A newly discovered pathway by which cells protect themselves from a toxic byproduct of photosynthesis may hold important implications for bioenergy sources, human and plant disease, and agricultural yields, a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison bacteriologists announced Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Plants turn energy from sunlight into bioenergy through a chemical process called photosynthesis, which also produces oxygen in its breathable f

Astronaut health is one of NASA’s top priorities.

Once beyond Earth’s atmosphere, astronauts are exposed to ionizing radiation and microgravity. Effects from these, along with the potential buildup of toxins in the enclosed environment of a spaceship, put astronaut health at risk.

Kansas State University professor Chris Culbertson has been working with NASA to investigate how such hazardous conditions affect humans at the cellular level and how to lessen such co

When the tick-borne bacterium that causes Lyme disease lacks a specific protein that responds to an incoming meal of blood, it is unable to be transmitted from the tick to a new animal host, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found. The findings suggest that the protein, called BptA, is essential for the bacterium Borrelia burgdorfei (Bb) to survive in the gut of its tick host and may offer a potential new target for agents aimed at eradicating Lyme disease.

Results o

Research from Dartmouth Medical School, demonstrating how malaria parasites form mutations that make them stubbornly resistant to drug therapy, may hold the key to a new treatments for a disease that afflicts more than half a billion people worldwide.

The scientists developed disease models using yeast and successfully introduced five mutations that make malaria resistant to the anti-malarial drug, atovaquone. The study, featured as the cover story of the April 29 Journal of Biological C

A natural, non-toxic byproduct of glucose may prevent brain cell death and cognitive impairment in diabetics following an episode of severely low blood sugar, according to researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC).

In research studies with rats, senior investigator Raymond A. Swanson, MD, and lead author Sang Won Suh, PhD, demonstrated the effectiveness of pyruvate, a naturally-occurring byproduct of glucose, when administered along with glucose after 30 minutes

There are 300 million cases of malaria each year worldwide, causing one million deaths. Around 90% of these deaths occur in Africa, mostly in young children. One of the greatest challenges facing Africa in the fight against malaria is drug resistance; resistance to chloroquine (CQ), the cheapest and most widely used antimalarial, is common throughout Africa, and resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP), the first-developed and least expensive alternative to CQ, is also increasing. These trends h

Among patients undergoing evaluation for coronary artery bypass surgery, stroke neurologists are frequently consulted when the patient also has severe carotid artery stenosis (blockage of an artery that supplies blood to the brain). In a small number of these cases, a carotid endarterectomy is performed at the same time as the bypass surgery, with the assumption that combining the procedures in a single surgical event may decrease subsequent risk of stroke or death. While combining these procedur

A broad retrospective review of the effects of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) on memory and other brain functions concludes that, while there may be transient short-term effects, the procedure itself probably does not cause late or permanent neurological effects.

In an article published online April 25, 2005, in the Annals of Neurology, the authors argue that the late cognitive declines seen in some long-term studies are likely associated with progression of underlying c

Undetected osteoporosis in the elderly might be discovered if chest radiographs (x-ray images) that are done for other reasons were examined for fractures of the vertebrae, according to an article in the April 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Previous studies estimate that 12 to 25 percent of people aged 50 to 60 years have one or more osteoporosis-related vertebral fracture, the most common fracture associated with osteoporosis, ac

A painless, portable device that uses electrical current rather than X-ray to examine breasts for cancer is under study at the Medical College of Georgia.

MCG is one of some 20 centers across the world studying impedance scanning, a technique based on evidence that electrical current passes through cancerous tissue more easily than normal tissue. Preliminary studies have shown the technique, which takes about 10 minutes and doesn’t require often-uncomfortable breast compressio

Measuring blood flow to a newborn’s intestines using a special form of ultrasound can help radiologists identify a life-threatening complication in a serious bowel disease, according to a study in the May issue of the journal Radiology.

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is an acquired inflammatory gastrointestinal disease of unknown cause. It is the most common and serious gastrointestinal disorder among hospitalized premature babies, according to the Nemours Foundation. Symp

High-intensity focused ultrasound emitted in short pulses is a promising, non-invasive procedure for enhancing gene delivery to cancerous cells without destroying healthy tissue, according to a study in the May issue of the journal Radiology.

High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is more powerful than standard ultrasound. HIFU can destroy tumors through long and continuous exposures that raise the temperature inside cancerous cells, effectively “cooking” them. Under a te

Community-based mammography facilities do not have enough radiologists and certified technologists to adequately deliver screening and diagnostic services to the public, and the situation may get worse, according to a study published in the May issue of the journal Radiology.

“If we do not address the issues causing the staffing shortage, more facilities will close and screening will become more centralized, perhaps making screening and diagnostic mammography impossible for so

Protein Found by UCLA Shows Generation of New Bone in Patients Who Lack It, as Well as Faster, More Reliable Healing of Fractures

By studying diseases in which the human body generates too much bone, UCLA researchers have discovered and isolated a natural molecule that can be used to heal fractures and generate new bone growth in patients who lack it.

Bioengineering Professor Ben Wu at UCLA’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, and Thomas R. Bales

UCLA AIDS Institute discovery points to new drug target

Scientists have long suspected that HIV hijacks immune cells called dendritic cells to infiltrate the immune system. Now UCLA AIDS Institute researchers have shown that blocking HIV’s access to a naturally occurring molecule on dendritic cells may cut their ability to smuggle the virus into other immune cells. Published in the May edition of the Journal of Virology, the discovery may lead to new drugs to prevent sexua

Using X-ray crystallography, researchers at Yale have “seen” the structural basis for antibiotic resistance to common pathogenic bacteria, facilitating design of a new class of antibiotic drugs, according to an article in Cell.

In recent years, common disease-causing bacteria have increasingly become resistant to antibiotics, such as erythromycin and azithromycin. Although the macrolide antibiotics in this group are structurally different, all work by inhibiting the protein synthe