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Genetic differences influence asthma risk in Latinos

Native American ancestry is associated with a lower asthma risk, but African ancestry is associated with a higher risk, according to the largest-ever study of how genetic variation influences asthma risk in Latinos, in whom both African and Native American ancestry is common. The study, led by UC San Francisco researchers, was published online October 6, 2014 in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

7 Oct 2014

Study identifies six new genetic variants associated with habitual coffee drinking

A new, large-scale study has identified six new genetic variants associated with habitual coffee drinking. The genome-wide meta-analysis, led by Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women's Hospital researchers, helps explain why a given amount of coffee or caffeine has different effects on different people and provides a genetic basis for future research exploring the links between coffee and health.

7 Oct 2014

Scientists identify new biomarker for diagnosing cause of thyroid cancer

The expression of the protein CLIP2 provides information on whether a papillary thyroid carcinoma was induced by radiation or had a sporadic origin. With this discovery, scientists from the Helmholtz Zentrum München have identified a new biomarker for the diagnosis of the cancer cause.

7 Oct 2014

Researchers identify new technique to find rare stem cells

Deep within the bone marrow resides a type of cells known as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). These immature cells can differentiate into cells that produce bone, cartilage, fat, or muscle — a trait that scientists have tried to exploit for tissue repair.

7 Oct 2014

USC scientists find new way to suppress obesity

Imagine being able to take a pill that lets you eat all of the ice cream, cookies, and cakes that you wanted – without gaining any weight.

7 Oct 2014

Vesicles play significant role in the functioning of neurons

Tiny vesicles containing protective substances which they transmit to nerve cells apparently play an important role in the functioning of neurons. As cell biologists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have discovered, nerve cells can enlist the aid of mini-vesicles of neighboring glial cells to defend themselves against stress and other potentially detrimental factors.

7 Oct 2014

Lund University researchers identify mechanisms that play vital role in development of type 2 diabetes

By studying identical twins, researchers from Lund University in Sweden have identified mechanisms that could be behind the development of type 2 diabetes. This may explain cases where one identical twin develops type 2 diabetes while the other remains healthy.

7 Oct 2014

Scientists identify genetic factors that influence height in individuals

An international collaboration of scientists has identified a fifth of the genetic factors that cause height to vary between individuals.

6 Oct 2014

Study provides better glimpse at the biology of height

The largest genome-wide association study (GWAS) to date, involving more than 300 institutions and more than 250,000 subjects, roughly doubles the number of known gene regions influencing height to more than 400.

6 Oct 2014

Researchers reveal 'programmable' antibiotic technique to target drug-resistant microbes

The multitude of microbes scientists have found populating the human body have good, bad and mostly mysterious implications for our health. But when something goes wrong, we defend ourselves with the undiscriminating brute force of traditional antibiotics, which wipe out everything at once, regardless of the consequences.

6 Oct 2014

New research on barcoding tool that tracks origin of blood cells challenges scientific dogma

A 7-year-project to develop a barcoding and tracking system for tissue stem cells has revealed previously unrecognized features of normal blood production: New data from Harvard Stem Cell Institute scientists at Boston Children's Hospital suggests, surprisingly, that the billions of blood cells that we produce each day are made not by blood stem cells, but rather their less pluripotent descendants, called progenitor cells.

6 Oct 2014

Researchers discover rare disease that affects heart rate, intestinal movements

Physicians and researchers at CHU Sainte-Justine, Universit- de Montr-al, CHU de Qu-bec, Universit- Laval, and Hubrecht Institute have discovered a rare disease affecting both heart rate and intestinal movements.

6 Oct 2014

TyrRS enzyme protects DNA during cellular stress

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have found that an enzyme best known for its fundamental role in building proteins has a second major function: to protect DNA during times of cellular stress.

3 Oct 2014

Genetic history of HIV finally unravelled

Research, published today, shows that the HIV pandemic almost certainly began its global spread in the 1920s in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

3 Oct 2014

Blood test can help identify people at increased risk of atrial fibrillation, stroke

Many of those who are genetically predisposed to develop atrial fibrillation, which dramatically raises the risk of stroke, can be identified with a blood test. This is shown by new research from Lund University in Sweden.

3 Oct 2014

Women can now take proactive steps to reduce breast cancer risk

Now that medical professionals have identified gene mutations that predispose for breast cancer, patients can take proactive steps to reduce their risk.

3 Oct 2014

Researchers analyze incidence of childhood brain tumors

Older parents, birth defects, maternal nutrition and childhood exposure to CT scans and pesticides are increasingly being associated with brain tumors in children, according to new research from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

3 Oct 2014

Women survivors of sexual abuse may suffer emotional distress during pelvic examination

Women who have a history of violent sexual abuse may suffer emotional distress during a routine pelvic examination. Healthcare providers would benefit from greater awareness of symptoms predictive of examination-related distress in this patient population, according to a study published in Violence and Gender, a new peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

3 Oct 2014

Researchers receive $4 million NIH grant to bioengineer miniature pancreas in a dish

Although type 1 diabetes can be controlled with insulin injections and lifestyle modifications, major advances in treating the disease have not been made in more than two decades and there remain fundamental gaps in what is understood about its causes and how to halt its progression.

3 Oct 2014

Researchers identify biomarker that can predict GS7 prostate cancer patients

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have identified a biomarker living next door to the KLK3 gene that can predict which GS7 prostate cancer patients will have a more aggressive form of cancer.

3 Oct 2014