Curated News: PLOS

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Researchers help the brain make GM1 ganglioside, a protective substance that is diminished in the brains of Parkinson's patients

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Novel methods for gene expression network analysis and gene cluster comparison now available to biomedical community

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A collaboration between University of Washington developmental psychologists and computer scientists has demonstrated that robots can "learn" much like babies - by experiencing the world and eventually imitating humans.

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Minutes count when treating stroke, but current diagnostics take as long as three hours, careful lab work and skilled technicians to arrive at a conclusive diagnosis. Scientists at Cornell University’s Baker Institute for Animal Health have developed a device that helps diagnose stroke in less than 10 minutes using a drop of blood barely big enough to moisten your fingertip.

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For those who suffer from diseases like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s or conditions such as Autism spectrum disorder, any form of non-literal speech such as sarcasm, teasing or ‘white lies’ can be very confusing. A new video inventory of examples of these forms of indirect speech developed at McGill should help in the diagnosis and clinical testing of those with disorders of this kind.

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North American bison adjust their diet seasonally in order to take full advantage of the growing season when grasses become less nutritious, a new study led by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder has discovered.

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North American bison adjust their diet seasonally in order to take full advantage of the growing season when grasses become less nutritious, a new study led by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder has discovered.

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A discovery by Cornell University bioengineers is shedding new light on the controversy surrounding a common treatment for osteoarthritis that has divided the medical community over its effectiveness.

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A discovery by Cornell University bioengineers is shedding new light on the controversy surrounding a common treatment for osteoarthritis that has divided the medical community over its effectiveness.

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After a decade of battling the highly destructive citrus greening bacterium, researchers with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences have developed genetically modified citrus trees that show enhanced resistance to greening, and have the potential to resist canker and black spot, as well. However, the commercial availability of those trees is still several years away.

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Massachusetts Eye and Ear investigators have shown that sound deprivation in adult mice causes irreversible damage to the inner ear. The findings, published in PLOS ONE, suggest that chronic conductive hearing loss, such as that caused by recurrent ear infections, leads to permanent hearing impairment if it remains untreated.

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Massachusetts Eye and Ear investigators have shown that sound deprivation in adult mice causes irreversible damage to the inner ear. The findings, published in PLOS ONE, suggest that chronic conductive hearing loss, such as that caused by recurrent ear infections, leads to permanent hearing impairment if it remains untreated.

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University of Washington scientists have sequenced the complete genetic makeup of a species of ecologically important algae, which may aid in biofuel production.

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A joint study from the University of Iowa and the University of California-Davis found pigeons performed as well as humans in categorizing digitized slides and mammograms of benign and malignant human breast tissue. Results published in the journal PLOS One.

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Most bats roost by hanging from their feet, which means they must land upside down on cave ceilings. And to stick the landing, they employ similar mechanics as skateboarders and pirouetting figure skaters, according to a new study in PLOS Biology.

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A previously undiscovered dinosaur species, first uncovered and documented by an adjunct professor at Montana State University, showcases an evolutionary transition from an earlier duckbilled species to that group’s descendants, according to a paper published today in the journal PLOS ONE.

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CSU Professor Ian Orme recently conducted a study that provides new clues to what went wrong with a landmark TB vaccine trial in South Africa.

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A University of Wisconsin-Madison physician and her research team have shown that a heart medication can prevent ovarian damage and improve survival in adolescent mice after chemotherapy. The treatment also increased the number of their healthy offspring.

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Infectious disease researchers at the University of Georgia have identified a signaling protein critical for host defense against influenza infection. The findings shed light on how a single component of the body’s defense system promotes effective immunity against viral infections—particularly respiratory viruses—that affect mucosal sites.

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A team of scientists, including several from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, have determined the structures of several important tuberculosis enzymes, which could lead to new drugs for the disease.

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A new study by Kevin J. Emerson, PhD, assistant professor of biology at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and his international group of collaborators assessed the extent to which geographical barriers affected genetic variation among Anopheles darlingi populations. Such barriers may greatly influence the approaches used by scientists and physicians to control the spread of malaria throughout Brazil.

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We use sight to judge distance. Now, a new study from the University of Rochester reveals that our brains also use sound delays to fine-tune what our eyes see when estimating distances.

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For hundreds of millions of people around the world, chewing betel nut produces a cheap, quick high but also raises the risk of addiction and oral cancer. Now, new findings by a University of Florida Health researcher reveal how the nut’s psychoactive chemical works in the brain and suggest that an addiction treatment may already exist.

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Cats have at least seven functional bitter taste receptors, according to a new Monell Center study. Further, a comparison of cat to related species reveals little relationship between biter receptor number and the extent to which a species consumes plants. The findings question the common hypothesis that bitter taste developed primarily to protect animals from ingesting poisonous plant compounds.

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Cats have at least seven functional bitter taste receptors, according to a new Monell Center study. Further, a comparison of cat to related species reveals little relationship between biter receptor number and the extent to which a species consumes plants. The findings question the common hypothesis that bitter taste developed primarily to protect animals from ingesting poisonous plant compounds.

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A research team working in the Galapagos Archipelago has discovered there are two species of giant tortoises — not just one, as had been long believed — living on the island of Santa Cruz in the center of the Galapagos Archipelago.

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A research team working in the Galapagos Archipelago has discovered there are two species of giant tortoises — not just one, as had been long believed — living on the island of Santa Cruz in the center of the Galapagos Archipelago.

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A new study documents that trees play a minor role in offsetting carbon emissions in urban areas. Researchers examined carbon emissions and trees' carbon storage in the Twin Cities (Minnesota) and found hotspots where more trees could yield benefits. Findings published online in the journal PLOS One.

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Researchers found that although Arctic areas have experienced the most rapid warming to date, climate-related threats to the Amazon basin's biodiversity will eclipse those in other regions by the year 2100.

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A newly studied class of water contaminants that is known to be toxic and hormone disrupting to marine animals is present likely due in part to indirect effects of human activity.

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Water-dependent w​ildlife populations in sensitive African dryland regions need continued access to limited ​surface water — even as human development increases — because restricting access ​and concentrating wildlife populations along riparian regions can impact water quality and, potentially, human health, according to Virginia Tech research.

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Incarcerated youth who have suffered head injuries, traumatic experiences and mental illness diagnoses are more likely to abuse multiple inhalants, according to researchers at Georgia State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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Moffitt Cancer Center researchers have developed a novel mathematical method inspired by Darwinian evolution to use current antibiotics to eliminate or reduce the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

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Bioengineers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have developed a mathematical algorithm that can “see” your intention while performing an ordinary action like reaching for a cup or driving straight up a road -- even if the action is interrupted.

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Use of computed tomography (CT) scans of the chest for hospital emergency-room patients with blunt trauma could be reduced by more than one-third without compromising detection of major injury, concludes a new study led by a UC San Francisco physician.

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A study of up to 433,390 UK adults, led by The University of Manchester, has linked being under and overweight at birth with poorer hearing, vision and cognition in middle age.

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A study of up to 433,390 UK adults, led by The University of Manchester, has linked being under and overweight at birth with poorer hearing, vision and cognition in middle age.

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Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have uncovered a significant—and potentially treatable—relationship between a chemical that helps transmit signals in the brain and genetic mutations present in a subset of individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

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The brain uses similar computations to calculate the direction and speed of objects in motion whether they are perceived visually or through the sense of touch.

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There is little doubt that the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, or HIV, is devastating. More than 1.2 million people in the United States are living with HIV and more than 47,000 people are diagnosed annually. Now, University of Missouri researchers have made a discovery in how specialized proteins can inhibit the virus, opening the door for progress in the fight against HIV and for the production of advanced therapeutics to combat the disease.

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Why do babies smile when they interact with their parents? Could their smiles have a purpose? In the Sept. 23 issue of PLOS ONE, a team of computer scientists, roboticists and developmental psychologists confirm what most parents already suspect: when babies smile, they do so with a purpose—to make the person they interact with smile in return. To verify their findings, researchers programmed a toddler-like robot to behave like the babies they studied and had the robot interact with undergraduate students.

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University of Adelaide researchers have uncovered the role played by a gene which suppresses the development of cancer.

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University of Adelaide researchers have uncovered the role played by a gene which suppresses the development of cancer.

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A team of geneticists led by Prof. Đurđica Ugarković of the Croatian Ruđer Bošković Institute (RBI) have for the first time proved that satellite DNA plays an important regulatory role in how organisms adapt to stressful changes in their environment. These results could in the future help scientists explain how an organism successfully survives stress. The study was published in the leading genetic journal PLoS Genetics.

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University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers have taken a big step toward breeding tastier blueberries with a three-year study that examined the traits consumers desire. Now they have specific breeding targets to improve flavor.

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University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers have taken a big step toward breeding tastier blueberries with a three-year study that examined the traits consumers desire. Now they have specific breeding targets to improve flavor.

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Reviewing thousands of genome wide associate studies (GWAS) to identify genetic variants in single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), investigators at Dartmouth’s Norris Cotton Cancer Center found that some alleles (one of a pair of genes located on a specific chromosome) are more frequently risk-associated with disease than protective.

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Researchers say diverse agroecosystems are more resilient to variable weather from climate change.

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A new study suggests that changes in immune function can occur as long as five years before the diagnosis of a brain tumor that typically produces symptoms only three months before it is detected.

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Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have documented the accuracies of three new tests for more rapidly diagnosing drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis (TB), which are much harder and more expensive to treat and which, experts say, represent a major threat to global public health.