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Boston--An international study has identified the number of genetic factors known to play a role in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the worldwide leading cause of blindness in the elderly. This new discovery may help to further research into the biological processes that results in AMD and allow for the development of new therapeutics, including a personalized medicine approach for treating this debilitating disease.

Specific genes are responsible for determining cell growth and differentiation during the early stages of cardiac development. Reactivation of these genes later in life can lead to an abnormal thickening of the heart muscle. Researchers from Charité -- Universitätsmedizin Berlin lead by Professor Silke Rickert-Sperling have been able to identify the underlying molecular mechanism.

The study, published in the journal Nucleic Acids Research*, was the first to describe the role a very specific protein plays in the development of this common type of heart disease.

Using innovative technology, scientists from the Institut Pasteur and Inserm have filmed in vivo the process by which an AIDS vaccine candidate, developed by the French Vaccine Research Institute and the ANRS, triggers the immune response. This previously unseen footage clearly shows how the vaccine recruits the immune cells needed to destroy infected cells. These results, published in the journal Nature Medicine on December 21, 2015, shed new light on the mode of action and potential of this vaccine.

In a "clash of the microbes," University of Delaware plant scientists are uncovering more clues critical to disarming a fungus that is the number one killer of rice plants.

The findings, published in December in Frontiers in Plant Science and in Current Opinion in Plant Biology, may lead to a more effective control for Magnaporthe oryzae, the fungus that causes rice blast disease.

Zinc levels in breast milk may be able to serve as an indicator of breast function during lactation, according to Penn State health researchers.

In previous studies, Shannon L. Kelleher and colleagues found that the protein ZnT2 is critical for secreting zinc into breast milk, and women who have mutations in the gene that encodes ZnT2 have substantially lower milk zinc levels, leading to severe zinc deficiency in exclusively breast-fed infants.

MELBOURNE, FLA. -- New research from Florida Institute of Technology scientists Chris Cacciapaglia and Rob van Woesik shows that corals may survive better in warm oceans where the water is clouded by floating particles.

Coral reefs, the most diverse marine ecosystems on the planet, are under increasing stress and are dying in many parts of the world as the oceans continue to warm. When high levels of sunlight combine with unnaturally warm temperatures, the corals don't have much of a chance.

(WASHINGTON, December 22, 2015) - New research published online today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), is the first to demonstrate that women on blood thinners can take estrogen-containing contraception or hormone replacement therapy without an increased risk of blood clots or uterine bleeding.

Griffin, Ga. - Researchers at the University of Georgia found that pathogens, like salmonella, can survive for at least six months in cookies and crackers. The recent study was prompted by an increased number of outbreaks of foodborne diseases linked to low-water-activity, or dry, foods.

Larry Beuchat, a Distinguished Professor Emeritus and researcher in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, led a study to see just how long bacteria that cause foodborne illness can survive in certain foods.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- Animals from tiny worms to human beings have a love-hate relationship with fats and lipids. Cholesterol is a famous example of how they are both essential for health and often have a role in death. A new study reveals another way that may be true. Researchers, working in nematodes and mice, found that a naturally occurring protein responsible for transporting fats like cholesterol around the body also hinders essential functions in cells that increase life span.

Quebec City, December 22, 2015--Arthritis and other inflammatory diseases could someday be treated with medication containing a molecule from maple syrup. Université Laval researchers demonstrated in a recent study that quebecol, a molecule found in maple syrup, has interesting properties for fighting the body's inflammatory response.

A seaweed from Asia - used for human nutrition - contains toxic compounds providing protection against animal consumers. However, newly introduced populations of the alga in North America and Europe contain considerably more of the deterrents. This was recently published by an international team of scientists led by GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel. A migration of resistant strains back into Asia in the future is well possible and poses a risk for food safety, as cases of human intoxication may increase in frequency.

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg Physics Department have finally found the secret to synchronize an unlimited number of spintronic oscillators. Such devices are very promising for future applications requiring wideband functionality.

Unfortunately, such nanoscale microwave oscillators suffer from an unbearably low power and high phase noise. It is generally accepted that one of the most attractive ways to solve this issue is to synchronize a large number of these nanoscopic oscillators in order to limit the detrimental influence of thermal energy.

Wikidata is to databases what Wikipedia is to encyclopedias - the free version that anyone can edit. Both aim to share "the sum of all human knowledge" across the world in a multitude of languages, and while Wikidata is younger and has a smaller community, it attracts the collaboration of more than 16,000 volunteer contributors globally each month (up from 14,000 a year ago).

An international team of researchers has established the cause of rare syndrome consistent with Fanconi Anemia: a de novo mutation in a so called RAD51 gene, which is responsible for repairing damages in the DNA. Fanconi Anemia is a chromosome instability disorder which occurs in one of around about 350,000 new born children. It is clinically typified by susceptibility to bone marrow failure, leukemia, different types of solid tumors and a strongly reduced life expectance of the affected persons.

Drowsy drivers are being urged to stop and take a break the first time they hit a road rumble strip these school holidays, with new QUT research revealing the audio-tactile vibrations should be a wake-up call to pull over.

Researcher Chris Watling, from QUT's Centre for Accident Research & Road Safety - Queensland (CARRS-Q), said an estimated 15 per cent of fatal crashes in Queensland were attributed to fatigue and rumble strips were designed to alert a sleepy or inattentive driver when they veered out of their lane.