Body

The armored shells of some marine mollusks have evolved to satisfy two conflicting design requirements, protection and sight, a new study shows. The study's insights could inspire advances in the design of multifunctional materials, such as lightweight armor with sensory capabilities. Although many biological tissues serve more than one purpose, rarely are tissues optimized to do multiple tasks well; doing one task efficiently typically comes at the expense of performing another at such a high level.

Roundworm infection can increase the reproduction rate in Amazonian women, while hookworm infection can decrease it, a new study finds. Parasitic worms infect two billion people globally; while it's known that some parasites can cause cognitive and nutritional impairment, this study suggests that reproduction rates can also be affected by parasitic organisms. Furthermore, the authors propose an intriguing mechanism behind this correlation: the immune system.

November 20, 2015 (BOSTON) - Multifunctional materials with sensory capabilities like those of vision, touch or even smell could profoundly expand the possibilities of industrial design in many areas. Taking a cue from nature, a cross-institutional collaboration involving researchers from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and MIT has deciphered how the biomineral making up the body armor of a chiton mollusk has evolved to create functional eyes embedded in the animal's protective shell.

DALLAS - November 19, 2015 - UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have shown that a pathogen-sensing molecule plays a vital role in keeping gastrointestinal (GI) systems healthy.

The molecule - called Absent in Melanoma 2, or AIM2 - detects the DNA of harmful microorganisms (pathogens) and regulates inflammation in the gut. AIM2 is present in all immune and epithelial cells, which make up a large part of the intestine's cell population and help to maintain a healthy gut.

ROANOKE, Va., Nov. 16, 2015 - Scientists from the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute and clinicians from Carilion Clinic have discovered how to sensitize drug-resistant human glioblastoma cells to chemotherapy.

They published their results in Cancer Research, the scientific journal of the American Association of Cancer Research.

Health experts at Johns Hopkins Medicine are calling on lawmakers and regulators to close loopholes in the Orphan Drug Act they claim give drug companies millions of dollars in unintended and misplaced subsidies and tax breaks and fuel skyrocketing medication costs.

The newly sequenced genomes of two marine worms are shedding light on the 570 million-year evolution of gills into the pharynx that today gives humans the ability to bite, chew, swallow and speak.

The draft genome sequences of two species of acorn worm, which live in U-shaped burrows in shallow, brackish water, are the first genomes of hemichordates, which retain similarities to the first animals to evolve pharyngeal or "gill" slits. Those ancestors eventually gave rise to chordates: animals with backbones and hollow nerve cords, like humans and other vertebrates.

Chicago - A simple blood test taken before surgery may predict how quickly patients recover from their procedure, suggests a new study in the December issue of Anesthesiology, the official medical journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). According to the study, identifying a patient's immune state from blood samples taken before surgery, revealed patterns that may predict speed of recovery from postoperative pain and dysfunction.

BOSTON--Minimally invasive gynecologic surgeries have advantages for patients, including shorter hospital stays, quicker recoveries, and less pain. However, power morcellation, a technique which cuts the uterus or fibroid into small pieces in order to extract them from the abdomen through a small incision, may worsen a woman's prognosis if a cancer is morcellated unintentionally.

Piping plovers, a federally threatened species of shorebirds, are likely losing wetland breeding habitat in the Great Plains as a result of wetland drainage, climate change or both, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey study.

CINCINNATI--Cancer researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have found a new target that could lead to therapies for a rare type of tumor.

These findings are being reported in the Nov. 9 advance online edition of the journal Cancer Cell.

As the recipe book for turning stem cells into other types of cells keeps growing larger, the search for the perfect, therapeutically relevant blend of differentiation factors is revealing some interesting biology. A study published November 19 in Chemistry & Biology, for example, found that a protein in E. coli bacteria combined with small molecules can act synergistically to push pluripotent cells into functional neurons.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (November 19, 2015) - Whitehead Institute researchers have revealed the architecture of a protein complex that plays a foundational role in the machine that directs chromosome segregation during cell division.

In a world first, Kumamoto University researchers have shown mouse kidney capillaries successfully connecting to kidney tissue which was derived from human iPS cells. This achievement shows that human kidney glomeruli made in vitro can connect to blood vessels after transplantation and grow to maturity. It is a big step forward in gain-of-function for a urine-producing kidney.

Youth violence undermines social and economic development, especially in the poorest corners of the world, according to research from McGill University. However, increased government spending on education may be the key to facilitate policy efforts to protect youth.