genes in the dust of an aging building used for athletics and academics.

One of the antimicrobials seen in the study is triclosan, a commonly used antibacterial ingredient in many personal care products. It is among antimicrobials that will be phased out within the next year from hand and bar soaps, according to a ruling Sept. 2 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Sept. 7, 2016 -- A new study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Northern Arizona University (NAU) used deep DNA sequencing methods to generate the anthrax genome sequence from the victims of the 1979 anthrax outbreak in Sverdlovsk, Russia, when it was part of the USSR.

Users of both electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and cigarettes may be more intent on quitting tobacco, but that intention seems to drop off among less educated smokers, according to a study by Georgia State University researchers published in the journal Addictive Behaviors.

DURHAM, N.C. - Aspirin's ability to reduce the risk of both cardiovascular disease and colon cancer has been a welcome, yet puzzling, attribute of the pain reliever that has been a mainstay in medicine cabinets for more than 100 years.

Now researchers at Duke Health have identified a new mechanism of aspirin's action that appears to explain the drug's diverse benefits.

ITHACA, N.Y. - A new study -- the first to look at social media's effect on memory -- suggests posting personal experiences on social media makes those events much easier to recall.

"If people want to remember personal experiences, the best way is to put them online," said Qi Wang, the lead author of the study and professor of human development in the College of Human Ecology.

"Social media - blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and others alike - provide an important outlet for us to recall memories, in the public space, and share with other people."

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Sept. 7, 2016) -- Scientists may be closer to answering a long-standing question in biology -- how do the components of cells' molecular machinery work together to transmit vital gene regulatory information from one cell generation to the next?

(Edmonton) University of Alberta mechanical engineering professor Aloke Kumar and members of his lab are hot on the trail of bacteria as they spread between surfaces connected by fluid flows. Understanding how this spread occurs is contributing to the development of prevention techniques and could improve our health and our healthcare practices.

When 28 distinguished individuals convened earlier this year to help shape the scientific mission at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of Vice President Joe Biden's National Cancer Moonshot Initiative, they were given five months to draft guidelines to accelerate cancer research, prevention and care. On Wednesday, the National Cancer Advisory Board approved the Blue Ribbon Panel's 10 recommendations.

ROSEMONT, Ill. (Sept. 7, 2016) -- Prevention programs are effective at reducing the risk of ankle injuries by 40 percent in soccer players, according to a new study appearing in today's issue of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS).

MADISON, Wis. -- In 1988, fires consumed more than a million acres of Yellowstone National Park and its surrounding lands. But for the past three decades, Yellowstone's forests -- resilient ecosystems composed of species adapted to periodic severe fire -- have embarked on their recovery.