Analysis of approximately 41,000-year-old human remains found in France suggests that Neandertals may have become regionally mobile earlier than scientists once thought.
Cédric Beauval and colleagues from Université Bordeaux 1 in France, Max Planck Institute in Germany, and Washington University in St. Louis, conclude that the human femur fragment found in 2002 in the cave of the Rochers-de-Villeneuve comes from a Neandertal, based on its shape and mitochondrial DNA. Its age pl
Hohenstein quality label provides guidance
Probably no other catchword has had such an impact on professional textile circles or been included in the advertising messages of manufacturers as frequently over recent months as the term nanotechnology. As there is no uniform definition of the term as yet and there is no distinction between this and conventional textile finishing, insecurity amongst retailers and consumers has increased as the number of advertised active principles an
A critical lock and key mechanism that allows the final step in the completion of new blood vessel formation has been identified by a University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine team in research that promises to lead to a new way to halt tumor growth by cutting off the tumor blood supply.
The research team led by Judith Varner, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Medicine at UCSD and a member of the Rebecca and John Moores UCSD Cancer Center, made the surprising
A new experimental drug may be effective against a certain form of leukemia resistant to current treatments, research at UT Southwestern Medical Center shows.
“This novel anti-leukemia drug that we have been working on shows considerable promise for going into the clinic,” said Dr. Robert Ilaria Jr., associate professor of internal medicine and molecular biology and senior author of the study that will appear in an upcoming issue of Blood. The study is available online.
Research performed at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has revealed that oxygen therapy aimed at helping mice with acute lung inflammation breathe paradoxically worsened their illness. The researchers say excess oxygen appears to thwart a natural process that limits lung tissue damage. They overcame this deleterious side effect, however, by adding an inhaled anti-inflammatory drug to the oxygen therapy.
A paper published in this week’s Journal of Clinical Oncology says Transforming Growth Factor Beta Receptor 1*6A (TGFBR1*6A) – a mutated gene present in nearly one in eight people and the most commonly inherited cancer susceptibility gene identified so far – might be responsible for a significant proportion of familial colorectal cancers. The study, published by researchers at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern University’s Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, sa
Simple blood test in the near future possible
For the first time, physicians at University Health Network and University of Toronto have identified a small subset of genes that can predict whether a patient with chronic Hepatitis C will be able to respond to current treatments. These genes could also become the basis of a simple new test in the future to predict which patients will respond to therapy.
The study, published in the May issue of the American Gastroenterolog
RNA-guided RNA pseudouridylation in archaea
Pseudouridylation is one of the most abundant forms of post-transcriptional RNA modification in eukaryotes and archaea, and plays a key role in the generation and correct functioning of cellular RNAs. The modifications are made by a complex of proteins directed to target sites by integral non-coding guide RNAs.
Drs. Michael and Rebecca Terns and colleagues have effectively reconstituted the archaeal modification guide ribonucleop
Substantial risks to native fish stocks argue for evaluation of dangers
The substantial risk to salmon stocks posed by salmon that escape from net-pen farms argues for risk assessments of all types of marine fish farming, according to an article published in BioScience. Rosamond Naylor of Stanford University and nine coauthors conclude in their article that without a firm policy mandate for risk assessment of escaping farm fish, aquaculture will “almost certainly lead to extensiv
A long-standing paradigm in developmental biology has been that default neuralization (ie., the differentiation of dissociated ectodermal cells to neural cells in culture) is caused by the dilution and thereby suppression of BMP growth factor signaling.
Dr. Edward De Robertis and colleagues now show that, contrary to this traditional belief, BMP signaling is, in fact, sustained at comparable levels in dissociated ectodermal cells as in intact Xenopus embryos.
The researchers
Dr. Stephen Goff and colleagues have identified a novel retroviral resistance gene, called FEZ1, that can mediate a potent resistance to murine leukemia virus, as well as HIV-1, in cell culture.
The researchers found that the high level of FEZ1 expression in a specific laboratory rat cell line caused a significant block to retroviral infection – retroviruses were able to enter the host cells and synthesize the viral DNA, but were excluded from entering the host cell nucleus.
“W
The establishment of first polarity in the developing mammalian embryo is one of the most contentious topics in developmental biology today. Drs. Davor Solter and Takashi Hiiragi have new evidence to fuel the ongoing debate.
Using various techniques, including comprehensive time-lapse microscopy, the researchers showed compelling evidence for the absence of predetermined polarity in the mouse egg. Their findings are in contrast to those who feel that the site of sperm entry determines th
Severely obese children have lipoprotein profiles that signal early risk of cardiovascular disease and the metabolic syndrome, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association’s Sixth Annual Scientific Conference on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.
“The message is urgent about the importance of prevention of cardiovascular disease in childhood. Lifestyle modification with appropriate diet and exercise can reduce cardiovascular risk in children,
Columbia University/University of Iowa study suggests inflammation and other immune responses might trigger genetic cause of blindness in elderly
Age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the elderly, occurs when a common inherited gene variation is triggered, possibly by an infection, according to a new study led by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center and the University of Iowa, with an international research team.
The gene, kno
New theory contends that long-lived, quiescent retroelements are a major driving force in human genome evolution
Louisiana State University scientists in the Department of Biological Sciences have unraveled the details of a 25-million-year-old evolutionary process in the human genome. Specific DNA sequences that appear to have persisted in a latent state for long periods of time may not be simply lying dormant. Instead, the researchers say that these elements have played a c
Blocking the COX-1 enzyme – not COX-2 – might lead to a way to prevent and treat the most common and fatal form of ovarian cancer, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center reported this week.
The finding, that COX-1 inhibition slowed the growth of epithelial ovarian tumors in a mouse model of the disease, is surprising, said Sudhansu K. Dey, Ph.D., senior author of the paper and director of the Division of Reproductive and Developmental Biology in the Vanderbilt Depa
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