Body

New findings show that testing for blood alcohol levels (BALs) can identify high-risk patients, even if they previously denied excessive drinking, and help to predict alcohol-related health complications. The findings will be published in the October issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research

Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta recently discovered jewel beetles change color because of the light-reflecting properties of the cells that make up their external skeletons, not because of unique, light-absorbing properties in their pigment. The journal Science reports the finding in its July 24 issue. The National Science Foundation supports the research.

Expression of only a single gene programs an immune system helper T-cell that fuels rapid growth and diversification of antibodies. The antibodies are located in a cellular structure possibly related to autoimmune diseases and development of B cell lymphoma, scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center reported today in Science Express.

The gene is Bcl6, which the team found plays the crucial role in differentiating a naïve T-cell into a T follicular helper cell (Tfh).

Scientists from The Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Sangamo Biosciences Inc., Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, Open Monoclonal Technology, Inc. (OMT) and INSERM today announced the creation of the first genetically modified mammals developed using zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) technology.

Open Monoclonal Technology, Inc. (OMT), in collaboration with Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ, SGMO), Sigma-Aldrich Corporation (NASDAQ: SIAL), The Medical College of Wisconsin, and INSERM, today announced the creation of the first targeted knockout rats as detailed in "Knockout Rats Produced via Embryo Microinjection of Designed Zinc Finger Nucleases," published in the July 24th issue of Science. The creation of rats with permanent, heritable genetic mutations is a critical milestone in the development of OMT's novel human monoclonal antibody platform.

Using high-speed cinematography, scientists at Cambridge University have discovered that individual algal cells can regulate the beating of their flagella in and out of synchrony in a manner that controls their swimming trajectories. Their research was published on the 24th July in the journal Science.

University of Utah researchers and their colleagues have identified the mutated gene in a hereditary form of a rare neuroendocrine tumor called paraganglioma (PGL). The gene, called hSDH5, is required to activate an enzyme that plays a critical role in the chemical reactions that convert biochemical energy into usable energy. This study will be published in the journal Science, to be released online in Science Express on July 23, 2009.

Human cells are able to secrete a cancer-killing protein, scientists at the University of Kentucky's Markey Cancer Center have found. Researchers led by Vivek Rangnekar, UK professor of radiation medicine, have determined that the tumor-suppressor protein Par-4, initially thought to be active only within cells expressing the Par-4 gene, is in fact secreted by most human and rodent cells and can target large numbers of cancer cells by binding to receptors on the cell surface.

It has long been thought that cells which come from the body's connective tissue are the only ones that can form the skeleton. Now, research shows that specialized bloodstream cells share a common origin with white blood cells. They too come from bone marrow and are capable of forming bone at sites distant from the original skeleton.

A new study by scientists at the University of Iowa shows why muscle membranes don't rupture when healthy people exercise.

The findings shed light on a mechanism that appears to protect cells from mechanical stress. The study, which appears online July 20-24 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Early Edition, also helps explain why muscle damage is so severe when this mechanism is disrupted, which occurs in certain congenital and limb-girdle muscular dystrophies.

Evolutionarily speaking, parasites make sex a worthwhile thing to do, according to a study published online on July 23rd in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. The researchers report that freshwater snails, which can reproduce either sexually or asexually, are more likely to have sex if they live in the shallows, where the pressure from trematode parasites is more intense than it is in deeper waters.

Many birds really can't stand a racket. But when the going gets noisy, a few species of birds actually thrive, according to a new report published online on July 23rd in Current Biology, a Cell Press journal.

The findings are particularly novel in that they document the effects of noise pollution on an entire breeding bird community rather than on particular species in isolation. They also suggest that it may be possible in some cases to mitigate the loss of bird diversity through better control of noise from highways, industrial complexes, and other sources.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A study led by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute reveals how late-stage, hormone-independent prostate tumors gain the ability to grow without need of hormones.

The onset of hormone-independent growth marks an advanced and currently incurable stage of prostate cancer.

STANFORD, Calif. — Human leukemia stem cells escape detection by co-opting a protective molecular badge used by normal blood stem cells to migrate safely within the body, according to a pair of studies by researchers at Stanford University Medical School.

"We call it the 'Don't eat me signal,'" said Ravindra Majeti, MD, PhD, assistant professor of hematology at the medical school and the co-first author of one of the studies, which focused on acute myeloid leukemia.

Researchers appear to have a new way to fix a broken heart. They have devised a method to coax heart muscle cells into reentering the cell cycle, allowing the differentiated adult cells to divide and regenerate healthy heart tissue after a heart attack, according to studies in mice and rats reported in the July 24th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication. The key ingredient is a growth factor known as neuregulin1 (NRG1 for short), and the researchers suggest that the factor might one day be used to treat failing human hearts.