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Protein in liver plays a crucial role in mice's pregnancy and human menstrual cycle

A protein first shown to function in the liver plays a crucial role in pregnancy in mice and has a key role in the human menstrual cycle, according to researchers at the University of Montreal. Mice that were genetically engineered not to produce the liver receptor homolog-1 (Lrh-1) molecule were unable to create the uterine conditions necessary for establishing and sustaining pregnancy, resulting in the formation of defective placentas.

1 Jul 2013

Encoded masks offer increased speed and efficiency in single-pixel THz imaging

The universe is awash in terahertz (THz) waves, as harmless as they are abundant. But unlike other regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, THz has proven to be extremely difficult to manipulate in order to capture novel images of objects and materials with which these light waves interact.

26 Jun 2013

Scientist discovers key mutations that sparked hormonal revolution 500 million years ago

Evolution, it seems, sometimes jumps instead of crawls. A research team led by a University of Chicago scientist has discovered two key mutations that sparked a hormonal revolution 500 million years ago.

25 Jun 2013

Researchers develop new software that interprets vision of people affected by changes in color vision

Researchers at the University of Alicante have developed new software that will interpret the vision of people affected by alterations in colour vision

19 Jun 2013

Researchers are one step closer to treating type 1 diabetes

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a way to trigger reproduction in the laboratory of clusters of human cells that make insulin, potentially removing a significant obstacle to transplanting the cells as a treatment for patients with type 1 diabetes.

14 Jun 2013

Restoring blood vessels may help cure type 1 diabetes, finds University of Missouri scientist

Millions of people with type 1 diabetes depend on daily insulin injections to survive. They would die without the shots because their immune system attacks the very insulin-producing cells it was designed to protect. Now, a University of Missouri scientist has discovered that this attack causes more damage than scientists realized.

30 May 2013

Adult stem cells combined with new drug could hold key to curing type 1 diabetes

29 May 2013

New TGT method helps detect and measure mechanics of single-molecule interaction

Cells in the human body do not function in isolation. Living cells rely on communication with their environment-neighboring cells and the surrounding matrix-to activate a wide range of cellular functions, including reproduction of new cells, differentiation of stem cells into distinct cell types, cell adhesion, and migration of white blood cells to fight bodily infections.

24 May 2013

Major breakthrough in IVF treatment

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced the publication of a recent study in Reproductive BioMedicine Online on 5-day old human blastocysts showing that those with an abnormal chromosomal composition can be identified by the rate at which they have developed to blastocysts, thereby classifying the risk of genetic abnormality without a biopsy.

20 May 2013

Research: Women's reproductive function may be tied to their immune status

New research indicates that women's reproductive function may be tied to their immune status. Previous studies have found this association in human males, but not females.

18 May 2013

Using copper IUD or coil does not exacerbate period pain, reveals study

Using a copper intrauterine device (IUD), or coil, does not exacerbate period pain, reveals a study where researchers from the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, followed 2,100 women for 30 years.

8 May 2013

New mechanism that plays important role in meiosis identified

The Research Group headed by molecular biologist Andrea Pichler from the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg has made an important discovery in meiosis research.

3 May 2013

Hypothalamus controls aging throughout the body, scientists report

While the search continues for the Fountain of Youth, researchers may have found the body's "fountain of aging": the brain region known as the hypothalamus.

2 May 2013

Experts call for medical leaders to establish guidelines, embed honesty in academic cultures

Unethical behavior among physicians-in-training threatens to erode public trust and confidence in the medical profession, say two academic physicians in the current issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

30 Apr 2013

Researchers identify gene variations linked to male and female infertility

Identification of genetic variations in the genes coding for the hormone FSH may provide new treatments for male and female infertility, according to work presented at the European Congress of Endocrinology in Copenhagen.

30 Apr 2013

Study identifies malaria parasite protein as potential new target for drug treatment to prevent malaria

Scientists have discovered how a protein within the malaria parasite is essential to its survival as it develops inside a mosquito. They believe their findings identify this protein as a potential new target for drug treatments to prevent malaria being passed to humans.

24 Apr 2013

Researchers studying lipids to learn more about normal, abnormal biology

When you have your cholesterol checked, the doctor typically gives you levels of three fats found in the blood: LDL, HDL and triglycerides. But did you know your body contains thousands of other types of fats, or lipids?

24 Apr 2013

Indiana researcher uses OMX light microscope to image mitosis process

Like a pair of dancers sheathed in blue, two chromosomes take the cell's center stage in this scene from the elegant—and usually perfectly performed—process of mitosis.

22 Apr 2013

Shc plays key role in activating and controlling Erk

A protein which is intimately involved in cancer-promoting cell signaling also keeps a key component of the signaling pathway tied down and inactive, a team led by scientists from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reports this week in Nature Structural Molecular Biology.

20 Apr 2013

Study highlights how genes can acquire, adapt to different roles in human evolution

Researchers have designed a method that can universally test for evolutionary adaption, or positive (Darwinian) selection, in any chosen set of genes, using re-sequencing data such as that generated by the 1000 Genomes Project.

19 Apr 2013