New research from the Research Triangle suggests that variants in a gene called ankyrin-B – carried by millions of Americans – could cause people to put on pounds through no fault of their own.
A study published in PNAS details a new “landscape portfolio” theory that is based on Markowitz’s “portfolio theory” in economics, melded with ecological landscape theory to predict population growth of living things.
The value of the products we encounter influences how much we’ll subsequently pay for other items, new neuroscience research has found. The results point to a previously undetected factor that affects consumer behavior.
Wolters Kluwer Health unveiled a quizzing engine that delivers personalized learning and on-the-go insights to support how, when and where today’s medical students want to learn. The powerful quizzing tool allows students to track progress, view results and build customized quizzes to focus their training on specific subjects, topics or areas of weakness. It’s an important addition to contemporary medical education, which supports mobile access and tailors content to ensure medical students and residents more easily learn and retain information that prepares them for clinical practice.
Computer modeling has helped a team of scientists, including several scholars from the University of Chicago, to decode previously unknown details about the "budding" process by which HIV forces cells to spread the virus to other cells. The findings, published Nov. 7 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may offer a new avenue for drugs to combat the virus.
Long Valley, California, has long defined the “super-eruption.” About 765,000 years ago, a pool of molten rock exploded into the sky. Within one nightmarish week, 760 cubic kilometers of lava and ash spewed out in the kind of volcanic cataclysm we hope never to witness. A new study shows that the giant body of magma — molten rock — at Long Valley was much cooler before the eruption than previously thought.
Researchers from the University of Maryland, Baltimore and the University of Maastricht deomonstrated their ability to use mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) in tracking disease progression, opening avenues for future research into the applicability of MSI for disease studies and the development of therapeutics that target lipids to treat infection.
Scientists have helped decipher the dynamics that control how our cells age, and with it implications for extending human longevity. The group used cutting-edge computational and experimental approaches to discover new details about chromatin silencing. The bottom line: balance is the key to aging.
Would you want a spider web inside your ear? Probably not. But if you’re able to put aside the creepy factor, new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York shows that fine fibers like spider silk actually improve the quality of microphones for hearing aids.
In fairy tales, all it takes to transform a frog into a prince or a mouse into a horse is the wave of a magic wand. But in the real world, transforming one living cell into another - for instance a skin cell into a nerve cell - isn’t so easy. Now, scientists lay out a possible way to do it directly.
Sound waves could be the future of biomedical research, diagnosing and treatment, says Peng Li, a chemistry professor at West Virginia University.
Li is a data analyst for an ongoing research study using an acoustic device to separate extracellular vesicles for a deeper look at their properties.
An international team of scientists, led by structural biologists at Van Andel Research Institute, has shed new light on a critical step in DNA replication, offering fresh insights into a fundamental process of life and driver of many different diseases, including cancer.
Conventional wisdom holds that a faculty member's research career peaks at about five years, followed by a steady decline in productivity. But new research shows this stereotype is "remarkably inaccurate."
Women born by Caesarean section due to a fetopelvic disproportion (FDP) are more than twice as likely to develop FDP when giving birth than women born naturally. This is the conclusion of a study by a team of evolutionary biologists at the University of Vienna headed by Philipp Mitteroecker. Using a mathematical model, the team was able to explain the paradoxical phenomenon that natural selection did not lead to the reduction in the rates of obstructed labour. Empirical data also support that the regular use of C-sections has already triggered an evolutionary increase of FPD rates.
Researchers at UC San Diego have developed a genome-scale model that can accurately predict how E. coli bacteria respond to temperature changes and genetic mutations. The work sheds light on how cells adapt under environmental stress and has applications in precision medicine, where adaptive cell modeling could provide patient-specific treatments for bacterial infections.
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis have determined how electrocatalysts can convert carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide using water and electricity. The discovery can lead to the development of efficient electrocatalysts for large scale production of synthesis gas — a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen.
Scientists drilling down to the molecular roots of Alzheimer’s disease have encountered a good news/bad news scenario. The bad news is that in the early stages of the disease, high-risk TREM2 variants can hobble the immune system’s ability to protect the brain from amyloid beta. The good news, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is that later in the disease, the absence of TREM2 protein seems to protect the brain from damage.
In just two years, a process that was developed by Molecular Foundry staff and users has nearly doubled the number of materials with the potential for using sunlight to produce fuel.
Adding or removing water from a stem cell can change the destiny of the cell to either pre-fat cells or pre-bone cells, researchers have discovered in a new study published in PNAS.
Scientists have nailed the biomechanics of a centuries-long puzzle on how freshwater flatworms reproduce. Asexual flatworms called planarians tear themselves into two pieces that go on to form two new worms. Researchers are now able to predict where planarian fission occurs based on its anatomy.
A major health problem in older people is age-associated osteoporosis — the thinning of bone and the loss of bone density that increases the risk of fractures. Researchers have now detailed an underlying mechanism leading to that osteoporosis.
A team of scientists analyzed nearly 30 years of revenue and permitting records for individuals fishing in Alaskan waters and tracked how their fishing choices, in terms of permits purchased and species caught, influenced their year-to-year income volatility.
Johns Hopkins researchers report they have genetically engineered mice that display many of the behavioral hallmarks of human bipolar disorder, and that the abnormal behaviors the rodents show can be reversed using well-established drug treatments for bipolar disorder, such as lithium.
What’s worse than getting exposed to a kind of bacteria that modern antibiotics can’t kill? Getting exposed to more than one – because they may work together to cause an infection, new research suggests. It’s time to think about such bacteria as members of an antibiotic-resistant ecosystem in healthcare environments – not as single species.
Saint Louis University scientist Mee-Ngan F. Yap, Ph.D.,has uncovered the way a bacterial ribosome moves from an inactive to an active form, and how that "wake up call" is key to its survival.
For more than a century, the link between thyroid hormone and red blood cell production has remained elusive. Now, Whitehead scientists have teased about the mechanism that connects them, which could help scientists identify new therapies for specific types of anemia.
Scarce compound, vitamin B12, is key for cellular metabolism and may help shape microbial communities that affect environmental cycles and bioenergy production.
A study led by scientists at Harvard Medical School reveals that a gene that has a protective influence against diabetes is powerfully shaped by the trillions of intestinal bacteria collectively known as the gut microbiota.
Coral skeletons are the building blocks of diverse coral reef ecosystems, which has led to increasing concern over how these key species will cope with warming and acidifying oceans that threaten their stability. New research provides evidence that at least one species of coral build their hard, calcium carbonate skeletons faster, and in bigger pieces, than previously thought.
The ecological footprint of a city spreads far beyond its city limits, resulting in local and total extinction of hundreds of aquatic species in North America. Recent research quantifies the adverse effects while looking ahead to how cities can help.
Canadian scientists have discovered that certain lake predators are altering their behaviour due to climate change, revealing what the future may hold for these fish and their food.
A U-led team developed a method for analyzing DNA sequence data to reconstruct early history of archaic human populations, revealing an evolutionary story that contradicts conventional wisdom about modern humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans. The Neanderthal-Denisovan lineage nearly went extinct after separating from modern humans. Just 300 generations later, Neanderthals and Denisovans diverged around 744,000 years ago. The global Neanderthal population grew to tens of thousands of individuals living in fragmented, isolated populations.
Researchers at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research have solved the three-dimensional structure of a complex that is essential for the correct sorting of chromosomes into eggs and sperm during reproductive cell division or meiosis.
A decrease in Great Plains streams, fed by decreasing ground water, is changing fish assembles according to research published Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A newly discovered collective rattling effect in a type of crystalline semiconductor blocks most heat transfer while preserving high electrical conductivity – a rare pairing that scientists say could reduce heat buildup in electronic devices and turbine engines, among other possible applications.
Dr. Vladislav Yakovlev, professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M University, has been developing a more efficient way of propagating light through an opaque medium. Propagation of light refers to the way that light travels from one point to another, in this case, through a medium, such as human tissue.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine report evidence that zebrafishes’ natural ability to regenerate their eyes’ retinal tissue can be accelerated by controlling the fishes’ immune systems. Because evolution likely conserved this mechanism of regenerative potential in other animals, the new findings may one day advance efforts to combat degenerative eye disease damage in humans.
Using lists of names collected from publicly available websites, two University of Chicago researchers have revealed distinctive patterns in higher education systems, ranging from ethnic representation, to gender imbalance in the sciences, to nepotism in Italian universities.
New Northwestern University research underscores how environmental conditions early in development can cause inflammation in adulthood -- an important risk factor for a wide range of diseases of aging, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, autoimmune diseases and dementia.
Researchers have discovered the earliest evidence of wild potato use in North America. This is the first archaeological study to identify a spud-bearing species native to the southwestern United States, the Four Corners potato (S. jamesii), as an important part of ancient human diets.
Using nanotechnology, image processing tools and statistical analysis, Technion researchers have developed a system that enables faster diagnostics, earlier and more effective treatment of infectious bacteria, and improved patient recovery times.
A team led by UC San Diego researchers has identified, for the first time, the myriad structural changes that activate and drive CRISPR-Cas9, the innovative gene-splicing technology that’s transforming the field of genetic engineering.
A Stony Brook University-led team of researchers has determined the structure of a key enzyme involved with cell growth regulation in cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease.
In a new study, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues in Xijing Hospital and Sun Yat-sen Cancer Center in China, report that DNA methylation can provide effective markers for at least four major cancers, not only correctly differentiating malignant tissues from normal, but also providing information on prognosis and survival.