When we think of organisms actively searching for resources (foraging) we generally think of things like wolves stalking elk or butterflies finding flowers. Why don’t we also think about plants growing roots through the soil? Although they cannot run or fly, plants forage too, for soil nutrients by growing more roots in response to locally high nutrient levels.

One of the most widely accepted explanations of why plants differ in their ability to place roots selectively i

Follow-up to landmark 2004 paper expands new understanding of female reproductive biology

Last year a group of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers announced surprising findings that female mice – contrary to longstanding theories of mammalian reproductive physiology – retained the ability to make new egg cells or oocytes into adulthood. Now the same investigators report new data supporting the earlier research and identifying a potential source for the production of

Previously unrecognized stem cells found in the bone marrow and blood of mice can “restock” a depleted ovary with new egg cells within weeks, according to new research published in this week’s issue of the journal Cell.

This finding provides direct evidence to overturn a long-held dogma in reproductive biology, that female mice generate egg cells only during fetal development and thus are born with a finite stock of eggs that declines throughout life. The new report signifi

Search for a special ’genetic endowment’ snares new cancer candidates

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have identified a telltale set of genes that causes breast cancer to spread and grow in the lungs, where cancer cells often flourish with lethal consequences.

The researchers said that the genes are more than markers that identify the presence of metastatic cancer. These genes are mediators that enable fragments of breast cancer tumors to take root

The animal family tree may not be filled just with forks, but may also contain knots: hybrid species with two different ancestors rather than one, according to a team of Penn State researchers.

“We are looking for the origin of species,” says Dr. Dietmar Schwarz, post-doctoral researcher in entomology. “In animals, people envision the formation of a new species by a split of one ancestral species to two derived species or a branching of one species from another.”

However,

Imagine a cancer drug that can burrow into a tumor, seal the exits and detonate a lethal dose of anti-cancer toxins, all while leaving healthy cells unscathed. MIT researchers have designed a nanoparticle to do just that.

The dual-chamber, double-acting, drug-packing “nanocell” proved effective and safe, with prolonged survival, against two distinct forms of cancers–melanoma and Lewis lung cancer–in mice.

The work will be reported in the July 28 issue of Nature, wit

Circulating stem cells play a minor role in repairing lung damage, according to a team of scientists who used male and female chromosomal differences to analyze the repair process in lung transplant patients.

Reporting in today’s edition of the journal Transplantation, lead author Dani Zander, M.D., of The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, and colleagues at the University of Florida College of Medicine found that less than 1 percent of a certain type of reparative

Working with mice, University of Iowa scientists and colleagues from Okayama University, Japan, have shown that it is possible to cure a certain type of hereditary deafness by silencing a gene that causes hearing loss.

Richard Smith, M.D., the Sterba Hearing Research Professor in Otolaryngology at the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, described the study as a proof-of-principle experiment, but added that the success may point the way to new treatments for deafnes

Some parasites trigger their own destruction by altering their hosts’ behavior, researchers at The University of Arizona and Wesleyan University report in Nature.

Many parasites have developed mechanisms that suppress their hosts’ ability to fight them off or even change their behavior in favor of the parasite. “We found the opposite is true with tiger moth caterpillars and their parasites,” said UA Regents’ Professor Emerita Elizabeth Bernays.

Bernays d

Scripps research scientists describe how T-cell receptors and coreceptors interact during an immune response

A group of scientists at The Scripps Research Institute has solved a mystery that has dogged immunologists for many years: how T-cell receptors interact with their coreceptor proteins at the beginning of an immune response.

T-cell receptors and coreceptor molecules are both large proteins displayed on the surface of T cells, and they play an essential role during t

Scientists at the MUHC have made progress in understanding what causes migraines. The research, published in the newissue of the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), reveals how gene mutations known to cause a form of inherited migraine – the kind that cause debilitating headaches and light flashes known as auras – target a cellular process involved in brain cell communication. “A number of mutations have been shown to result in familial migraines,” says Dr. Rhoda Blos

Patients who are delirious during hospitalization one year later had 13 percent fewer days of survival during the following year when compared to patients without delirium, according to a study published this month in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Delirium is a frequent problem for hospitalized older patients with consequences ranging from increased morbidity and mortality, persistent functional decline and increased and costlier hospital stay to higher rates of nursing ho

Study examines occurrence of knee pain with pain at other joints and its effect on physical function and mental health

Joint pain, especially in the knees, is a common complaint in older patients and can impact quality of life. A team of researchers recently set out to examine how often knee pain is accompanied by pain elsewhere in the body and whether the presence of multiple joint pain affects older patients’ general health and psychological status. Their findings, publ

New study finds improvement of fibromyalgia symptoms with few side effects

The mechanism of fibromyalgia, a chronic illness characterized by muscle pain, fatigue, and sleep disturbances, is unknown and medications used to treat it (such as antidepressants, antiepileptics, muscle relaxants, antiinflammatories, sedative hypnotics, pain relievers and nutriceuticals) have had limited success. New research findings indicate that the pain associated with this disease may be due to abno

Inhaling CO prevents transplant rejection in mice, say U-M scientists. Could become part of future treatment regimen for organ transplant patients

Could become part of future treatment regimen for organ transplant patients. Carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas that kills thousands of Americans every year, could turn out to be a life-saver for patients recovering from organ transplants, strokes or heart attacks, according to new research from the University of Michigan Cardiovascular

UCB today announced positive results for the two pivotal Phase III trials (PRECISE 1 and 2) of certolizumab pegol (CDP870) in the induction and maintenance of clinical response in moderate to severe active Crohn’TMs disease. The PRECiSE trials assessed the safety and efficacy of CIMZIATM compared to placebo over a 26 week period, in a total of 1330 patients with active Crohn’TMs disease.

Data from PRECiSE 1 and 2 will be presented in more detail at the major forthcoming gastroent