news 2010

Chemistry - Life Sciences - 21.05
Researchers identify how plant skins are stitched together
For the first time, scientists have identified how a plant's skin is assembled. All plants have a skin, called a cuticle, that covers the above-ground surfaces. It is composed of waxes and a polymer network - a large molecule made of fatty acid building blocks called cutin that are bonded together.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Life Sciences - 21.05
Drug Found for Parasite that is Major Cause of Death Worldwide
Research by a collaborative group of scientists from UC San Diego School of Medicine, UC San Francisco and Wake Forest School of Medicine has led to identification of an existing drug that is effective against Entamoeba histolytica .

Life Sciences - Medicine/Pharmacology - 17.05
’Rare’ genetic variants are surprisingly common, life scientists report
A large survey of human genetic variation shows that rare genetic variants are not so rare after all and offers insights into human diseases. "I knew there would be rare variation but had no idea there would be so much of it," said the senior author of the research, John Novembre, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and of bioinformatics at UCLA.

Life Sciences - Medicine/Pharmacology - 17.05
Slew of rare DNA changes following population explosion holds clues to common diseases
One-letter switches in the DNA code occur much more frequently in human genomes than anticipated, but are often only found in one or a few individuals. Science. “This is a dramatic example of how recent human history has profoundly shaped patterns of genetic variation,” said Joshua Akey, University of Washington associate professor of genome sciences and a senior author of the study.

Life Sciences - Medicine/Pharmacology - 17.05
New Research from Penn Medicine Challenges Established Concept that Raising HDL Helps Counter Heart Attack Risk
A new study published by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania , the Broad Institute, and Massachusetts General Hospital, challenges the conventional concept that raising a person's HDL levels (good cholesterol) will always help lower their risk of a heart attack.

Life Sciences - Medicine/Pharmacology - 16.05
New Understanding of ’Copper Pump’ in Cells Could Prime Discovery of Anti-Cancer Drugs
Researchers at UC San Diego used experimental results and modeling studies to discover that the human copper transporter protein forms a trimer (purple, aqua, and red) in a cell's membrane, with one end (top) extending outside the cell and the other end (bottom) extending into the cell's cytoplasm.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Life Sciences - 15.05
Unexpected source of diabetic neuropathy pain
Nearly half of all diabetics suffer from neuropathic pain, an intractable, agonizing and still mysterious companion of the disease. Now Yale researchers have identified an unexpected source of the pain and a potential target to alleviate it.

Life Sciences - Medicine/Pharmacology - 15.05
High-fructose diet sabotages learning, memory
Attention, college students cramming between midterms and finals: Binging on soda and sweets for as little as six weeks may make you stupid. A new UCLA study is the first to show how a diet steadily high in fructose slows the brain, hampering memory and learning — and how omega-3 fatty acids can counteract the disruption.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Life Sciences - 15.05
Novel Approaches to Treating Alzheimer’s Disease Include Early Intervention
Researchers at the Comprehensive Alzheimer's Program at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have announced two new clinical trials for patients with either mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) and one trial for Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Life Sciences - Physics/Astronomy - 13.05
Scientists Generate Electricity From Viruses
Imagine charging your phone as you walk, thanks to a paper-thin generator embedded in the sole of your shoe. This futuristic scenario is now a little closer to reality. Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a way to generate power using harmless viruses that convert mechanical energy into electricity.

Life Sciences - Medicine/Pharmacology - 10.05
Evolution’s gift may also be at the root of a form of autism
A recently evolved pattern of gene activity in the language and decision-making centers of the human brain is missing in a disorder associated with autism and learning disabilities, a new study by Yale University researchers shows.

Earth Sciences - Life Sciences - 8.05
Plastic Trash Altering Ocean Habitats, Scripps Study Shows
SEAPLEX researchers collected an alarming amount of small bits of broken down plastic floating across thousands of miles of open ocean. Photo credit: Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego A 100-fold upsurge in human-produced plastic garbage in the ocean is altering habitats in the marine environment, according to a new study led by a graduate student researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.

Life Sciences - History/Philosophy - 3.05
Biologists turn back the clock to understand evolution of sex differences
Battles of sexes shown to spur adaptive sex differences For video and explanations Sex differences account for some of the most spectacular traits in nature: the wild colours of male guppies, the plumage of peacocks, tusks on walruses and antlers on moose.

Life Sciences - Medicine/Pharmacology - 2.05
Human brain evolution tied to partial gene copy that blocks original
A brain-development gene found exclusively in humans has an unusual evolutionary history and could contribute to what makes us distinctly human. Equally surprising, this is a partial gene created from an incomplete duplication of its “parent” gene in the prehistoric human genome.

Environmental Sciences - Life Sciences - 2.05
Ecosystem effects of biodiversity loss could rival impacts of climate change and pollution
Loss of biodiversity appears to impact ecosystems as much as climate change, pollution and other major forms of environmental stress, according to a recent study by a team of researchers based at nine institutions in Canada, the United States and Sweden.