Body

An international team of scientists led by the Lomonosov Moscow State University group made a significant step in creating a new type of drug for treatment of autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's diseaase. The work was published in PNAS: http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1520175113

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- DNA is made from four nucleosides, each known by its own letter -- A, G, C, and T. However, since the structure of DNA was deciphered in 1953, scientists have discovered several other variants that are often added to the DNA sequences to replace one of the usual four letters.

These variants, which may be modified versions of the traditional nucleosides, often help cells to control which genes are turned on and off, and are referred to as "epigenetic marks" in the DNA. In bacteria, they can also protect DNA from invasion by other organisms such as viruses.

A new study at the University of Illinois has determined that high-protein canola meal could prove to be a valuable ingredient in swine diets.

"Canola meal is an excellent plant-based source of protein that is often included in swine diets," said Hans H. Stein, a professor of animal sciences at U of I. "In recent years, canola varieties have been developed which contain greater concentrations of protein than conventional varieties. Our study has provided new information on the nutritional value of high-protein canola meal."

Researchers seeking to better understand how our genes contribute to stroke risk have completed what is believed to be the largest and most comprehensive review of the human genome to identify genes that predispose people to ischemic stroke, the cause of approximately 85 percent of all strokes.

The research has confirmed the role of the handful of genes previously suspected, ruled out others and identified a new gene that may become a drug target for doctors seeking to prevent this potentially deadly and often debilitating condition.

Massive Collaboration

The human body critically depends on the liver to metabolize toxins and synthesize biomolecules necessary for life. In addition to being a site for life threatening diseases, the liver is particularly sensitive to damage induced by xenobiotics and drugs. Lawrence Vernetti, a co-author, puts it this way: "The cost to the drug developer becomes enormous if unexpected liver damage emerges late in drug development. You either stop development of potentially life-saving drugs or face additional expensive human clinical trials."

Subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) is the gold standard for type 1 diabetic patient therapy. Less physiological than intraperitoneal administration, the subcutaneous route may induce glycemic variability in some patients, a powerful enhancer of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. While this oxidative stress is recognized to play a role in diabetes and its complications, its characterization has not been fully achieved, especially in the liver, the target organ for insulin sensitivity. Under physiological conditions, an endogenous antioxidant system ensures the oxidative balance.

Researchers have known for decades that the environmental stress experienced by one generation induces changes in behavior, shape, biochemical properties and rates of development of their offspring. But the precise ecological conditions that produced these responses were not known.

Researchers at The University of Texas at Arlington have now provided the first evidence that stable environments like constant predator threats, not unstable conditions, generate these non-genetic "trans-generational responses" in the next generation.

Boulder, Colorado, USA: In the March-April issue of GSA Today, Stanley Finney (California State University at Long Beach) and Lucy Edwards (U.S. Geological Survey) tackle the hot topic of whether to define a new "Anthropocene" epoch as a formal unit of the geologic time scale. The term "Anthropocene" has receive significant coverage in both the geoscience and popular press, but little of that coverage has focused on how units of the International Chronostratigraphic Chart (the basis for the geologic time scale) are defined.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - Women considering abortions are getting medically inaccurate information nearly a third of the time in states that require doctors to provide informed consent materials to their patients, according to a Rutgers study.

A tumor's immune response to a single dose of the HER2 inhibitor trastuzumab predicted which patients with HER2-positive breast cancer would respond to the drug on a more long-term basis, according to the results of a study published recently in Clinical Cancer Research.

Toxicologists use a large number of tests to assess potential toxicity of chemicals to human and ecological health, a thorough analysis of one chemical requiring $2 to 4 million and a few years of time. One important toxicological property of chemicals is mutagenicity. Both drugs and environmental pollutants can be mutagenic. Gene mutilation related diseases have a major impact on human health. Some mutations may lead to increased susceptibility to some forms of heart disease, diabetes, or cancer.

Sometimes evolution proceeds much more rapidly than we might think. Genetic analysis makes it possible to detect the earliest stages of species formation and to gain a better understanding of speciation processes. For example, a study just published in PLOS Genetics by researchers from Eawag and the University of Bern - investigating rapid speciation in threespine stickleback in and around Lake Constance - shows that a species can begin to diverge very rapidly, even when the two daughter species breed alongside one another simultaneously.

LOS ANGELES (EMBARGOED Until 2 p.m. ET on Feb. 29, 2016) - Cardiac stem cells could be an effective treatment for a common but difficult-to-treat type of heart failure, a new study from the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute shows.

The study, published today, has led to clearance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to test the cells in patients.

Understanding genetic diversity and evolutionary dynamics of organisms can have important implications for designing successful conservation efforts and understanding potential effects of future climate change. For scientists seeking to illuminate these dynamics and uncover genetic diversity within plant species, microsatellites are an often-used tool. These repeated segments of DNA sequences offer a glimpse into the evolutionary history of organisms at a very fine scale, providing a valuable data source for population-level studies.

An unseen war rages between the ocean's tiniest organisms, and it has significant implications for understanding the ocean's role in climate change, according to a new study.