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CHICAGO -- An international team of scientists have discovered two new plankton-eating fossil fish species of the genus called Rhinconichthys (Rink-O-nik-thees) from the oceans of the Cretaceous Period, about 92 million years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the planet.

Vitamin B6, which exists in different natural forms called vitamers, is essential for all living organisms, as it participates in numerous aspects of cells' everyday life. Researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, have discovered an unexpected role for this micronutrient, in relation to nitrogen metabolism. Described in the journal The Plant Cell, the results indicate that one of the vitamers informs the plant of its content in ammonium, a basic nitrogen compound needed for the biosynthesis of various molecules essential for life, such as proteins.

CHAPEL HILL - Congenital heart disease is the most common birth defect and the leading cause of all infant deaths in the United States. Mutations in the gene TBX5 have been shown to cause both rare and more prevalent forms of congenital heart disease, yet the underlying mechanisms have remained unclear.

Cotton candy machines may hold the key for making life-sized artificial livers, kidneys, bones and other essential organs.

Washington, DC - February 8, 2016 - No vaccine or drug has yet become available against the Dengue virus. A flavivirus like the newly prominent Zika virus, Dengue has become a leading cause of serious illness and death in some Asian and Latin American countries. Now a team of Dutch investigators has data suggesting that a protein in dengue virus that goes by the scientific name, NS4B, would make a promising target for antiviral drug development. The research is published in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

Rochester, Minn. -- Mayo Clinic researchers, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and health officials from Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin, have discovered a new bacterial species that causes Lyme disease in people. The new species has been provisionally named Borrelia mayonii. Prior to this finding, the only species believed to cause Lyme disease in North America was Borrelia burgdorferi.

MULTIMEDIA ALERT: Video and audio are available for download on the Mayo Clinic News Network.

Philadelphia, PA, February 8, 2016 - A largescale study that included women from Germany and China has demonstrated a link between levels of traffic-related air pollution and air pollution-associated gases with the formation of dark spots on the skin, known as lentigenes. The most pronounced changes were observed on the cheeks of Asian women over the age of 50. The report is published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.

DALLAS - Feb. 8, 2016 - An experimental nanoparticle therapy that combines low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and fish oil preferentially kills primary liver cancer cells without harming healthy cells, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report.

HOUSTON - (Feb. 8, 2016) - Rice University bioengineers have found new techniques for precision genome editing that are more accurate and have fewer off-target errors.

The new strategies are shared in three papers in an upcoming special issue of the Nature journal Molecular Therapy on improving the revolutionary genome-editing technique called CRISPR-Cas9.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have engineered a new synthetic biopathway that can more efficiently and cost-effectively turn agricultural waste, like corn stover and orange peels, into a variety of useful products ranging from spandex to chicken feed.

The groundbreaking study was published today in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.

A concise "Five things to know about.... Zika virus infection" article for physicians highlights key points about this newly emerged virus in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal)

Zika virus is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, which are active during the day. They also transmit dengue and chikungunya viruses. Physicians should be alert to symptoms in travellers returning from Central and South America, Mexico and the Caribbean. Zika virus may be linked to Guillain-Barré syndrome and microcephaly in babies born to women infected with Zika virus.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have taken a step closer to understanding the mechanism that leads to the fusion of egg and sperm at fertilisation. Using the technique X-ray crystallography, they have determined the 3D structure of Juno, a mammalian egg protein essential for triggering gamete fusion. Their findings are not only interesting from an evolutionary perspective, but also reveal the shape of a possible target for future non-hormonal contraceptives.

A research team led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists has discovered details of how the abnormal breakage and rearrangement of chromosomes in white blood cells triggers a particularly aggressive form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Such leukemias are cancers of white blood cells, in which genetic mutations trigger overproduction of immature cells, called lymphoblasts.

MANHATTAN, KANSAS -- The majority of millennials may not be putting their money where their mouths are when selecting chocolate, according to a Kansas State University expert in psychological sciences.

Despite strong preferences for ethical chocolate in focus groups, only 14 percent of millennials in individual choice studies selected candy with ethical or social factors labeling -- such as organic, Rainforest Alliance Certified, non-GMO and Fair Trade -- according to a study by Michael Young, professor and head of the university's psychological sciences department.

Researchers at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the BioEnergy Science Center (BESC) say better understanding of a bacterium could lead to cheaper production of cellulosic ethanol and other advanced biofuels.

Their discovery was made during an investigation into the performance of Clostridium thermocellum. The scientists found the microorganism utilizes the common cellulase degradation mechanisms known today (free enzymes and scaffolded enzyme attached to the cell), and a new category of scaffolded enzymes not attached to the cell.