Double mastectomies significantly lower risk of breast cancer in women who are genetically at risk
...oval of both breasts to prevent a cancer before it occurs can lower the risk of developing breast cancer by 90 percent in women genetically pre-disposed to the disease. This is the first study to quantify the risk reduction for this procedure and its impact on hundreds of thousands of women in the United ...UNC study may improve gene therapy safety
...olecular level, a cascade of cell signaling events occurs irrespective of the therapeutic gene. This is something we didn't anticipate."The report will appear in the March issue of Molecular Therapy, the American Society of Gene Therapy's journal. The study focused on two viruses: adenovirus and adeno-ass...Computer method identifies potentially active enzymes
... hard to create an enzyme that is better than what occurs in nature," says Horswill. "But the FamClash approach will aid in engineering enzymes to work better in unnatural conditions, such as low or high temperatures, basic or acidic environments or organic solvents." Horswill and Stephen J. Benkovic, the...Microbial fuel cell cleans, generates electricity from domestic wastewater
...e anode. In addition, a reaction (oxidation) that occurs in the interior of the bacterial cell lowers the biochemical oxygen demand, cleaning the water. The current Penn State MFC is about six inches long and 2.5 inches in diameter. It contains eight anodes, composed of graphite, that supply about 36 s...Secondary complications and restoration of function in SCI
...siderable interest for countering the fatigue that occurs in the muscles of able-bodied individuals during functional electrical stimulation. There is also much interest in using electrical stimulation for the rehabilitation of individuals with SCI. This study investigated the effectiveness of VFT stimulati...... said. "Understanding how disulfide bond formation occurs and figuring out new ways to make it happen could be important to numerous disease states, like Alzheimer's and cystic fibrosis, that result from defective protein folding. " Disulfides are also vital for the activity of most proteins that are inj...Biochemical clues to long lifespan revealed
...rsing age-related nerve-cell degeneration, such as occurs in Alzheimer's disease. The Sir2-FOXO interaction may also inhibit tumor formation, since DNA damage in cells can make them cancerous. "If you have molecules that come together to mediate resistance to environmental stresses that cause aging, one...Revised guidelines published for testing for hereditary type of colorectal cancer
...ary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) usually occurs in patients younger than age 45 and can result in the development of cancers in a variety of tissues, such as the colon, rectum, endometrium, stomach, ovaries, brain, and skin. A major genetic characteristic of HNPCC tumors is microsatellite instabil...Anthrax spores can germinate, grow and reproduce in soil
...ic studies to confirm whether this curious finding occurs naturally in the environment, our research suggests that the potential exists." Even though the B. anthracis life cycle inside the host has received increased scientific attention recently, Hanna says researchers still have a lot to learn about how i...Dirty air from Asia can push U.S. air pollution to unhealthy levels
...y to a point where we can now say that, 'Yes, this occurs at large-enough levels occasionally that it can affect our air quality,'" he said....Structure solved by Scripps scientists shows one way that body controls gene expression
...nce of post-transcriptional gene regulation, which occurs at the level of mRNA. In mammals, once DNA genes are transcribed into mRNAs in the nucleus of a cell, they are usually transported outside the nucleus, where the mRNAs can be "translated" into proteins. At this point, certain regulatory p...Small amounts of alcohol or anesthetics may damage the developing brain
...studies indicate that significant nerve cell death occurs in the infant mouse brain following exposure to bl...is complicated by the fact that brain cell suicide occurs naturally at a low rate during development," Olney says. "Transient exposure to small amounts of alc...New evidence points to pollution as main cause of much coral reef destruction
... higher nitrogen concentrations in their tissue as occurs when water nitrogen concentrations increase, likely due in part to a resulting change in flavor. "To my knowledge, this is the first time anyone has ever shown that with increased nutrients, you get increased grazing in coral reef environments," say...Substances found in blood may predict development of preeclampsia
...-the mysterious high blood pressure that sometimes occurs in pregnant women, but which usually doesn't lead to the serious complications associated with preeclampsia. The study did not include women with gestational hypertension, so it is not known whether these women also experience a rise in sFlt-1 and...Study demonstrates altered angiogenic proteins in preeclampsia patients
...chool (HMS). Also known as toxemia, preeclampsia occurs in an estimated five percent of all pregnancies, and affects approximately 200,000 women in the U.S. each year. Worldwide, it is one of the leading causes of maternal and infant mortality. Last year, Karumanchi and colleagues identified the source...The scoop on poop: Insect feces, dead leaves may provide clues to health of world
... University of Oklahoma. "This cycle of nutrients occurs very rapidly in the rainforest. A leaf can completely decompose and its nutrients return to the soil in a matter of a couple of months. But, in Vermont for example, if a leaf falls in September, it will still be on the ground in April." "Global cli...Seeing how plants split water could provide key to our future energy needs
...sk in an energy efficient way too." Photosynthesis occurs in plants, some bacteria and algae and involves tw...7 angstroms have shown that the splitting of water occurs at a catalytic centre that consists of four manganese atoms (Mn)," explains Professor So Iwata of Im...Cystic fibrosis gene linked to fatty acid defects
...dies and show that the same fatty acid abnormality occurs in humans with CF, is related to the degree of abnormality in the gene, and is not a consequence of inflammation. These new findings, described in a study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), UMass Memorial Health Care ...... countries of Asia and South America leishmaniasis occurs frequently; its incidence has even been increasing in the Near East and India over the past few years. The main vector of the disease is the two-millimetre long sand fly. A single bite is sufficient to cause an infection. A vaccine or medicinal preve...