UC Riverside Team Finds That Lowering Enzyme Increases Drought Tolerance in Corn

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside report the development of technology that increases the tolerance of grains crops to drought by decreasing the amount of an enzyme that is responsible for producing the plant hormone ethylene.

UCR Biochemist Daniel R. Gallie led the research, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Science Foundation and the Californi

New research suggests that higher levels of abdominal fat put people at just as much risk for future disability as overall body fat. The results were reported today by Denise Houston, Ph.D., from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, at the annual meeting of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity in Las Vegas, Nev.

Houston and colleagues found that middle-age adults who had the highest levels of abdominal fat reported having the most difficulty perfor

Not all congestion-producing, ear-popping, runny-nosed, headachy chronic rhinosinusitis infections are the same, researchers have found.

Rather, this problem that afflicts some 30 million Americans annually has four severity classifications that could help guide treatment today and help find better treatments in the future, says the lead author on the study published in the November issue of The Laryngoscope. “The way we have been reporting on chronic sinusitis is we lump it all t

During the holidays most people worry about putting on a couple of pounds, but in addition they should be concerned about what they’re doing to their hearts. Every year during the holidays, emergency rooms like those at UCSD Medical Center see patients with symptoms of palpitations and light-headedness. Further evaluation usually confirms the patient has an abnormal heart rhythm, often atrial fibrillation, says Ajit Raisinghani, M.D., Director of the UCSD Non-Invasive Cardiac Lab. This condi

A UK scientist has discovered the route and type of transport taken by peanut proteins through the gut to the immune system. This route favours an immune response, which helps explain why peanuts are one of the most allergenic foods.

Dr Claudio Nicoletti from the Institute of Food Research, said: “Food allergy is an immune system over-reaction to a food protein. The cause of this over-reaction has remained a mystery. Our aim was to identify the route that proteins from digested pean

Wafer-thin coatings from diamond-like carbon can prevent dangerous biofilms of bacteria from forming on indwelling catheters in the urinary tract. What is more, the coated catheters glide into the ureter with considerably less friction, to the delight of medical staff, and even more so to that of the patients, who experience the procedure as substantially less unpleasant. The new coatings have been developed and tested by scientists in the experimental urology section of the University of Bonn in

A research team at the University of Navarre has detected the presence of the prion protein in the digestive tract of three animal species: the autochthonous Pyrennean cow, in a primate and in rats. This study is the first to describe the exact location of the “healthy” form of the prion (PrPc), a protein necessary for the development of prionic diseases in these three species.

The results obtained by the Navarre researchers provide new data on the propagation of the prion and on

Major breakthrough in the treatment of autoimmune diseases

In the upcoming issue of Immunity, a highly regarded journal put out by the Cell group, Dr. André Veillette, a scientist at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), and his team will publish the results of a study that could revolutionize the treatment of autoimmune diseases, such as juvenile diabetes, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis. Contemporary medicine has to date achieved only mixed results in deal

A newly-identified protein that can flag an important tumor suppressor gene for destruction may be a key player in the development of lung cancer.

Writing in the Nov. 17 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, scientists in the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC) note that the protein, called Pirh2, when overexpressed, diminishes the activity of p53 – possibly the most powerful tumor suppressor in the entire genome. When it functions normally, p

Building a “tree of life” for all the species on the planet may be easier than first thought, according to a study by UC Davis researchers published in the journal Science Nov. 12.

A tree of life shows how living things have evolved since the origins of life billions of years ago, grouping related organisms on the same branch. Such trees provide an organizing framework for biology. They can be used for predicting the properties of poorly known species and are powerful tools for

A prehistoric fish that until 1938 was thought to be extinct has caught the eye of geneticists at the Stanford University School of Medicine who hope to sequence the ancient genome to learn how animals evolved to live on land.

The 5-foot, 130-pound fish in question, called the coelacanth, ekes out an existence in cool, deep-water caves off the Comoro Islands in the Indian Ocean and northern Indonesia. Its lobed fins, skeleton structure and large, round scales are practically un

Medical scientists at the University of Leicester have announced they have narrowed the search for the ’death clock’ gene in humans. Their study relates to a hunt for a gene that has important implications for aging and cancer as well as other age-related diseases.

The gene controls the length of human telomeres – repeat DNA sequences that cap a chromosome. Each time a human cell divides, the cap shortens. When it gets too short, cells die. Telomere length therefore acts

A gene hunt being carried out at the University of Leicester for a skin disorder that affects over one million people in the UK alone has made a new breakthrough which could lead to the design of new and more targeted drugs.

The research team in the University of Leicester Division of Medical Genetics, led by Professor Richard Trembath, has been investigating Psoriasis – an inflammatory skin condition – for a number of years. Now Professor Trembath believes the research has made

Dutch researcher Jacqueline Vink has discovered that the number of cigarettes smoked per day and the level of nicotine dependence is largely down to a person’s genes. She investigated the smoking behaviour of more than 16,000 twins and their relatives.

Whether or not a young person starts smoking largely depends on his or her environment. Smoking friends and family members increase the chance that someone will take up smoking. Jacqueline Vink discovered that the variation b

Findings point way to identifying therapeutics to stem muscle atrophy

In research that could benefit astronauts posted to the International Space Station as well as individuals whose universe is defined by their sick bed, Boston University Sargent College researchers Susan Kandarian and R. Bridge Hunter have found that disrupting either one of two genes, nfêb1 and bcl3, can block the biological process of muscle wasting known as atrophy.

Their findings will inform ef

Extremely low birth weight infants–the tiniest category of premature infants–are much more likely to experience developmental impairments if they acquire an infection during the newborn period, according to a study by the Neonatal Research Network of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, one of the National Institutes of Health. The developmental impairments were seen regardless of the type of infection–whether it occurred in the brain, blood or intestines.