Body

UCLA researchers have discovered an optimal way to image the bile ducts during gallbladder removal surgeries using a tested and safe dye and a real-time near-infrared florescence laparoscopic camera, a finding that will make the procedure much safer for the hundreds of thousands of people who undergo the procedure each year.

The new imaging procedure can also be used any time surgeons look laparoscopically at the liver and surrounding anatomy.

An international team of scientists has identified novel gene locations associated with childhood body mass index (BMI)--an important measurement related to childhood obesity. The meta-analysis, covering over 47,000 children, is the largest genetic study to date of childhood BMI.

PHILADELPHIA--(March 10, 2016)--In almost every mammalian cell, you will find the endoplasmic reticulum, a network of continuous membranes responsible for controlling metabolism as well as the folding, assembly and secretion of proteins. Since the endoplasmic reticulum is critical in manufacturing important proteins that facilitate communication between cells, researchers are exploring new ways to find important targets within these membranes that could help stimulate immune responses against cancer cells.

PHILADELPHIA - The generally accepted medical maxim that elevated HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) is "good" has been overturned by a multi-center, international study, led by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. They show that a certain genetic cause of increased HDL-C may actually be "bad," noting that a specific mutation in a gene which encodes a cell receptor protein that binds to HDL prevents the receptor from functioning.

Researchers have identified a species of bacteria that uses just two enzymes to break down plastic. Poly(ethylene terephthalate), or PET, is a type of polymer used in plastic that is highly resistant to biodegradation. About 56 million tons of PET was produced worldwide in 2013 alone, and the accumulation of PET in ecosystems around the globe is increasingly problematic. To date, very few species of fungi - but no bacteria - have been found to break down PET. Here, Yoshida et al.

Timing may not be everything, but it could be important in understanding why an anticancer treatment like radiation produces different results against cancer cells, according to a new study by Sheng-hong Chen and colleagues. The cells respond differently, the researchers conclude, depending on their state at the time of treatment. Their study tested radiation treatment against human breast cancer cells in which the activity of the cancer-causing gene MDMX was inhibited.

Automatic ship identification systems (AIS) have much potential to provide useful marine data and inform international marine policies, but inconsistent use of this technology, as well as falsification of data by users, must be addressed, Douglas McCauley et al. emphasize in this Policy Forum. The ocean remains one of the least observed regions of the world, but recently numerous countries and organizations are harnessing the power of AIS, which is enhanced thanks to recent improvements in satellite and computation capability, to fill gaps in ocean observation.

Researchers have identified a link between the expression of a cancer-related gene and cell-surface molecules that protect tumors from the immune system.

A cancer-associated protein called Myc directly controls the expression of two molecules known to protect tumor cells from the host's immune system, according to a study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

(PHILADELPHIA) -- Scientists believe that "conserved" genes -- those found in life forms that range from bacteria to plants, insects and humans -- perform vital biological functions across species. And limited research on one of those genes, Nitrilase 1 (Nit1), suggested it acts to inhibit cancer development.

PITTSBURGH, March 10, 2016 - Drug-overdose deaths in Pennsylvania increased 14-fold in the last 35 years, with rates climbing especially fast in relatively young white women, according to the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.

The analysis is the first to examine in detail accidental overdose deaths over time in Pennsylvania and suggests potential targets for public health intervention and law enforcement efforts. It is published in today's issue of the journal PLOS ONE.

A difference of one hundredth of a percent in fitness is sufficient to select between winners and losers in evolution. For the first time researchers have quantified the tiny selective forces that shape bacterial genomes. The story is published today in the prestigious journal PLoS Genetics.

Accumulating evidence suggests that rates of low bone mass are greater in HIV-infected males than in females. Researchers led by Grace Aldrovandi, MD, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, studied 11 biomarkers associated with inflammation, bone loss and/or bone formation in about 450 individuals - assessed by sex and HIV status - to try to determine causes of this differential bone loss.

Public health emergencies such as the currently spreading Zika disease might be successfully necessitating open access for the available biomedical researches and their underlying data, yet filtering the right information, so that it lands in the hands of the right people, is what holds up professionals to bring the adequate measures about.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (March 10, 2016) - Approximately 14 percent of men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in their lifetimes, according to the National Institutes of Health. Radiation therapy traditionally has been a primary treatment for the cancer, but one-fourth of men have a recurrence of prostate cancer within five years after the therapy. Now, a University of Missouri School of Medicine researcher has found that a complex procedure to remove the prostate achieves excellent long-term survival for men after radiation therapy has failed.

HOUSTON - (March 10, 2016) - A team led by Rice University synthetic organic chemist K.C. Nicolaou has developed a new process for the synthesis of a series of potent anti-cancer agents originally found in bacteria.

The Nicolaou lab finds ways to replicate rare, naturally occurring compounds in larger amounts so they can be studied by biologists and clinicians as potential new medications. It also seeks to fine-tune the molecular structures of these compounds through analog design and synthesis to improve their disease-fighting properties and lessen their side effects.