Curated News: Nature (journal)

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Released: 9-Mar-2015 3:05 PM EDT
TSRI Scientists Reveal Structural Secrets of Nature’s Little Locomotive
Scripps Research Institute

A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute has determined the basic structural organization of a molecular motor that hauls cargoes and performs other critical functions within cells.

   
Released: 9-Mar-2015 3:05 PM EDT
Genes That Increase the Risk of Type 1 Diabetes Have Lost Their Hiding Place
University of Florida

A research group that includes a University of Florida genetics expert has located and narrowed down the number of genes that play a role in the disease, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Genetics. Knowing the identities and location of causative genes is a crucial development: Other researchers can use this information to better predict who might develop Type 1 diabetes and how to prevent it.

Released: 9-Mar-2015 2:05 PM EDT
Understanding How Neurons Shape Memories of Smells
UC San Diego Health

In a study that helps to deconstruct how olfaction is encoded in the brain, neuroscientists at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a type of neuron that appears to help tune, amplify and dampen neuronal responses to chemosensory inputs from the nasal cavity.

6-Mar-2015 12:05 PM EST
Novel Drug Candidate Regenerates Pancreatic Cells Lost in Diabetes
Mount Sinai Health System

In a screen of more than 100,000 potential drugs, only one, harmine, drove human insulin-producing beta cells to multiply

6-Mar-2015 12:00 PM EST
New Technique Can Locate Genes’ On-Off Switches
Stowers Institute for Medical Research

Researchers at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research have developed a high-resolution method that can precisely and reliably map individual transcription factor binding sites in the genome, vastly outperforming standard techniques

6-Mar-2015 2:05 PM EST
Radiation Plus Immunotherapy Combo Revs up Immune System to Better Attack Metastatic Melanoma, Penn Study Suggests
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Treating metastatic melanoma with a triple threat—including radiation therapy and two immunotherapies that target the CTLA4 and PD-1 pathways—could elicit an optimal response in more patients, one that will boost the immune system’s attack on the disease, suggests a new study from a multidisciplinary team of researchers from Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center published today in Nature.

6-Mar-2015 2:05 PM EST
Go Meta: New Technique Expands Possibilities for Molecular Designers
Scripps Research Institute

Chemists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have developed a broadly useful technique for building new drug molecules and other chemical products.

   
6-Mar-2015 3:05 PM EST
Protein in the Brain Can 'Put the Brakes' on Binge Drinking
University of North Carolina Health Care System

A new study identifies both where in the brain and how a protein in the brain, called Neuropeptide Y or NPY, can act to suppress binge alcohol drinking. These findings suggest that restoring NPY may be useful for treating alcohol use disorders and may also protect some individuals from becoming alcohol dependent.

6-Mar-2015 6:05 PM EST
Innovative Light Therapy Reaches Deep Tumors
Washington University in St. Louis

Using a mouse model of cancer, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have devised a way to apply light-based therapy to deep tissues never before accessible. Instead of shining an outside light, they delivered light directly to tumor cells, along with a photosensitive source of free radicals that can be activated by the light to destroy cancer. And they accomplished this using materials already approved for use in cancer patients.

6-Mar-2015 7:00 PM EST
The Climate Is Starting to Change Faster
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

The Earth is now entering a period of changing climate that will likely be faster than what’s occurred naturally over the last thousand years, according to a new paper in Nature Climate Change, committing people to live through and adapt to a warming world.

9-Mar-2015 12:00 PM EDT
Hippo ‘Crosstalk’ May Be Vital to Tumor Suppression
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered new information about a key pathway known as Hippo, a metaphoric name referencing its link to tissue “overgrowth.” The Hippo pathway has been shown to regulate cell death and cell growth, thus playing a role in the development or prevention of tumors.

Released: 9-Mar-2015 11:05 AM EDT
Researchers Map “Genomic Landscape” of Childhood Adrenocortical Tumors for the First Time
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

In an advance that could lead to better identification of malignant pediatric adrenocortical tumors, and ultimately to better treatment, researchers have mapped the “genomic landscape” of these rare childhood tumors. Their genomic mapping has revealed unprecedented details, not only of the aberrant genetic and chromosomal changes that drive the cancer, but the sequence of those changes that trigger it.

   
Released: 6-Mar-2015 12:05 PM EST
Chromosomal Rearrangement Is the Key to Progress Against Aggressive Infant Leukemia
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

The St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital—Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project reports that a highly aggressive form of leukemia in infants has surprisingly few mutations beyond the chromosomal rearrangement that affects the MLL gene. The findings suggest that targeting the alteration is likely the key to improved survival. The research appeared online ahead of print this week in the scientific journal Nature Genetics.

5-Mar-2015 9:05 AM EST
Popular Antioxidant Likely Ineffective, Study Finds
McGill University

The popular dietary supplement ubiquinone, also known as Coenzyme Q10, is widely believed to function as an antioxidant, protecting cells against damage from free radicals. But a new study by scientists at McGill University finds that ubiquinone is not a crucial antioxidant.

Released: 5-Mar-2015 2:05 PM EST
Ancient Skull Could Provide Clues to Human-Neanderthal Mating, Weizmann Institute Scientists Find
Weizmann Institute of Science

A partial human skull unearthed in a cave in northern Israel is providing clues as to when and where humans and Neanderthals might have interbred. In order to precisely determine the age of the skull, a combination of dating methods were employed, including accelerator mass spectrometry by the Weizmann Institute’s Dr. Elisabetta Boaretto.

Released: 5-Mar-2015 2:05 PM EST
Heartbeat Is Complex, Synchronized Event, Find Weizmann Institute and Penn Scientists
Weizmann Institute of Science

Weizmann Institute and University of Pennsylvania scientists revealed new informatjion about the complexity of the heartbeat, finding that a single heart muscle cell may beat as more than two dozen. A detailed glimpse into the mechanisms of normal and irregular heart muscle cell contractions, the research could lead to improved treatments.

Released: 4-Mar-2015 3:05 PM EST
Permafrost's Turn of the Microbes
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

As the Arctic warms, tons of carbon locked away in Arctic tundra will be transformed into the powerful greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane, but scientists know little about how that transition takes place. In a study appearing in today's issue of Nature, scientists looking at microbes in different types of Arctic soil have a new picture of life in permafrost that reveals entirely new species and hints that subzero microbes might be active.

2-Mar-2015 3:30 PM EST
Advancing Multiple Approaches for Characterizing Permafrost Microbes in a Changing Climate
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

To better characterize the microbial activities in the thawing permafrost, a team including scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) reported on the application of multiple molecular technologies - “omics” - in a paper published online March 4, 2015 in Nature.

Released: 4-Mar-2015 11:05 AM EST
Genome Replication May Hold Clues to Cancer Evolution
Creighton University

The more copies of a genome a cell holds, the more adaptable those cells are. This may have implications for cancer's evolution and adaptation.

Released: 4-Mar-2015 9:05 AM EST
Wild Yaks - Shaggy Barometers of Climate Change
Wildlife Conservation Society

A new study led by WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), University of Montana, Qinghai Forestry Bureau, Keke Xili National Nature Reserve, and other groups finds that climate change and past hunting in the remote Tibetan Plateau is forcing female wild yaks onto steeper and steeper terrain.

Released: 4-Mar-2015 1:05 AM EST
Research Uncovers Basis for Cadmium Toxicity
University of Adelaide

University of Adelaide research has uncovered how the metal cadmium, which is accumulating in the food chain, causes toxicity in living cells.

Released: 2-Mar-2015 4:05 PM EST
Black Phosphorus Is New ‘Wonder Material’ for Improving Optical Communication
University of Minnesota

Phosphorus, a highly reactive element commonly found in match heads, tracer bullets, and fertilizers, can be turned into a stable crystalline form known as black phosphorus. In a new study, researchers from the University of Minnesota used an ultrathin black phosphorus film—only 20 layers of atoms—to demonstrate high-speed data communication on nanoscale optical circuits.

26-Feb-2015 11:00 AM EST
Sleep-Walking Neurons: Brain’s GPS Never Stops Working – Even During Sleep
NYU Langone Health

Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center have found that navigational brain cells that help sense direction are as electrically active during deep sleep as they are during wake tim. Such information could be useful in treating navigational problems associated with Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological disorders.

26-Feb-2015 3:05 PM EST
Munching Bugs Thwart Eager Trees, Reducing the Carbon Sink
University of Wisconsin–Madison

A new study published today [Monday, March 2, 2015] in Nature Plants shows that hungry, plant-eating insects may limit the ability of forests to take up elevated levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, reducing their capacity to slow human-driven climate change.

27-Feb-2015 11:00 AM EST
New Genetic Syndrome Found, Arising From Errors in 'Master Switch' During Early Development
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Analyzing a puzzling multisystem disorder in three children, genetic experts have identified a new syndrome, dubbed CHOPS syndrome, shedding light on key biological processes during human development.

27-Feb-2015 4:00 PM EST
Johns Hopkins Researchers Identify Key to Tuberculosis Resistance
Johns Hopkins Medicine

The cascade of events leading to bacterial infection and the immune response is mostly understood. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the immune response to the bacteria that causes tuberculosis have remained a mystery — until now. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have now uncovered how a bacterial molecule controls the body’s response to TB infection and suggest that adjusting the level of this of this molecule may be a new way to treat the disease. The report appears this week as an advance online publication of Nature Medicine.

Released: 2-Mar-2015 11:00 AM EST
Results Challenge Conventional Wisdom About Where the Brain Begins Processing Visual Information
Vanderbilt University

Results of a brain mapping study challenge conventional wisdom that the "magic" which transforms visual information into the three-dimensional world that we perceive all occurs in the visual cortex.

   
2-Mar-2015 10:30 AM EST
Genetically Speaking, Mammals Are More Like Their Fathers
University of North Carolina Health Care System

A novel research study from the UNC School of Medicine shows that although mammals inherit equal amounts of genetic mutations from their parents – the mutations that make them unique and not some other person – they actually “use” more of the DNA that they inherited from their dads.

26-Feb-2015 8:30 AM EST
New Views of Enzyme Structures Offer Insights Into Metabolism of Cholesterol, Other Lipids
University of Michigan

With the aid of X-ray crystallography, researchers at the University of Michigan have revealed the structures of two closely related enzymes that play essential roles in the body's ability to metabolize excess lipids, including cholesterol.

Released: 27-Feb-2015 11:05 AM EST
Anderson Algorithm Increases Surgical Success with Advanced Ovarian Cancer
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

A surgical algorithm developed and implemented by ovarian cancer specialists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center dramatically increases the frequency of complete removal of all visible tumor – a milestone strongly tied to improved survival.

Released: 27-Feb-2015 10:05 AM EST
Left or Right? The Brain Knows Before You Move
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)

Scientists at Janelia Research Campus have identified a neural circuit that connects motor planning to movement.

Released: 27-Feb-2015 5:00 AM EST
First Detailed Microscopy Evidence of Bacteria at the Lower Size Limit of Life
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Scientists have captured the first detailed microscopy images of ultra-small bacteria that are believed to be about as small as life can get. The research was led by scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley. The existence of ultra-small bacteria has been debated for two decades, but there hasn’t been a comprehensive electron microscopy and DNA-based description of the microbes until now.

Released: 25-Feb-2015 6:00 PM EST
Lake Tahoe Research Provides New Insights on Global Change
University of California San Diego

A Scripps Institution of Oceanography-led study on how natural and man-made sources of nitrogen are recycled through the Lake Tahoe ecosystem provides new information on how global change may affect the iconic blue lake.

Released: 25-Feb-2015 1:00 PM EST
New Technology Tracks Cell Lineage To Watch Evolution at Work
Stony Brook University

Evolution is change, and not always for the better. Evolution, in fact, is at the core of many of the diseases that are hardest to treat. Pathogens such as bacteria and parasites evade their host’s defenses or antimicrobial drugs through evolution. Cancer itself in an evolutionary process, whereby “rogue” cells evolve to grow beyond their normal barriers, migrate to distant locations in the body, and ultimately evade chemotherapy.

23-Feb-2015 1:00 PM EST
Widely Used Food Additive Promotes Colitis,Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome, Research Shows
Georgia State University

Emulsifiers, which are added to most processed foods to aid texture and extend shelf life, can alter the gut microbiota composition and localization to induce intestinal inflammation that promotes the development of inflammatory bowel disease and metabolic syndrome, new research shows.

23-Feb-2015 1:00 PM EST
First Direct Observation of Carbon Dioxide’s Increasing Greenhouse Effect at the Earth’s Surface
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Scientists have observed an increase in carbon dioxide’s greenhouse effect at the Earth’s surface for the first time. They measured atmospheric carbon dioxide’s increasing capacity to absorb thermal radiation emitted from the Earth’s surface over an eleven-year period at two locations in North America. They attributed this upward trend to rising CO2 levels from fossil fuel emissions.

Released: 25-Feb-2015 1:00 PM EST
Researchers Find Link Between Inflammation, Tissue Regeneration and Wound Repair Response
UC San Diego Health

Writing in the February 25 online issue of Nature, an international team of scientists, headed by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, report finding new links between inflammation and regeneration: signaling pathways that are activated by a receptor protein called gp130.

Released: 25-Feb-2015 11:00 AM EST
New Flow Battery to Keep Big Cities Lit, Green & Safe
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

The new zinc-polyiodide redox flow battery uses an electrolyte that has more than two times the energy density of the next-best flow battery used to store renewable energy and support the power grid. It’s high energy density, and resulting lower cost, make it ideal for large cities where space is at a premium.

Released: 24-Feb-2015 1:00 PM EST
Dendrite Eraser: New Electrolyte Rids Batteries of Short-Circuiting Fibers
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

A new electrolyte allows rechargeable batteries to operate well without growing dendrites, tiny pin-like fibers that short-circuit rechargeable batteries.

19-Feb-2015 4:00 PM EST
Do Genes Play a Role in Peanut Allergies? New Study Suggests Yes
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Researchers have pinpointed a region in the human genome associated with peanut allergy in U.S. children, offering strong evidence that genes can play a role in the development of food allergies.

Released: 24-Feb-2015 11:00 AM EST
Retracing the Roots of Fungal Symbioses
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

In Nature Genetics, DOE JGI researchers and longtime collaborators at the French National Institute for Agricultural Research and Clark University conducted the first broad, comparative phylogenomic analysis of mycorrhizal fungi to understand the basis for fungal symbiotic relationships with plants.

Released: 23-Feb-2015 12:55 PM EST
Molecular Link between Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes Reveals Potential Therapy
UC San Diego Health

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that the inflammatory molecule LTB4 promotes insulin resistance, a first step in developing type 2 diabetes. What’s more, the team found that genetically removing the cell receptor that responds to LTB4, or blocking it with a drug, improves insulin sensitivity in obese mice. The study is published Feb. 23 by Nature Medicine.

Released: 23-Feb-2015 12:00 PM EST
Epigenome Orchestrates Embryonic Development
Washington University in St. Louis

Studying zebrafish embryos, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that the epigenome plays a significant part in guiding development in the first 24 hours after fertilization. The research may deepen understanding of congenital defects and miscarriage.

   
19-Feb-2015 12:00 PM EST
Time When Southwest Was Wet and Northwest Was Dry Aids Efforts to Predict Future Rainfall Patterns
Vanderbilt University

A team of scientists from Vanderbilt and Stanford universities have created the first comprehensive map of the topsy-turvy climate in the western U.S, 21,000 years ago when Southwest was wet and the Northwest was dry and are using it to test and improve the global climate models that have been developed to predict how precipitation patterns will change in the future.

20-Feb-2015 4:20 PM EST
La Niña-Like Conditions Associated with 2,500-Year-Long Shutdown of Coral Reef Growth
Georgia Institute of Technology

A new study has found that La Niña-like conditions in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Panamá were closely associated with an abrupt shutdown in coral reef growth that lasted 2,500 years. The study suggests that future changes in climate similar to those in the study could cause coral reefs to collapse in the future.

Released: 19-Feb-2015 1:00 PM EST
New Nanogel for Drug Delivery
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT

MIT chemical engineers have designed a new type of self-healing hydrogel that could be injected through a syringe. Such gels, which can carry one or two drugs at a time, could be useful for treating cancer, macular degeneration, or heart disease, among other diseases, the researchers say.

Released: 19-Feb-2015 12:00 PM EST
Mayo Clinic Researchers Identify Gene that Pushes Normal Pancreas Cells to Change Shape
Mayo Clinic

A research team led by investigators from Mayo Clinic’s campus in Jacksonville, Florida, and the University of Oslo, Norway, have identified a molecule that pushes normal pancreatic cells to transform their shape, laying the groundwork for development of pancreatic cancer — one of the most difficult tumors to treat.

Released: 19-Feb-2015 11:00 AM EST
Study Finds Climate Change May Dramatically Reduce Wheat Production
Kansas State University

A recent study involving Kansas State University researchers finds that in the coming decades at least one-quarter of the world's wheat production will be lost to extreme weather from climate change if no adaptation measures are taken.

Released: 19-Feb-2015 9:30 AM EST
Epigenetic Study Finds Genes Involved in Allergies, Asthma
McGill University

Researchers from Canada, the UK, Sweden and the US have discovered more than 30 genes that strongly affect an antibody involved in allergies and asthma. Some of the genes could provide targets for drugs to treat those conditions, according to the international team’s study, published online in Nature.

Released: 19-Feb-2015 9:00 AM EST
Shape-Shifting Nanorod Ensembles Release Heat Differently
Argonne National Laboratory

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have revealed previously unobserved behaviors in nanrods that suggest new rules for the behavior of nanorod ensembles and new insights into how to increase heat-transfer efficiency in a nanoscale system.



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