Genetic study shows humans have pushed orangutans to the brink of extinction

A new study published in the open-access journal PLoS Biology shows strong genetic evidence of a catastrophic collapse in orangutan populations living in the fragmented forests of the Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary in Sabah, Malaysia. Benoit Goossens, Lounès Chikhi, Michael Bruford, and their colleagues report that the collapse occurred within the past hundred years, and most likely within the past decad

In an article appearing online today in the journal Nature Methods, researchers at the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) unveil a powerful new tool that will facilitate genetic research and open up new avenues for the clinical treatment of genetic disease.

The researchers have combined several gene manipulation techniques and incorporated them into a single lentiviral vector – a gene delivery system partly derived from HIV. When injected into living cells – either

The function of tubular organs like the kidneys, lungs, and vessels of the vascular system is critically dependent on the length and diameter of the tubular branches of which they are composed. Several devastating pathological conditions like polycystic kidney disease and ischemias have been intimately linked to the aberrant sizes of tubular organs. Yet the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms that control tube size are poorly understood, and, consequently, drugs that intervene in tubular

Though linked to aging and cancer, reactive oxygen species plays another role
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are normally produced as a product of metabolism, and, as their name implies, they are highly reactive with surrounding biological components. The ability of ROS to damage DNA and other critical molecules underlies their reputation for causing deleterious cellular effects and their association with aging, carcinogenesis, and atherosclerosis. However, in an unanticipated discovery sugge

In a discovery that could greatly accelerate the search for genetic causes of heart disease, a multi-disciplinary Duke University research team has found that the common fruit fly can serve as a powerful new model for testing human genes implicated in heart disease.

The finding is important, the Duke team said, because the entire genome of the fruit fly is well understood and catalogued, enabling researchers to systemically screen genes to identify potential gene mutations or vari

Scientists have for many years debated the cause of the Plague of Athens. Analysis carried out by Manolis Papagrigorakis and colleagues using DNA collected from teeth from an ancient Greek burial pit points to typhoid fever as the disease responsible for this devastating epidemic. The study appears on the online version of The International Journal of Infectious Diseases (IJID) published by Elsevier on behalf of the International Society for Infectious Diseases.

The plague that began in Ethi

New method may speed quest for medically useful compounds in fungi

Ever since penicillin, a byproduct of a fungal mold, was discovered in 1929, scientists have scrutinized fungi for other breakthrough drugs. As reported Jan. 20 in the Journal of Chemistry and Biology, a team led by a University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher has developed a new method that may speed the ongoing quest for medically useful compounds in fungi.

By manipulating a single fungal protein, the

A new technique based on the same technology used to detect chemical warfare agents and explosives is being employed by scientists at The University of Manchester to treat hospital patients with lung disease.

Dr Paul Thomas and a team of researchers are using a sensor, commonly used to detect explosives at airports, to develop a new way of diagnosing lung disease.

The microDMx sensor, developed by Sionex Corporation, is being used to develop a new technique which is

New research shows that it is undamaged nerve fibres that cause ongoing spontaneous pain, not those that are injured.

These unexpected findings, by Dr Laiche Djouhri, Professor Sally Lawson and colleagues from the University of Bristol, UK, are reported in the Journal of Neuroscience today [25 January, 2006].

Previous research into ongoing chronic pain has tended to focus on the damaged nerve fibres after injury or disease and overlooked the intact fibres. This new unders

Infections could play a key role in triggering certain types of adult brain cancer, according to results from a new statistical analysis of the disease.

The international study, led by Dr Richard McNally at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, was funded by Cancer Research UK, the Dutch Cancer Society, and the Christie Hospital Research Endowment Fund.

The British and Dutch team* analysed a database of adult brain tumours diagnosed in patients from the North Brab

Erectile dysfunction may provide a warning sign of significant coronary heart disease researchers from the University of Chicago report in the January 23 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. Although recent studies suggest an association between erectile dysfunction and atherosclerotic vascular disease, this is the first study to link ED with abnormal results on cardiac stress testing, including evidence for severe coronary artery blockages and markers of a poor cardiovascular prognosis.

Elderly patients taking the commonly prescribed blood thinner warfarin experience an increased risk for osteoporosis-linked bone fractures, according to a study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The results suggest physicians should carefully monitor the bone health of patients placed on the medication and that their patients should take steps to decrease the risk of osteoporosis.

Warfarin, also known by the brand-name Coumadin®, is often given to patients with at

Research could revolutionize care of transplant patients

Carnegie Mellon University scientist Chien Ho and his colleagues have developed a promising tool that uses magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to track immune cells as they infiltrate a transplanted heart in the early stages of organ rejection. This pre-clinical advance, described in an upcoming issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), ultimately could provide a non-invasive way to detect transplan

The first genome-wide screen for protein complexes is completed

Today researchers in Germany announce they have finished the first complete analysis of the ”molecular machines” in one of biology’s most important model organisms: S. cerevisiae (baker’s yeast). The study from the biotechnology company Cellzome, in collaboration with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), appears in this week’s online edition of Nature.

“To carry out their tasks, most proteins wo

Dr. Anthony E. Oro and colleagues (Stanford University) have identified two key Gli protein degradation signals that directly affect tumor latency in a mouse model of human skin cancer.

Their paper has been made available online ahead of print and will appear on the cover of the February 1 issue of the scientific journal Genes & Development.

Gli proteins are transcriptional mediators of the Sonic Hedgehog intracellular signaling pathway. Aberrant Shh signaling is imp

A new ’greener’ and cleaner chemical process* could revolutionize the leather-tanning industry, according to a report in the Feb. 15 issue of the American Chemical Society’s journal Environmental Science & Technology. ‘Reverse’ leather tanning, which essentially works backward from the point where conventional tanning ends, saves time, money and energy while drastically slashing water use and pollution, say researchers at the Central Leather Research Institute in Adyar, India.