DNA links genetic lineage of western hemisphere insects to African desert locust

Somewhere between three and five million years ago, a massive swarm of locusts took off from the west coast of Africa and made an unlikely voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to colonize the New World, says an international team of researchers.

Using genetic evidence from more than 20 species of locusts, scientists from the Universities of Toronto, Arizona, Maryland, Cornell University and

A Johns Hopkins researcher, with colleagues in Sweden and at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, suggests that the traditional view of cancer as a group of diseases with markedly different biological properties arising from a series of alterations within a cell’s nuclear DNA may have to give way to a more complicated view. In the January issue of Nature Reviews Genetics, available online Dec. 21, he and his colleagues suggest that cancers instead begin with “epigenetic” alterations to

Science honors the top ten research advances of 2005

Evolution has been the foundation and guiding theory of biology since Darwin gave the theory its proper scientific debut in 1859. But Darwin probably never dreamed that researchers in 2005 would still be uncovering new details about the nuts and bolts of his theory — how does evolution actually work in the world of influenza genes and chimpanzee genes and stickleback fish armor? Studies that follow evolution in action claim top h

Like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a protein from a disease-causing bacterium slips into plant cells and imitates a key host protein in order to cripple the plant’s defenses. This discovery, reported in this week’s Science Express by researchers at the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) for Plant Research, advances the understanding of a disease mechanism common to plants, animals, and people.

That mechanism, called programmed cell death (PCD), causes a cell to commit suicide. PCD

OHSU, New Zealand study says exact molecular mixture in male-emitted pheromone during musth period dictates other elephants’ interest

The exact chemical blend of a pheromone emitted by older male elephants in musth influences both a female elephant’s interest in mating and how other surrounding elephants behave, a new study has found.

The researchers at Oregon Health & Science University and the University of Auckland in New Zealand say the release of a specific

Novel signaling system may eventually help make gene therapies more effective

A gene therapy research team at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has developed a new method of signaling therapeutic genes to turn “off” or “on,” a mechanism that could enable scientists to fine-tune genetic- and stem cell-based therapies so that they are safer, more controllable and more effective.

Although other similar signaling systems have been developed, the Cedars-Sinai research is the fir

A vibrating disc no bigger than a speck of dust could help to diagnose and monitor common types of cancer and provide specialists with information about the most appropriate therapy.

The European Commission has this month awarded 12 million Euros to an international consortium led by Newcastle University, England, to develop the biosensor technology towards clinical trials stage.

The research team aims to produce a hand-held device which would enable samples of blood, s

A third of patients treated for schizophrenia who stop taking their medication early do so because they do not feel any significant improvement or because their symptoms are worsening. A study published today in the open access journal BMC Medicine reveals that patients with schizophrenia are three times more likely to stop treatment because of poor response or worsening symptoms, than because of adverse non-psychiatric side effects.

Hong Liu-Seifert and colleagues from Eli Lilly and C

Virtual reality that allows doctors to visualise the heart in three dimensions could help in the diagnosis of heart conditions. A pilot study published today in the open access journal Cardiovascular Ultrasound reveals that doctors can diagnose heart conditions quickly and easily from virtual three-dimensional animated images or ’holograms’ of the heart. Three-dimensional (3D) holograms allow doctors to ’dive’ into the beating heart and see interior parts of the organ.

Annemien van den B

Researchers in the Department of Pathology at Yale University School of Medicine report that when using current pathology methods of biomarker detection, the concentration of antibodies used dramatically alters the apparent relationship of biomarker level to clinical outcome. The paper appears in the December issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The study, led by David L. Rimm, M.D., associate professor of pathology and member of the Yale Cancer Center, was des

The European Commission today presents “100 Technology offers stemming from EU Biotechnology RTD results”, a catalogue of biotechnology developments arising from EU-funded research projects over the last 10 years. This guide will help to put researchers and companies in contact, hopefully leading to new and innovative products and processes based on this research. Examples featured in the catalogue include applications for food and plant biotechnology, biopharmaceuticals and biomedical technolo

Dr. Gema Frühbeck, director of the Metabolic Research Laboratory of the University Hospital of the University of Navarra, has published a commentary in the latest issue of Nature. The article presents aquaporin as a new modulator of the biology of the adipocyte. It is a new concept concerning how the permeability of glycerol in fat cells is able to modulate the size of the adipocyte and, as a result, can contribute to the development of obesity.

Aquaporins are related to the tra

Researchers at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch (Germany) and the Charité University Medicine Berlin (Campus Virchow and Campus Buch) have discovered a molecular mechanism which explains why the cells of Hodgkin lymphoma, a malignancy affecting the lymph nodes, can change their appearance and take on characteristics of other cell lineages. “This is a perfect example of the ability of the B cells, a specific type of human immune cells affected by Hodgkin lymphoma, t

Researchers at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) in India and a unit of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in France have made a key discovery about a molecule that helps the malaria parasite infect human cells. India is one of the countries most affected by this disease, which has infected 300 million people across the world and leads to over one million fatalities per year. The breakthrough, which was achieved at the European Synchrotron Radi

Red-headed finches dominate their black-headed and yellow-headed peers by physical aggression and by the mere fact of being red-headed, according to research published today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society.

University of New South Wales biologists made the discovery following experiments with stunningly colourful Gouldian finches (Erythrura gouldiae). Among Australia’s most endangered native birds, Gouldian finches are now restricted to small isolated populations

From garden compost to forest greenery, the mold Aspergillus fumigatus lurks across much of the world. And so does its impact. The most common mold causing infection, A. fumigatus triggers allergic reactions, asthma attacks–and even deadly infections among people with weakened immune systems.

Now, in the December 22 issue of the journal Nature, scientists at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) and their collaborators report the mold’s sequenced genome. The genome could