Neurobiologists at Duke University Medical Center have found the strongest evidence yet that monkeys show the same keen “social reflexes” that humans do — shifting their attention in response to the direction of gaze of another individual. The researchers said their findings mean that monkeys can provide a critically important animal model of how the brain controls what humans pay attention to in social situations.

Such a model would enable scientists to better understand how processing of

Brazilian scientists may have found a new source for plastics and life saving medicines by cracking the genetic code of Chromobacterium violaceum, a free-living bacterium that commonly floats along the Rio Negro river in the Amazon rainforest.

The complete genome sequence, which will be published in a future issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was released on the journal’s Web site today. More than 100 members of the Brazil National Genome Project helped sequence t

Tumor size may not be an accurate method of predicting lymph node involvement and disease progression in some breast cancers, according to investigators at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). Their findings show that some types of breast tumors do not “play by the rules” and possibly, are more dangerous than previously believed.

“We have identified a group of breast cancer tumors that don’t conform to previous observations made in the general population of

That cup of coffee in the morning does more than wake you up. It can also help you feel less pain during your morning workout.

That’s what researchers at the University of Georgia have found in a recent study exploring why muscles hurt during exercise. The research group previously learned that aspirin, though commonly used to treat muscle pain, did not reduce muscle pain produced by vigorous exercise.

“Muscle contractions produce a host of biochemicals that can stimul

Scientists have long held the prevailing view that during HIV infection the depletion of T cells is the result of direct HIV virus–mediated killing. In the September 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Marc Hellerstein and colleagues at the University of California in Berkeley report that it is the chronic activation of the host immune system in response to HIV infection that primarily contributes to T cell loss.

A series of influential studies published in the mid-1990s descr

A team of researchers, led by Serge Przedborski, at Columbia University in New York, have demonstrated that infusion of D-beta-hydroxybutyrate (D-beta-HB) to mice suffering from Parkinson disease restored impaired brain function and protected against neurodegeneration and motor skill abnormalities. D-beta-HB, already utilized in the treatment of epilepsy, may represent a cheap and easy way to treat Parkinson disease.

Parkinson disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder afte

One of the nation’s most respected treatment centers for thoracic aortic disorders has launched a Web site that provides information on virtually every aspect of the subject, including aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection, the catastrophic bleeding that reportedly took the life of actor John Ritter last week. “I have been told by patients that this is the most helpful site on the Web. I hope we will be able to help many patients who have been unable to find reliable information on the

In an attempt to find new regulators of the immune system, a team of researchers at Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. have created a successful method for discovering molecules that are involved in signalling pathways. As published this week in the Journal of Biology, the team conducted a functional genome-wide screen and discovered novel modulators of T-cell receptor signalling that could aid in the development of drugs that target the immune response.

T cells are an integral part of the immune r

Intervention in the process whereby genes are turned “on” or “off” has been demonstrated by scientists at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School. The work offers promise for future genetic treatment to control undesirable tissue growth, such as in cancer.

The experimental work of the group is described in a recent article in the journal, Nature Genetics. The researchers succeeded in showing how manipulation of the methylation process in animals can turn genes which are normally inacti

The meaning and nature of change is a question that has fascinated some of the world’s greatest minds since long before the birth of Christ. Today, legions of philosophers and hosts of cognitive scientists continue to work to resolve what may be one of the world’s greatest paradoxes: How is it that change and constancy coexist in the world and in the human mind? Binghamton University Professor Eric Dietrich is sure of at least one thing. Our creativity, and likely our very survival, depends on the f

Plus surprising differences in ’Normal’ DNA

Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have developed one of the most sensitive, comprehensive, and robust methods that now exists for profiling the genetic basis of cancer and other diseases. The method detects chromosomal deletions and amplifications (i.e. missing or excess copies of DNA segments), and is useful for a wide variety of biomedical and other applications.

The study, led by Rob Lucito and Michael Wigler, is pub

The functional development of hair cells in the inner ear that mediate hearing and balance takes place over a period of just one day in mouse embryos, according to a study by a research team at the University of Virginia Health System.

The U.Va. scientists found that three essential elements for development in the mouse inner ear appear between day 16 and day 17 of gestation, roughly equivalent to the late second trimester or early third trimester in the human fetus. The finding is importan

A research team at The Hospital for Sick Children (HSC) and the University of Toronto (U of T), led by Dr. Peter Dirks, has identified for the first time a cancer stem cell in both malignant and benign brain tumours. This discovery may change how brain tumours are studied and how this deadly condition is treated in the future. This research is reported in the September 15, 2003 issue of the scientific journal Cancer Research.

“The discovery of a cancer stem cell for brain tumours means that

Finding suggests possible treatment approach for highly lethal disease

Scientists at UCSF and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have found strong evidence that a cell signaling pathway active in embryonic development plays a crucial role in pancreatic cancer. The finding provides the first model of the development and growth of pancreatic cancer and suggests a clear route for treatment of this lethal malignancy. The research is being posted online today by the journal Nature, prior

New nerve cells put fall foraging on fast track

The “senior moments” that herald old age, and the ability to forget where we put something we held in our hands just moments ago, give us humans much cause to envy a species like the black-capped chickadee.
Especially when fall is right around the corner.

Every autumn, the chickadee roams a territory covering tens of square miles, gathering seeds and storing them in hundreds of hiding places in trees and on the ground. Ove

The 35,000 or so genes within a human cell are something like players on a sports team: If their activity isn’t controlled and coordinated, the result can be disastrous.

So just as coaches tell individual players when to scramble onto the field and when to stay on the bench, molecules called transcription factors prompt particular genes to be active or stay quiet. Transcription factors occur naturally in cells, but researchers have been working to develop artificial transcriptio