Body

Trypanosoma cruzi is a protozoan parasite that can cause an insidious onset of Chagas disease, a fatal cardiac disease in humans and dogs. The parasite is transmitted via triatomine insects, commonly called kissing bugs. In Latin America T. cruzi is recognized as an economically important parasite; however, there is limited research regarding its spread and virulence in the USA. As a result, while the genetic diversity of the T. cruzi parasite has been well studied in Latin America less is known about the strains endemic to the USA.

Human genome editing for both research and therapy is progressing, raising ethical questions among scientists around the world.

On the one hand, technical advances could enable doctors to modify germline genes - those contained in sperm and eggs - to prevent offspring from developing devastating genetic diseases. At the same time, the potential for gene editing to alter human inheritance also alarms many scientists, prompting some to argue that germline editing should be prohibited indefinitely.

Infection with the nematode parasite Mansonella perstans is one of the most neglected of the neglected tropical diseases. Although symptoms are usually mild, the infection can cause swelling, fever, headaches and abdominal pain and an optimal treatment has not yet been determined. The parasite is transmitted by biting midges found in many areas of sub-Saharan Africa however the exact species of the vector is unknown.

College students who are addicted to the Internet report positive and negative effects on their family relationships, according to new research from Georgia State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The study is the first to show how college students in the United States diagnosed with Problematic Internet Use (PIU) perceive its role in their families.

CORVALLIS, Ore. - There is no evidence that water births, where a baby is intentionally born under water in a tub or pool, poses any increased harm to the child, Oregon State University researchers have found.

Researchers examined outcome data for more than 6,500 midwife-attended water births in the United States and found that newborns born in water were no more likely to experience low Apgar scores, require transfer to the hospital after birth or be hospitalized in their first six weeks of life, than newborns who were not born in water.

Most animals, including humans, have two copies of their genome -- the full set of instructions needed to make every cell, tissue, and organ in the body.

But some animals carry more than two complete sets of the genome, referred to as polyploidy. Biologists have long wondered whether these extra chromosomes help or hinder those species.

URBANA, Ill. - Differences in soil type, variety of soybeans, climate, or processing conditions can cause the same crop to have different nutritional value when produced in different locations. However, feed composition tables combine values from crops grown all over the world. Results of recent research at the University of Illinois indicate that book values for energy in soybean meal underestimate the energy value of soybean meal produced in the United States.

DALLAS - Jan. 21, 2016 - UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found that cancer drugs known as CDK4/6-inhibitors alter the metabolism of pancreatic cancer cells, revealing a biologic vulnerability that could be exploited for therapeutic gain. The findings were published today in Cell Reports.

Because pancreatic cancer has one of the worse prognoses of any cancer and is the third leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S., according to the National Cancer Institute, researchers for years have sought to find better treatment options.

A breast cancer patient is wheeled into the operating room. She is connected to an IV that sends dye molecules into her blood that travel to her tumors. The surgeon inserts a small camera into the patient's chest and her breast tissue appears on a nearby monitor. The cancer cells are glowing a bright green. Such optical probes, which are meant to improve tumor removal, are already in phase I and phase II clinical trials in humans and could be a common procedure in the next 5-10 years.

As many as twenty-four new species from Australian rainforests are added to the weevil genus Trigonopterus. Museum scientists Dr. Alexander Riedel, State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe, Germany, and Rene Tanzler, Zoological State Collection Munich, Germany, have first discovered them among unidentified specimens in different beetle collections. The study is published in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

CINCINNATI--Migraine headaches heat up as women approach menopause, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC), Montefiore Headache Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Vedanta Research.

"Women have been telling doctors that their migraine headaches worsen around menopause and now we have proof they were right," says Vincent Martin, MD, professor of internal medicine in UC's Division of General Internal Medicine and co-director of the Headache and Facial Pain Program at the UC Neuroscience Institute.

Researchers have named a new leech after best-selling author Amy Tan based on an innovative method for peering inside soft-bodied animals. Chtonobdella tanae, a terrestrial leech from Australia, is the first new species of invertebrate without chitinous or calcified tissues (like a shell or exoskeleton) to be described with computed tomography (CT) scanning.

Scientists at the Helmholtz Zentrum München, working with colleagues from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, have developed a method for the thorough analysis of protein modifications. They mapped the phosphorylation sites of the RNA polymerase II enzyme, which is responsible for expressing our genes. The results have now been published in the Molecular Cell scientific journal.

While studying the insect collection of the Museum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, France, two American scientists uncovered a small, leaf-dwelling praying mantis with unique features collected from Madagascar in 2001. Its distinctive "horned neck" and flattened, cone-like eyes, as well as the location from where it was found, led the researchers to assign the insect to a new genus and species. The study is published in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

ROSEMONT, Ill. (Jan. 21, 2016)--Previous research studies have linked obesity to adverse outcomes and increased costs following total knee replacement surgery (TKR). A new, computer model-based evaluation appearing in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, supports bariatric surgery in morbidly obese patients with end-stage osteoarthritis (loss of cartilage and joint pain, caused by aging and use) prior to TKR.