|  Why do humans pig out?  | Researchers have discovered big differences in the variability of eating habits among pigs. A newly published study showed that for some overeating was normal behavior and for a particular group of pigs there was clear evidence they were genetically programmed to eat more food than others. | Read More » New role for cell dark matter in genome integrity  | Researchers have discovered how telomerase, a molecule essential for cancer development, is directed to structures on our genome called telomeres in order to maintain its integrity and in turn, the integrity of the genome. | Read More » Identical twins with significant weight differences shed light on the phenomenon of metabolically healthy obesity  | A unique study of 16 pairs of identical twins in which one twin is obese and the other lean has yielded some surprising results. In 8 of the pairs of twins, the obese twin was as 'metabolically healthy' as his or her lean co-twin, while in the other 8 pairs, the obese twin had a poorer blood fat profile, higher liver fat and increased insulin production and resistance, and higher blood pressure -- all hallmarks of unhealthy obesity. | Read More » What evolved first, a dexterous hand or an agile foot?  | Resolving a long-standing mystery in human evolution, new research indicates that early hominids developed finger dexterity and tool use ability before the development of bipedal locomotion. | Read More » How binge drinking impairs healing of broken bones  | Physicians have long observed that binge drinking impairs healing of broken bones. A new study is providing insights into how alcohol slows healing on the cellular and molecular levels. The findings could lead to better treatments to improve bone healing. | Read More » Giant channels discovered beneath Antarctic ice shelf: 250 meter high channels will help predict future of Antarctic ice  | Scientists have discovered huge ice channels beneath a floating ice shelf in Antarctica. At 250 meters high, the channels are almost as tall as the Eiffel tower and stretch hundreds of kilometers along the ice shelf. The channels are likely to influence the stability of the ice shelf and their discovery will help researchers understand how the ice will respond to changing environmental conditions. | Read More » Health of honey bees adversely impacted by selenium  | Traditionally, honey bee research has focused on environmental stressors such as pesticides, pathogens and diseases. Now a research team led by entomologists has published a study that focuses on an anthropogenic pollutant: selenium. The researchers found that the four main forms of Se in plants -- selenate, selenite, methylselenocysteine and selenocystine -- caused mortality and delays in development in the honey bee. | Read More » 'Mistake' in single-cell organism actually a rewrite essential to life  | A tiny but unexpected change to a segment of RNA in a single-cell organism looks a lot like a mistake, but is instead a change to the genetic information that is essential to the organism's survival. | Read More » First-ever view of gene activity, transcript patterns in single human cells  | Biologists have developed a method to visualize the activity of genes in single cells. The method is so efficient that, for the first time, a thousand genes can be studied in parallel in ten thousand single human cells. Applications lie in fields of basic research and medical diagnostics. The new method shows that the activity of genes, and the spatial organization of the resulting transcript molecules, strongly vary between single cells. | Read More » Stem cells help repair traumatic brain injury by building 'biobridge'  | Researchers suggest a new view of how stem cells may help repair the brain following trauma. | Read More » Genetic analysis of individuals with autism finds gene deletions  | Using powerful genetic sequencing technology, a team of investigators scanned the genome of hundreds of individuals, and discovered those diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were more likely to have gene deletions than were people without the disorder. That means those individuals -- seven percent of the study group -- had one copy of one or more genes when they should have had two. | Read More » High rates of unnecessary prescribing of antibiotics continue  | For decades, there has been a significant effort to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing. Despite this work, new research finds only incremental improvement in antibiotic prescribing for adults with acute bronchitis and sore throat. | Read More » Key cellular auto-cleaning mechanism mediates formation of plaques in Alzheimer's brain  | Autophagy, a key cellular auto-cleaning mechanism, mediates the formation of amyloid beta plaques, one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. It might be a potential drug target for the treatment of the disease, concludes new research. The study sheds light on the metabolism of amyloid beta, and its role in neurodegeneration and memory loss. | Read More » Exceptional fossil fish reveals new evolutionary mechanism for body elongation  | Snake and eel bodies are elongated, slender and flexible in all three dimensions. This striking body plan has evolved many times independently in the more than 500 million years of vertebrate animals history. Based on the current state of knowledge, the extreme elongation of the body axis occurred in one of two ways: either through the elongation of the individual vertebrae of the vertebral column, which thus became longer, or through the development of additional vertebrae and associated muscle segments. | Read More » | |
