Body

PHILADELPHIA -- Men with prostate cancer who are undergoing radiation therapy can benefit from yoga, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania reported at the Society of Integrative Oncology's 12th International Conference.

Montréal, November 16, 2015 - By studying a type of immune cells, a team of researchers at the IRCM led by André Veillette, MD, identified the mechanism of action for a new target for novel immune-oncology treatments. Their discovery is published today in the print edition of the scientific journal the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

Adding to a growing body of research on patterns of e-cigarette use, researchers from Rutgers School of Public Health and the Steven A. Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies at Truth Initiative have found evidence that among U.S. adults, some recent cigarette quitters may have done so with the assistance of electronic cigarettes.

LAWRENCE -- It's a shocking discovery that may redefine how scientists interpret what it means to be an animal.

This week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the University of Kansas will reveal how a jellyfish -- those commonplace sea pests with stinging tentacles -- have evolved over time into "really weird" microscopic organisms, made of only a few cells, that live inside other animals.

As the 20th-century novelist Joseph Conrad famously wrote, "It's only those who do nothing that make no mistakes, I suppose," and Nature is very busy, so she makes lots of them. But as a genius, she can use them to advantage. Take for example whole genome duplication -- an error in DNA replication, or mating between different species, that doubles the number of chromosomes, leading to a duplication of the vast majority of genes. Such grand mistakes turn out to be among the major forces accelerating evolution.

Global energy demand from developed nations has an adverse impact on freshwater resources in less developed nations according to a new study.

While current energy policy focuses on preventing greenhouse gas emissions, the results show that freshwater impacts also need to be considered when deciding future national and international energy policies.

Freshwater is used by the energy sector along the complete supply chain from extraction and conversion of raw material through to generation of power.

Using large-scale computer modeling, researchers have shown the effects of confinement on macromolecules inside cells -- and taken the first steps toward simulating a living cell, a capability that could allow them to ask 'what-if' questions impossible to ask in real organisms.

Stanford, CA--Everyone who took high school biology learned that photosynthesis is the process by which plants, algae and select bacteria transform the Sun's energy into chemical energy during the daytime. But these photosynthetic organisms activate other biochemical pathways at night, when they generate energy by breaking down the sugars, starches, and oils that they created during the day.

In just the past few years, researchers have found a way to use a naturally occurring bacterial system known as CRISPR/Cas9 to inactivate or correct specific genes in any organism. CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing activity runs continuously, though, leading to risk of additional editing at unwanted sites.

DALLAS - November 16, 2015 - Scientists at the Children's Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) have determined how the body responds during times of emergency when it needs more blood cells. In a study published in Nature, researchers report that when tissue damage occurs, in times of excessive bleeding, or during pregnancy, a secondary, emergency blood-formation system is activated in the spleen.

CHAPEL HILL, NC - Imagine you have a bone fracture or a hip replacement, and you need bone to form, but you heal slowly - a common fact of life for older people. Instead of forming bone, you could form fat. Researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine may have found a way to tip the scale in favor of bone formation. They used cytochalasin D, a naturally occurring substance found in mold, as a proxy to alter gene expression in the nuclei of mesenchymal stem cells to force them to become osteoblasts (bone cells).

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego report new insights into what nutrients fat cells metabolize to make fatty acids. The findings pave the way for understanding potential irregularities in fat cell metabolism that occur in patients with diabetes and obesity and could lead to new treatments for these conditions. The researchers published their findings online in the Nov. 16 issue of Nature Chemical Biology.

In order to roost upside down on cave ceilings or tree limbs, bats need to perform an aerobatic feat unlike anything else in the animal world. In an article publishing in the Open Access journal PLOS Biology on 16th November, researchers from Brown University have shown that it's the extra mass in bats' beefy wings that makes the maneuver possible.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- Compared to birds and insects, bats have heavy wings for their body size. Those comparatively cumbersome flappers might seem a detriment to maneuverability, but new research shows that bats' extra wing mass makes possible a quintessential bit of aerobatics: the ability to land upside down.

CORVALLIS, Ore. - The creation and sustainment of "safe spaces" may play a critical role in community-based HIV prevention efforts by providing social support and reducing environmental barriers for vulnerable populations, a new study from an Oregon State University researcher has found.