Body

AMES, Iowa - A simple change in diet could boost vitamin D levels for millions of Americans suffering from Type 2 diabetes, according to new research from Iowa State University published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

SAN ANTONIO (Feb. 9, 2016) - The search for the fountain of youth led to a 2009 discovery that a drug called rapamycin was shown to extend the lifespan of mice. Since that time, studies on the metabolic side effects of rapamycin have made it unclear whether the drug is safe as a long-term treatment. A recent study published in the November issue of the journal Aging showed minimal metabolic side effects after continuous, long-term treatment with encapsulated rapamycin in a marmoset (monkey) model.

London, February 9, 2016 - Rescue workers searching for disaster survivors could use the smell of decomposition to decide what kind of rescue dogs to work with in the hopes of improving their chances of finding survivors. When tragedy strikes and there are casualties, understanding the scent profile of decomposition may help to ensure resources are used in the right way.

No longer satisfied to be washed out by epic seas and vast oceans, the world's lakes, rivers, streams, canals, reservoirs and other land-locked waters continue a push to be recognized - and properly managed - as a global food security powerhouse.

In an article today by Environmental Reviews, authors, which include six either currently affiliated with Michigan State University (MSU) and/or are alumni, offers the first global review of the value of inland fish and fisheries.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - An international team of scientists led by Purdue University has sequenced the genome of the tick that transmits Lyme disease, the most common vector-borne illness in North America.

Researchers have sequenced the genetic blueprint of one of the most prolific pathogen-transmitting agents on the planet - the Lyme-disease-spreading tick (Ixodes scapularis) that bites humans. The findings could lead to advances in not only disrupting the tick's capacity to spread diseases but also in eradicating the pest.

After more than 300 years of looking, scientists have figured out how bacteria "see" their world. And they do it in a remarkably similar way to us.

A team of British and German researchers reveal in the journal eLife how bacterial cells act as the equivalent of a microscopic eyeball or the world's oldest and smallest camera eye.

PULLMAN, Wash.--A Washington State University biologist has found the genetic mechanisms that lets a fish live in toxic, acidic water. The discovery opens the door to new insights into the functioning of other "extremophiles" and how they adapt to their challenging environments.

"These fish are very extreme," said Joanna Kelley, a genome scientist in the School of Biological Sciences at Washington State University. "Ordinary fish, when you put them in that water, are belly up in about a minute."

MONTREAL, February 9, 2016 - North American researchers have identified drugs that showed promising perspectives in treating cancers, according to a recent study published in Cancer Research. These drugs are normally used to treat other diseases, such as heart failure, cardiac arrhythmia, and infections. "We identified a dozen or so drugs that reactivate tumour suppressor genes through an epigenetic mechanism that was never observed before", said Noël Raynal, MSc, PhD, who is an investigator at the mother-child research hospital CHU Sainte-Justine.

Corn seedlings are especially susceptible to hungry insect herbivores, such as caterpillars and aphids, because they lack woody stems and tough leaves. So what's a tender, young corn plant to do?

Mild stress stimulates the activity and heat production by brown fat associated with raised cortisol, according to a study published today in Experimental Physiology.

Babies born to mothers exposed to air pollution from traffic sources during pregnancy have an increased risk of developing asthma before the age of 5 years, according to new findings.

Published today (09 February, 2016) in the European Respiratory Journal, the new research is one of the largest studies to look at the role of variation in air pollution in urban areas and the development of asthma.

The new report comes from one of the world's longest running air pollution studies, which included 368,000 people in England and Wales followed over a 38 year period. The team, from the MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, estimated air pollution levels in the areas where the individuals lived in 1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001, using measurements from Britain's extensive historic air pollution monitoring networks.

New evidence published today highlights benefits and harms of using artificial mesh when compared with tissue repair in the surgical treatment of vaginal prolapse. Slightly better repair with mesh needs to be weighed carefully against increased risk of harms.

A new weakly electric mormyrid fish genus of two new species has been described from only three specimens collected over a period of 13 years in the rivers of the Central African country of Gabon. The genus has been named Cryptomyrus, meaning 'hidden fish' in Greek, and is the first new genus to be described within the family Mormyridae since 1977.