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A Japanese research team have applied a method used in human genetic analysis to rice and rapidly discovered four new genes that are potentially significant for agriculture. These findings could influence crop breeding and help combat food shortages caused by a growing population. The paper was published on June 21, 2016 (Japan Standard Time) in the online edition of Nature Genetics.

While most malaria research has focused on the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, which is common in Africa, another parasite, Plasmodium vivax (P.vivax) is responsible for the majority of malaria infections outside this region, causing an estimated 15.8 million clinical malaria cases each year. The parasite is becoming increasingly resistant to common antimalarial drugs, posing challenges for malaria elimination.

Respiratory diseases are among the most common ailments in calves. Hubert Pausch from the Chair of Animal Breeding at the Technical University of Munich and his team have now been able to trace a gene mutation responsible in both Braunvieh and Fleckvieh: a recessive mutation that alters the structure of the cilia of the airways is the culprit. It only manifests in homozygous animals. This means that both parents were carriers of the mutation.

The immune system is equipped with the mechanisms to adapt to bacterial infection, and one of the keys to this efficient reaction is rooted in changes that take place in the metabolism of mitochondria. These changes are important for adaptation of the response of immune cells to live or dead bacteria. The discovery was made by scientists at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC), led by Johan Garaude, Rebeca Acín-Pérez, José A. Enríquez and David Sancho, and is published in Nature Inmunology.

Researchers at Linköping University have made a discovery that could contribute to developing new vaccines and treatment alternatives for tuberculosis in the future. The results have been published in Scientific Reports.

Eight million people suffer from - and two million die from - tuberculosis every year. For HIV patients, tuberculosis is the leading cause of death. Antibiotics are currently used against tuberculosis, as no effective vaccine could be developed thus far - but with growing resistance to antibiotics, the cure for tuberculosis is threatened.

Artificial intelligence (AI) developed by a University of Cincinnati doctoral graduate was recently assessed by subject-matter expert and retired United States Air Force Colonel Gene Lee - who holds extensive aerial combat experience as an instructor and Air Battle Manager with considerable fighter aircraft expertise - in a high-fidelity air combat simulator.

The artificial intelligence, dubbed ALPHA, was the victor in that simulated scenario, and according to Lee, is "the most aggressive, responsive, dynamic and credible AI I've seen to date."

Vaccination with the anthrax capsule--a naturally occurring component of the bacterium that causes the disease--completely protected monkeys from lethal anthrax infection, according to a study published online this week in the journal VACCINE. These results indicate that anthrax capsule is a highly effective vaccine component that should be considered for incorporation in future generation anthrax vaccines.

Philadelphia, PA, June 27, 2016 - Sudden deaths in young, seemingly healthy competitive athletes are tragic events, often with wide media coverage and high public visibility. There is substantial interest in establishing the cause of these deaths and the roles that race and gender may play. In a new study published in The American Journal of Medicine, investigators report that more than one-third of recorded cardiovascular deaths were caused by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the majority in young male minority athletes.

Wide-ranging species may have different levels of bacterial immunity than their rarer relatives, new research suggests.

The study, conducted by Plymouth University PhD student Rebekah Cioffi and supervised by the University's Dr John Moody, Professor David Bilton and Dr Richard Billington, examined the physiological and immune properties of Deronectes diving beetles, species of which are found living across Europe.

Scientists collected samples of widespread and restricted species and then assessed temperature tolerance, metabolic flexibility and immunity.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Electronic cigarette makers and sellers are making all kinds of health claims, many of which likely won't stand up to scrutiny under recently announced FDA regulation, a new study has found.

Regulatory oversight of those claims, announced in May, brings all tobacco products, including liquids used in vaporizers and e-cigarettes, under the same government oversight. All products must now carry warnings they contain nicotine, which is addictive.

Sales of e-cigarette products are rising about 25 percent a year.

In one of the largest, most representative health surveys conducted to date, lesbian, gay and bisexual adults reported substantially higher rates of severe psychological distress, heavy drinking and smoking, and impaired physical health than did heterosexuals.

The National Health Interview Survey, one of the nation's leading health surveys, collected responses from approximately 68,000 adults. The results were reported today in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine by researchers at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

A team of investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital and the University of Massachusetts have developed a suite of computer algorithms that can accurately predict the behavior of the microbiome - the vast collection of microbes living on and inside the human body. In a paper published in Genome Biology, the authors show how their algorithms can be applied to develop new treatments for serious diarrheal infections, including Clostridium difficile, and inflammatory bowel disease.

Research, involving scientists and doctors at the University of Southampton and Royal Bournemouth Hospital, has identified a network of genes that are likely to be shared by all patients who have chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL).

Furthermore, the study has identified gene networks that are associated with patient survival, which could be identified as targets for treatment.

AUGUSTA, Ga. (June 27, 2016) - A pain medicine that potently activates a receptor vital to a healthy retina appears to help preserve vision in a model of severe retinal degeneration, scientists report.

Potentially blinding diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration result in the loss of photoreceptor cells in the retina that enable us to convert light into images.

INDIANAPOLIS - Many testicular cancer survivors experience hearing loss after cisplatin-based chemotherapy, according to researchers at Indiana University.