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People have thrived deep within the Amazon rainforest for hundreds of years without contact with the outside world. The constant encroachment of modern civilization, however, is putting the long-term sustainability of these people, and the ecosystems they inhabit, at risk.

Washington, DC - March 25, 2016 - Outbreaks of botulism killed large percentages of waterbirds inhabiting a wetland in Spain. During one season, more than 80 percent of gadwalls and black-winged stilts died. The botulinum toxin's spread may have been abetted by an invasive species of water snail which frequently carries the toxin-producing bacterium, Clostridium botulinum, and which is well adapted to wetlands polluted by sewage. Global warming will likely increase outbreaks, said corresponding author Rafael Mateo, PhD.

DALLAS - March 25, 2016 - Scientists at the Children's Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) report that inactivating a certain protein-coding gene promotes liver tissue regeneration in mammals.

"This research gives us ideas about new ways to treat liver damage or chronic liver disease," said senior author Dr. Hao Zhu, an Assistant Professor at CRI with joint appointments in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at UT Southwestern Medical Center. The study was published this week in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

Normally, cells are highly active and dynamic: in their liquid interior, called the cytoplasm, countless metabolic processes occur in parallel, proteins and particles jiggle around wildly. If, however, those cells do not get enough nutrients, their energy level drops. This leads to a marked decrease of the cytoplasmic pH - the cells acidify. In response, cells enter into a kind of standby mode, which enables them to survive. A team of researchers from Dresden, Germany, have found out that the cytoplasm of these seemingly dead cells changes its consistency from liquid to solid.

Beetles diversity in New Brunswick, Canada, has elicited the interest of biologists for over a century and continues to do so. In 1991, 1,365 species were known from New Brunswick. That number had increased to 2,703 by 2013, as a result of a series of publications in three previous special ZooKeys issues and other publications. In spite of that work, there were still gaps in the knowledge of the Coleopteran fauna.

Renal fibrosis or the scarring of kidneys, following an injury, reduces their function and can cause kidney disease to progressively worsen. In a recent study, published in Kidney International, researchers from Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS) in Singapore and Duke University have shown that drugs that target Wnt secretion by inhibiting Porcupine, a protein usually targeted for cancer treatment, may reduce renal fibrosis and protect the kidneys.

New research indicates that curcumin--a substance in turmeric that is best known as one of the main components of curry powder--may help fight drug-resistant tuberculosis. In Asia, turmeric is used to treat many health conditions and it has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and perhaps even anticancer properties.

Routine mammography--widely recommended for breast cancer screening--may also be a useful tool to identify women at risk for heart disease, potentially allowing for earlier intervention, according to a study scheduled for presentation at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session.

Viruses that infect bacteria are among the most abundant life forms on Earth. Indeed, our oceans, soils and potentially even our bodies would be overrun with bacteria were it not for bacteria-eating viruses, called bacteriophages, that keep the microbial balance of ecological niches in check.

Now, a new study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that bacteriophages made of RNA -- a close chemical cousin of DNA -- likely play a much larger role in shaping the bacterial makeup of worldwide habitats than previously recognized.

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have discovered a way to use a microscopic, swirling flow to rapidly clear a circle of tiny bacteria or swimming robots.

"This discovery offers a new approach for control and manipulation of microscopic swimmers," said Argonne physicist and co-author Igor Aronson, and it could be useful in tiny microfluidic ("lab-on-a-chip") devices that can quickly run chemical or biological analyses or perform tasks.

Viruses that infect bacteria are among the most abundant life forms on Earth. Our oceans and soils, and potentially even our own bodies, would be overrun with bacteria were it not for bacteria-eating viruses--called bacteriophages--that keep the microbial balance in check.

Now, a new study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that bacteriophages made of RNA - a close chemical cousin of DNA - likely play a much larger role in shaping the bacterial makeup of worldwide habitats than previously recognized.

The closely related Hendra and Nipah viruses (referred to jointly as henipaviruses) are deadly cousins of the more common mumps, measles, and respiratory syncytial viruses, all members of the paramyxovirus family. Henipavirus outbreaks are on the rise, but little is known about them, partly because research has to be conducted under extreme level containment conditions.

Researchers have designed and synthesized a minimal bacterial genome, containing only the genes necessary for life, and consisting of just 473 genes. This advances the team's groundbreaking research published in 2010, in which they built and booted up the first self-replicating, synthetic bacterial cell, providing proof of principle that genomes can be designed in the computer, chemically made in the lab, and transplanted into a recipient cell to produce a new, self-replicating cell controlled only by the synthetic genome.

By sequencing a small number of Zika virus genomes from Brazil, researchers have estimated that the virus had a single entry into the Americas, likely more than a year before the virus was reported in Brazil. This timing, they say, correlates with major events in the Brazilian cultural calendar associated with increased numbers of travelers to the country, particularly from areas where the Zika virus (ZIKV) circulates.

Vertebrates that have adapted to endure greater swings in seasonal temperatures tend to have greater elevational range sizes, the theory goes, but a new study analyzing more than 16,500 terrestrial vertebrates suggests this pattern is reversed in species adapted for high daily temperature fluctuations; instead, these species have smaller elevational range sizes, the study suggests.