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BPA affects development of uterus in female primates

Exposure in the womb to bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical widely used in the food and medical industries, causes changes in female primates' uterus development, new research suggests. The results will be presented Tuesday at The Endocrine Society's 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston.

8 Jun 2011

Scientists discover four different bacteria that can live on caffeine

As it turns out, humans aren't the only organisms that turn to caffeine for a pick-me-up. University of Iowa scientists have identified four different bacteria that actually can live on caffeine.

8 Jun 2011

Apple peel reduces muscle atrophy and promotes muscle growth in mice

For Popeye, spinach was the key to extra muscle. For the mice in a new University of Iowa study, it was apples, or more precisely a waxy substance called ursolic acid that's found in apple peel.

8 Jun 2011

MSU professor to lead acetazolamide clinical trial on idiopathic intracranial hypertension

A rare but increasingly more common disease striking overweight, younger women is the focus of a clinical trial at Michigan State University, where an osteopathic physician is testing the effectiveness of a certain drug against a potentially blindness-causing ailment.

8 Jun 2011

BGI releases third version of assembled E. coli O104 genome

Scientists worldwide have been working on the publicly available genomic sequences of the deadly E. coli O104 strain, which is causing the current health crisis in Germany and now spreading throughout Europe. To continue to speed the ongoing international efforts of researchers to assess and halt this growing epidemic, BGI and their collaborators at the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf have now released their third version of the assembled genome, which includes new data from this E. coli O104.

8 Jun 2011

Eating at wrong time of the day reduces fertility in fruit flies

Dieticians will tell you it isn't healthy to eat late at night: it's a recipe for weight gain. In fruit flies, at least, there's another consequence: reduced fertility.

8 Jun 2011

Increased blood clotting tendency linked to elevated bowel cancer risk

Back in the mid 19th century, a French doctor, Armand Trousseau, discovered a connection between cancer and thrombosis - the formation of often dangerous blood clots that can lead to venous occlusion.

7 Jun 2011

Silencing two microRNAs may help treat age-related macular degeneration

Blocking two tiny molecules of RNA - a chemical cousin of DNA - appears to suppress the abnormal growth of blood vessels that occurs in degenerative eye disorders, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found.

7 Jun 2011

Researchers reveal surprising link between cell's skeleton and organ size

A group of scientists at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ci-ncia, in Portugal, have uncovered a surprising link between the cell's skeleton and organ size. The team, led by Florence Janody, show in the journal Development, that one of the proteins that regulates the skeleton of the cell also acts to blocks activation of genes that promote cell survival and proliferation.

7 Jun 2011

Light exposure can enhance brain's visual circuits

Any parent knows that newborns still have a lot of neurological work to do to attain fully acute vision. In a wide variety of nascent animals, genes provide them with only a rough wiring plan and then leave it to the developing nervous system to do its own finish work.

6 Jun 2011

Cancer risk assessment in Lynch syndrome

Among various genetic mutations for individuals with Lynch syndrome, a hereditary cancer syndrome that carries a high risk of colon cancer and an above-normal risk of other cancers, researchers have identified mutations associated with a lower cancer risk and mutations associated with an increased risk for ovarian and endometrial cancer, according to a study in the June 8 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on cancer.

6 Jun 2011

Weight loss following bariatric surgery may reduce risk of Alzheimer's

Obesity is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, but weight loss due to bariatric surgery may reduce the risk of this common dementia, a new study suggests. The results will be presented Sunday at The Endocrine Society's 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston.

6 Jun 2011

Screening unhelpful in lowering deaths from ovarian cancer

New research shows that women regularly screened for ovarian cancer are just as likely to die from the disease. This comes as no surprise as there are still no adequate detection methods, says Ovarian Cancer Australia. Of the 1,200 Australian women diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year, 800 die, often because it is diagnosed too late to be treated.

5 Jun 2011

Study links loss of PTEN gene with patient's response to melanoma therapy

Genetic analysis of the tumors from patients with advanced melanoma can clue researchers in to how well patients will respond to a therapy that targets the growth-promoting protein called BRAF, a researcher from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania will report on Monday, June 6 at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

4 Jun 2011

Preliminary data from Ion PGM sequencer reveals German E. coli outbreak is a new hybrid strain

Life Technologies Corporation today announced that preliminary data from DNA sequencing performed in cooperation with the University Hospital Muenster, Germany, on the Ion Personal Genome Machine strongly suggests that the bacterium at the root of the deadly outbreak in Germany is a new hybrid type of pathogenic E. coli strains.

4 Jun 2011

BGI genome sequencing identifies new super-toxic bacteria as cause of current European epidemic

The recent outbreak of an E. coli infection in Germany has resulted in serious concerns about the potential appearance of a new deadly strain of bacteria.

4 Jun 2011

Researchers identify 'epigenetic fingerprints' of healthy volunteers, patients with common diseases

Until a decade, it was believed that differences between people were due solely to the existence of genetic changes, which are alterations in the sequence of our genes. The discoveries made during these last ten years show that beings with the same genetics like the twins and cloned animals may have different characteristics and disease due to epigenetic changes.

4 Jun 2011

Enzyme Research journal publishes new peer-reviewed article involving Protandim

LifeVantage Corporation, the maker of Protandim, a clinically demonstrated, science-based therapy for the reduction of oxidative stress by the synergistic activation of Nrf2, announced today that a new peer-reviewed review article involving Protandim was published in the scientific journal Enzyme Research.

4 Jun 2011

Johns Hopkins researchers solve long-standing mystery of Warburg effect

It's long been known that cancer cells eat a lot of sugar to stay alive. In fact, where normal, noncancerous cells generate energy from using some sugar and a lot of oxygen, cancerous cells use virtually no oxygen and a lot of sugar.

4 Jun 2011

Scientists demonstrate why B cells exposed to chronic HIV shut down, how they can be reactivated

Scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have demonstrated why certain immune cells chronically exposed to HIV shut down, and how they can be reactivated.

4 Jun 2011