Adaptive changes in the genome may provide insight into the genetics of complex disease
...Variation in 132 Genes." For the paper,researchers studied the molecular evolution of 132 genes by comprehensivelyresequencing them in 24 African-Americans and 23 European-Americans. Theresults showed strong evidence for natural selection at eight genes in theEuropean-American population, likely explained by...Story tips from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, September 2004
...a sample of germania (GeO2) glass. The researchers studied its transformation from a simple structural motif with four oxygen atoms surrounding a germanium atom to a high-density six oxygen atom motif that had never been fully characterized. The researchers used intense beams of X-rays and neutrons for diffr...New research suggests link between maternal diet and childhood leukemia risk
...velopment of leukemia in a child. Researchers also studied the use of vitamin supplements, but did not find a statistically significant link to childhood leukemia risk. A growing number of scientists believe that genetic changes linked to cancer later in life begin in the womb. "It goes back to the ...UCLA molecular biologists uproot the tree of life
...ms, conducted a detailed mathematical analysis and studied the evolution of genomes. "We followed the genes that make up organisms through time, and saw the fusion of organisms," Lake said. "As we learn more about the organisms that came together, we will learn more about their genetic background. The ring w...Pneumococcal vaccine reduces ear infections, pneumonia, new study shows
...s of pneumonia each year. Poehling and colleagues studied data from Tennessee's Medicaid records and from three commercial insurance companies in upstate New York. They found that after routine vaccination with the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine began children in Tennessee younger than 2 years old had 7 per...New evidence of radiation risk in childhood leukaemia
...onitoring radiation-induced mutation in humans and studied germ-line mutation among families from rural areas of Ukraine and Belarus, both of which were heavily contaminated by fallout from the Chernobyl accident. They found a statistically significant 1.6-fold increase in mutation rate in the germ-line of e...Extreme stretch-growth of axons
...ed throughout animal species, but just hasn't been studied in depth. By revealing the mechanisms of extreme-stretch growth, the team is currently applying this knowledge to develop nerve constructs to repair nerve and spinal cord damage. "To find that tension is actually good for your nerves for both growth...Heart gene yields insights into evolution, disease risk
...f functions in the body. However, the variant they studied does not affect the structure of the protein itsel...ex, said the researchers, overall the variant they studied tends to retard the progress of coronary artery heart disease Because of this clinical effect, consi...Genetic map of important tree genes outlined
...e said. Just as Arabidopsis is the most commonly studied plant in the world with respect to molecular genetics, poplar is the most commonly studied tree, Strauss said. Trees, which are among the most ancient of plant life forms, also have a very co...Bone marrow cells routinely help with wound healing
...nd integrity of the skin." Bone marrow has been studied for a number of purposes in recent years because it is rich in stem cells cells that can go on to become many different kinds of cells. In order to conduct this research, Isik and colleagues obtained a strain of mice whose bodies glow green under fl...Broken arms and collateral damage: clues to predator-driven evolution
...e, Baumiller and his former graduate student Gahn, studied fossil crinoids, a group of marine animals related to starfish and sea urchins. Crinoids, also called sea lilies, have feathery arms that they extend to catch bits of plankton or detritus passing by in the current. Like their starfish cousins and ot...... But while early chicken beak development has been studied to some degree, little is known about how these shapes are created in the later stages of development. To shed some light on that question, Chuong and colleagues compared beak development in chickens and ducks: Duck beaks are long and wide, Chuong no...Convulsions in worms mimic epileptic seizures
... interns, Cody J. Locke and Andrea L. Braden. They studied worms with a mutation in the LIS1 gene. In its human form, the gene has been linked to a rare birth defect called lissencephaly, which affects one out of every 30,000 children born. In children with lissencephaly, the normally wrinkled surface of the...Anti-cancer compound in vegetables found to block late-stage breast-cancer cell growth
...ly in use, such as Taxol," Singletary said. SUL is studied extensively for its effects against cancer. Previous reports have shown that SUL induces defensive mechanisms that are effective in protecting normal cells from the initiation of cancer. "More than 10 years ago, researchers at Johns Hopkins Univers...Analysis of biological clock may lead to greater understanding of human disease
...try of the fruit fly because it is one of the most studied of all organisms. They were able to take mathematical information from the scientific literature on fruit flies and perform computations to derive their findings. They made systematic changes to the mathematical model in a sensitivity analysis of all...Professor calls for a new branch of learning
...bate, but its potential adverse impacts need to be studied along the same lines. A discipline of nanotoxicology would make an important contribution to the development of a sustainable and safe nanotechnology . He added: "Our current knowledge of the toxicology of nanoparticles and nanotubes (tiny carbon tu...What actually influences air pollution over the Indian Ocean?
...ers of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry have studied nitrogen oxides pollution over the Indian Ocean. They showed that the central Indian Ocean in the southern hemisphere is not always as pristine as found earlier during the winter monsoon period, but is polluted during the monsoon transition periods b...Visiting African scientists collaborate with MBL scientists on infectious diseases
...s to combat these diseases. One important pathogen studied by the visiting scholars in the GID program is the African trypanosome. This vicious parasite causes human sleeping sickness, a fatal disease that has reemerged as a major health problem in sub-Saharan Africa. Gustave Simo, from Cameroon, will be at ...PCB breakdown in rivers depends on sediment-specific bacteria, find Carnegie Mellon U. scientists
... 12, Loews -- Commonwealth B). The investigators studied sediments taken from two rivers in upstate New York where local industries had released PCBs over several decades. They found that bacteria in contaminated Hudson River sediment were faster at digesting an introduced PCB compared with sluggish bacter......t from other mammalian pheromone transport systems studied so far. Furthermore, the exploitation of albumin in pheromone transport complements the particular lifestyle of Asian elephants by reflecting the uniqueness of elephant anatomy, physiology, and behavior....