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Sulfoxaflor found to be less harmful to insect predators than broad-spectrum insecticides

A new study appearing in the Journal of Economic Entomology has found that the selective insecticide sulfoxaflor is just as effective at controlling soybean aphids (Aphis glycines) as broad-spectrum insecticides, without causing significant harm to some beneficial predators of the aphid.

Mayo Clinic, collaborators working to advance aging research

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Mayo Clinic, along with other members of the Geroscience Network, has published six manuscripts that map strategies for taking new drugs that target processes underlying aging into clinical trials. Researchers believe that these agents hold promise for treating multiple age-related diseases and disabilities. The articles appear today in The Journals of Gerontology: Series A - Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences.

TERRA, the RNAs that protect telomeres

Despite their especially compact structure that is difficult to access, telomeres transcribe information like the rest of the DNA. The RNAs resulting from this process are called TERRA and their function is essential in preserving these protective structures. This is the conclusion of a new study by the Telomere and Telomerase Group at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), which has also located the part of the human genome where these molecules are "manufactured".

CRISPR-Cas9 breaks genes better if you disrupt DNA repair

CRISPR-Cas9 is the go-to technique for knocking out genes in human cell lines to discover what the genes do, but the efficiency with which it disables genes can vary immensely.

University of California, Berkeley researchers have now found a way to boost the efficiency with which CRISPR-Cas9 cuts and disables genes up to fivefold, in most types of human cells, making it easler to create and study knockout cell lines and, potentially, disable a mutant gene as a form of human therapy.

New findings detail how beneficial bacteria in the nose suppress pathogenic bacteria

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., August 17, 2016 -Staphylococcus aureus is a common colonizer of the human body. Although, one quarter of the U.S. population live with the bacteria and never get sick, having S. aureus present in the nostrils is a risk for infections that range in severity from mild skin to life- threatening MRSA infections. Research from the Forsyth Institute is providing insight into how harmless Corynebacterium species, bacterial members of the nasal and skin microbiome, help protect humans from disease.

Snake eyes: New insights into visual adaptations

Snakes have adapted their vision to hunt their prey day or night. For example, snakes that need good eyesight to hunt during the day have eye lenses that act as sunglasses, filtering out ultraviolet light and sharpening their vision while nocturnal snakes have lenses that allow ultraviolet light through, helping them to see in the dark.

Down to the wire: ONR researchers and new bacteria

ARLINGTON, Va.--Scientists sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) have genetically modified a common soil bacteria to create electrical wires that not only conduct electricity, but are thousands of times thinner than a human hair.

At work, hierarchies draw narcissist job hunters

ITHACA, N.Y. - People who have narcissistic tendencies are more likely to support hierarchies, according to research by Emily M. Zitek, assistant professor at Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

Two hundred to 400 people answered questions in five separate studies, which collected information through online surveys.

People with narcissistic traits tended to support hierarchical businesses and organizations when they were either at the top of the hierarchy or when they expected they could rise to the top, according to study outcomes.

Duration of adulthood overweight and obesity linked to cancer risk in US women

The duration of overweight and obesity in women's adult lives is associated with cancer risk, according to a longitudinal study published in PLOS Medicine. The study, led by Melina Arnold of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the specialized cancer agency of the WHO, in Lyon, France, and Professor Hoda Anton-Culver at the University of California, Irvine, uses United States Women's Health Initiative (WHI) data to identify dose-response relationships between duration of high body mass index (BMI) and the risk of developing several types of cancer.

Genetic and environmental risk factors for chronic pain

Both genetic factors and family environment contribute to risk for chronic pain, and contributions of many genes contribute to risk of both chronic pain and major depressive disorder (MDD), according to a new study published in PLOS Medicine. The research was conducted by Andrew McIntosh of the University of Edinburgh, and colleagues and utilized data from 23,960 individuals in the Generation Scotland: Scottish Family Health Study, as well as 112,151 individuals with genotyping and phenotypic data from the United Kingdom Biobank.

Injected drug reduces risk of fracture among women with osteoporosis

Among postmenopausal women with osteoporosis at risk of fracture, daily injection of the drug abaloparatide for 18 months significantly reduced the risk of new vertebral and nonvertebral fractures compared with placebo, according to a study appearing in the August 16 issue of JAMA.

Expanded prenatal genetic testing may increase detection of carrier status for potentially serious genetic conditions

In an analysis that included nearly 350,000 adults of diverse racial and ethnic background, expanded carrier screening for up to 94 severe or profound conditions may increase the detection of carrier status for a variety of potentially serious genetic conditions compared with current recommendations from professional societies, according to a study appearing in the August 16 issue of JAMA.

Recently approved cholesterol medication not cost-effective; could substantially increase US health costs

Although the recently FDA approved cholesterol-lowering drugs, PCSK9 inhibitors, could substantially reduce heart attacks, strokes, and cardiovascular deaths, they would not be cost-effective for use in patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia or atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, with annual drug prices needing to be reduced by more than two-thirds to meet a generally acceptable threshold for cost-effectiveness, according to a study appearing in the August 16 issue of JAMA.

Use of feeding tubes decreases among nursing home residents with advanced dementia

In a study appearing in the August 16 issue of JAMA, Susan L. Mitchell, M.D., M.P.H., of Hebrew SeniorLife Institute for Aging Research, Harvard Medical School, Boston, and colleagues examined feeding tube insertion rates from 2000-2014 among U.S. nursing home residents with advanced dementia.

Female fish can favor sperm from preferred males despite external fertilization

Biologists studying a small, colorful fish in the Mediterranean Sea have discovered a new way in which a female can choose the best father for her offspring.

The animal kingdom is full of elaborate traits and behaviors by which females choose mates. Even in species in which the female mates with multiple males, biologists have found evidence of "cryptic female choice" involving mechanisms in the reproductive tract that influence which male's sperm fertilize the eggs.