'Jekyll and Hyde' cell may hold key to muscular dystrophy, fibrosis treatment: UBC research 01/18/2010 (University of British Columbia) A team of University of British Columbia researchers has identified fat-producing cells that possess "dual-personalities" and may further the development of treatments for muscle diseases such as muscular dystrophy and fibrosis. Artificial muscles restore ability to blink, save eyesight 01/18/2010 (University of California - Davis - Health System) Surgeons from UC Davis Medical Center have demonstrated that artificial muscles can restore the ability of patients with facial paralysis to blink, a development that could benefit the thousands of people each year who no longer are able to close their eyelids due to combat-related injuries, stroke, nerve injury or facial surgery. Concussions not taken seriously enough: McMaster researcher 01/18/2010 (McMaster University) Despite growing public interest in concussions because of serious hockey injuries or skiing deaths, a researcher from McMaster University has found that we may not be taking the common head injury seriously enough. Diabetes epidemic in First Nations adults, especially women in prime reproductive years 01/18/2010 (Canadian Medical Association Journal) A diabetes epidemic is affecting First Nations people, especially women in their prime reproductive years, according to a new study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). The incidence of diabetes was more than 4 times higher in First Nations women compared to nonFirst Nations women and more than 2.5 times higher in First Nations compared to nonFirst Nations men. Researchers find new insights into inherited retinal disease 01/17/2010 (University of California - San Diego) An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered new links between a common form of inherited blindness affecting children and a gene known as Abelson helper integration site-1 (AHI1). Their findings, which may lead to new therapies and improved diagnostics for retinal disease, will appear online in advance of publication in the journal Nature Genetics on January 17. Newly identified genes influence insulin and glucose regulation 01/17/2010 (NIH/National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) An international research consortium has found 13 new genetic variants that influence blood glucose regulation, insulin resistance, and the function of insulin-secreting beta cells in populations of European descent. Five of the newly discovered variants increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes. New gene variants associated with glucose, insulin levels, some with diabetes risk 01/17/2010 (Massachusetts General Hospital) A major international study with leadership from Massachusetts General Hospital researchers has identified 10 new gene variants associated with blood sugar or insulin levels. Two of these novel variants and three that earlier studies associated with glucose levels were also found to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. Organized chaos gets robots going 01/17/2010 (Max-Planck-Gesellschaft) Even simple insects can generate quite different movement patterns with their six legs. The animal uses various gaits depending on whether it crawls uphill or downhill, slowly or fast. Scientists from Gottingen have now developed a walking robot, which can flexibly and autonomously switch between different gaits. The success of their solution lies in its simplicity: a small and simple network with just a few connections can create very diverse movement patterns. To this end, the robot uses a mechanism for "chaos control." From biological basics to diabetes discovery 01/17/2010 (Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute) In two international studies of diabetes and glucose metabolism, researchers have found new genetic markers that affect risk of diabetes and glucose levels. Five of the markers influence directly the risk of diabetes. Just as important, the work helps to build understanding of the biological networks that lie behind glucose metabolism and disorders, such as diabetes. The genome-wide approach used here is a valuable complementary method to find variants that influence disease risk. First successful use of expanded umbilical-cord blood units to treat leukemia 01/17/2010 (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center) Scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have cleared a major technical hurdle to making umbilical-cord-blood transplants a more widely-used method for treating leukemia and other blood cancers. Roundtable discussion highlights vital role for palliative care in health-care reform 01/15/2010 (Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News) Opinion leaders in the field of palliative medicine explored the unparalleled opportunities that now exist for the palliative care community, which matches treatment to the desires of informed patients and their families, to help define evolving health care reform policy. The thought-provoking Roundtable discussion, "Palliative Medicine: Politics and Policy," is published online ahead of print in Journal of Palliative Medicine, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Studies demonstrate link among Alzheimer's disease, Down syndrome and atherosclerosis 01/15/2010 (University of South Florida Health) Neuroscientists at the University of South Florida have demonstrated an association among Alzheimer's disease, Down syndrome and atherosclerosis. Their research, published online in the journals Molecular Biology of the Cell and PLoS One, implicates damage inflicted by the amyloid protein as a shared disease mechanism. UC Davis to study drug therapy to minimize death and disability from traumatic brain injury 01/15/2010 (University of California - Davis - Health System) A clinical trial of a new neuroprotective drug for people with traumatic brain injuries will be offered to patients seen in UC Davis Medical Center's level-1 trauma center, through an $8 million grant funded by the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program of the US Department of Defense. Clemson faculty explore how to convert shipping containers into emergency housing 01/15/2010 (Clemson University) Resources to solve the housing crisis in Haiti may already be on hand. Some Clemson University researchers have been experimenting with ways to convert shipping containers into emergency housing in the hurricane-prone Caribbean, where a surplus of the sturdy boxes often sits in port yards. Novel personalized medicine trial launched for metastatic colorectal cancer 01/15/2010 (George Mason University) Imagine if treatments for disease could be based not on a patient's diagnosis but instead on the characteristics of their tissue. By identifying and decoding the cryptic messages hidden deep inside the human proteome, scientists and physicians who study personalized medicine are seeking more effective treatments and disease management for patients. Genetic risk factor identified for Parkinson's disease 01/15/2010 (Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health) An international team of doctors and human geneticists has identified a new genetic risk factor for Parkinson's disease. The institutions involved in the study were the Institute of Human Genetics of Helmholtz Zentrum München and Technische Universitat Munchen, the Neurological Clinic of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munich and the Mitochondrial Research Group of Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Cancer stem cells suppress immune response against brain tumor 01/15/2010 (University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center) Cancer-initiating cells that launch glioblastoma multiforme, the most lethal type of brain tumor, also suppress an immune system attack on the disease, scientists from the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in a paper featured on the cover of the Jan. 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research. How sunlight causes skin cells to turn cancerous 01/15/2010 (Loyola University Health System) A new study by could lead to new drug treatments for skin cancer. The drugs would work by turning on a gene that prevents skin cells from becoming cancerous. Kentucky study advances new target for CNS drug development 01/15/2010 (University of Kentucky) Scientists at the University of Kentucky have discovered that the small molecule withaferin-A simultaneously targets two intermediate filaments, GFAP and vimentin, which are implicated in reactive gliosis, a damaging biological process common to a variety of diseases of the central nervous system and eye. Update on pluripotent stem cells (hESC and iPS) 01/15/2010 (European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology) ESHRE invites you to attend its workshop on "Update on pluripotent stem cells (hESC and iPS)" followed by a hands on course on "Derivation and culture of pluripotent stem cells." The objective of the course on February 8 is to provide participants with an update on the state of the art of pluripotent stem cells. Crucial differences found among Latino populations facing heart disease risks 01/15/2010 (Columbia University Medical Center) Latinos are not all the same when it comes to risk of heart disease, and a new study by a Columbia University researcher shows key differences among Hispanic populations that doctors should take into account in trying to stem the risk of cardiovascular disease in this large and growing subset of the US population. Scientists hope to end sleeping sickness by making parasite that causes it self-destruct 01/15/2010 (American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) After many years of study, a team of researchers is releasing data today that it hopes will lead to new drug therapies that will kill the family of parasites that causes a deadly trio of insect-borne diseases and has afflicted inhabitants of underdeveloped and developing nations for centuries. New satellite maps of Haiti coming in 01/15/2010 (European Space Agency) As rescue workers scramble to provide assistance to hundreds of thousands of people following Haiti's earthquake, Earth observation satellite data continues to provide updated views of the situation on the ground. Poor people smoke more 01/15/2010 (Deutsches Aerzteblatt International) Social status is intimately linked with health-related risk factors. In the current issue of Deutsches Arzteblatt International, Thomas Lampert, of the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin, inquires to what extent smoking, physical inactivity, and obesity are associated with social status. Parasitic wasps' newly sequenced genomes reveal new avenues for pest control 01/15/2010 (Swiss Institute of Bioinoformatics) Researchers from the University of Geneva and the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics led an analysis of the sequenced genomes of parasitic wasps. Harnessing the full potential of those wasps would be preferable to chemical pesticides. Professor Evgeny Zdobnov from the University of Geneva Medical School and the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics directed the comparative evolutionary genomics studies , which revealed many features that could be useful to pest control and medicine, and to enhance our understanding of genetics and evolution. 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