March 15, 2013--------News Archive

One gene, many mutations
Researchers show gene controlling coat color in mice mutated nine times, results shed new light on how evolution works.

Brown fat cell switch may help fight obesity
Brown fats cells, as opposed to white fat cells, make heat for the body, and are thought to have evolved to help mammals cope with the cold. But, their role in generating warmth might also be applied to coping with obesity and diabetes.

Chicken pox vaccine saving children's lives
The widespread introduction of a chicken pox vaccine in Australia in 2006 has prevented thousands of children from hospitalization with severe chicken pox and saved lives.

March 14, 2013--------News Archive

Novel chemical that controls cell behavior
GTPases act as chemical switches controlling cell shape changes through growth stages, and stickiness as they migrate. Now, a newly identified chemical compound might interrupt these behaviors before metastases migration can begin.

Immune cells cluster and communicate 'like bees'
A new study on T-cell behavior sheds light on how vaccines coordinate responses to diseases and vaccines, acting like honey bees sharing information about the best honey sources.

Normal prion protein regulates iron metabolism
Iron imbalance caused by prion proteins collecting in the brain is a likely cause of cell death in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), say researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

March 13, 2013--------News Archive

New type of retinoblastoma in babies
A team of Canadian and international cancer researchers has discovered a new type of retinoblastoma, a rapidly developing eye cancer that affects very young babies– a finding that can immediately change clinical practice and optimize care for these children.

The nose's unheralded neighbor
Study reveals that maxillary sinuses conveniently make room for different nose shapes—according to climate temperature.

Neural 'synchrony' may be key to understanding how the human brain perceives
Despite many remarkable discoveries in the field of neuroscience during the past several decades, researchers have not been able to fully crack the brain's "neural code."

March 12, 2013--------News Archive

Tiny piece of RNA keeps ‘Clock’ running in earliest stages of life
New research shows that a tiny piece of RNA has an essential role in ensuring that embryonic tissue segments form properly.

Protein abundant in cancerous cells causes DNA 'supercoiling'
The specialized MCM protein maintains genome stability by maintaining DNA structure, but may also facilitate cancer cells by changing the very shape of DNA.

Fully wired: Planar cell genes guide gut neurons
The enteric nervous system (ENS), the "little brain" that resides within the gut wall, governs motility, secretion, and blood flow in the human gastrointestinal tract.

March 11, 2013--------News Archive

When food is scarce, a smaller brain will do
A new study explains how young brains are protected when nutrition is poor, revealing a coping strategy for producing a fully functional, if smaller, brain.

Molecular switch turns on self-renewal after liver damage
The liver is one of the few organs in our body that can regenerate itself, but how it occurs is a biological mystery. New research has identified a protein complex that acts as a molecular switch turning on a self-regeneration program in the liver.

Signal that helps stem cells make bone despite age or disease
A signaling molecule that helps stem cells survive in the naturally low-oxygen environment inside the bone marrow, may hold clues to helping the cells survive when the going gets worse with age and disease.