Body

SAN DIEGO -- A congenital condition called pectus excavatum, in which a child's breastbone is sunken into the chest, can be corrected through minimally invasive surgery, but pain control after the operation can be a challenge. A Mayo Clinic study has found an effective way to control pain and reduce opioid painkiller use after surgery: sending children home with catheters that infuse a non-narcotic nerve-blocking drug called a paravertebral blockade. Use of the blocks shortens hospital stays and reduces opioid use after surgery, the researchers discovered.

WASHINGTON -- A growing body of research is revealing associations between birth defects and a father's age, alcohol use and environmental factors, say researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center. They say these defects result from epigenetic alterations that can potentially affect multiple generations.

PITTSBURGH, May 15, 2016 - The minimally invasive implantation of tiny coils into the lungs improves exercise ability, lung function and quality of life for patients with severe emphysema, according to a large international trial presented by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and presented today at the American Thoracic Society International Meeting in San Francisco.

Researchers at Umeå University in Sweden have discovered that specific DNA sequences that are rich in the DNA building block guanine in the yeast species, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, can form four-stranded DNA. In a study published today in the journal Nucleic Acids Research, the researchers also show that the motor protein Pfh1 can unfold these DNA structures and thus contribute to maintaining an intact genome.

A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine finds that smokers, who wouldn't typically be diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, are still showing symptoms consistent with the diagnosis.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COPD is the third-leading cause of death in the United States with tobacco smoke being a key factor in its cause.

Researchers from the University of Chicago have shown that inhibiting autophagy, a self-devouring process used by cells to degrade large intra-cellular cargo, effectively blocks tumor cell migration and breast cancer metastasis in tumor models. In a study, published May 12, 2016, in the journal Cell Reports, they demonstrate that the process is essential for tumor metastasis and describe the mechanisms that connect autophagy to cell migration.

The frequent occurrence of same-sex behaviors in beetles of one sex could be explained by genes that are favored by natural selection when expressed in the opposite sex, according to a study published in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology.

The study by researchers from Uppsala University, Sweden sheds new light on same-sex sexual behavior in the animal kingdom through examination of the seed beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus, a common beetle found in bean stores across the world.

Same-sex sexual behaviour is common in animals but puzzles evolutionary biologists since it doesn't carry the same obvious benefits as heterosexual courtship behavior that leads to mating and production of offspring. A study from Uppsala University sheds new light on the pervasiveness of same-sex sexual behaviour in the animal kingdom.

• Syncytin-1 gene is result of a viral infection of our primate ancestors
• Protein helps embryos implant in the womb
• Discovery is crucial for many stressful pregnancy complications

Scientists at the University of Sheffield have identified a protein, involved in the development of the human placenta, may also help embryos implant in the womb - something which could improve treatments for recurrent miscarriages and pre-eclampsia.

Babies born to mothers with gestational diabetes have more body fat at two months of age compared to babies born to healthy mothers, says a new study.

Scientists from Imperial College London used MRI scanning to measure body fat in 86 babies - they took these readings shortly after birth, and again when the babies were 8-12 weeks old.

Women with early-stage breast cancer for whom chemotherapy was indicated and who used dietary supplements and multiple types of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) were less likely to start chemotherapy than nonusers of CAM, according to a new study published online by JAMA Oncology.

An analysis of the ultraviolet A (UV-A) light protection in the front windshields and side windows of automobiles finds that protection was consistently high in the front windshields while lower and highly variable in side windows, findings that may in part explain the reported increased rates of cataract in left eyes and left-sided facial skin cancer, according to a study published online by JAMA Ophthalmology.

This week, two important papers addressing pressing challenges and the best path forward for interpreting results from clinical genome and exome sequencing will appear in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

Ryohei Yasuda, Ph.D. and his team at the Max Planck Florida Institute of Neuroscience (MPFI) are working to understand the way cells in our brains change as we learn and form memories. But research in this area has been limited due to a lack of techniques allowing scientists to locate and visualize individual proteins within a single neuron. Current imaging methods do not provide specificity, contrast, and resolution powerful enough to see distinct proteins. Plus, they are time consuming and expensive; it can take a year or two to develop the engineered models.

Gene expression is the process by which genetic information is used to produce proteins, which are essential for cells to function properly and fulfil their many purposes. It takes place in two distinctive steps: first the transcription, which takes place in the nucleus, then the translation, in the cytoplasm. Control of gene expression is vital for cells to produce the exact proteins that are needed at the right moment. Until now, gene transcription and translation into proteins were thought to be two independent processes.