ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

---

• Gene therapy reverses effects of lethal childhood muscle disorder in mice
• Butterfly vision, wing colors linked
• Word learning better in deaf children who receive cochlear implants by age 13 months
• New smoking cessation therapy proves promising
• Tree-dwelling mammals climb to the heights of longevity
• 'Milk drops' under the tongue appear to treat milk allergies
• Cancer, aging: Key interaction that controls telomeres discovered
• Robot-assisted option offers advantages for kidney surgery, comparison shows
• Mountaintop mining poisons fish
• Biggest Marathon, Half-Marathon Training Mistakes
• DNA sequence of extinct ancient cattle uncovered
• Pinpointing immune system disturbances in celiac disease
• Global warming may hurt some poor populations, benefit others
• Study supports alternative anti-seizure medication following acute brain injury
• E. coli as sole indicator of water pollution questioned
• Stroke incidence rising among younger adults, decreasing among elderly
• Mouse model may provide insight into the schizophrenic brain
• Easing egg allergies with eggs: Oral immunotherapy study shows it works
• Screening cancer genomes for the driver mutations in tumour suppressor genes
• Anti-inflammatory signal protein discovered
• Campaign to end sale of electronic mosquito repellents
• Similar advertising strategies used by indoor tanning and tobacco industries
• Beewolves protect their offspring with antibiotics; digger wasp larvae use bacteria against infections
• Root or shoot: Power struggle between genetic master switches decides stem cell fate, growth orientation in plants
• New technique allows study of protein folding, dynamics in living cells
• Inventing new oat and barley breads

Gene therapy reverses effects of lethal childhood muscle disorder in mice Posted: 01 Mar 2010 08:00 AM PST Reversing a protein deficiency through gene therapy can correct motor function, restore nerve signals and improve survival in mice that serve as a model for the lethal childhood disorder spinal muscular atrophy, new research shows. This muscle-wasting disease results when a child's motor neurons -- nerve cells that send signals from the spinal cord to muscles -- produce insufficient amounts of what is called survival motor neuron protein, or SMN.

Butterfly vision, wing colors linked Posted: 01 Mar 2010 08:00 AM PST Butterfly experts have suspected for more than 150 years that vision plays a key role in explaining wing color diversity. Now, for the first time, research shows the truth in this theory -- at least in nine Heliconius species.

Word learning better in deaf children who receive cochlear implants by age 13 months Posted: 01 Mar 2010 08:00 AM PST Researcher report that deaf children's word-learning skill is strongly affected by early auditory experience, whether that experience was through normal means or with a cochlear implant. Children who received an implant by age 13 months performed similarly to normal-hearing counterparts while children who received a cochlear implant later performed, on average, more poorly than their normal-hearing peers.

New smoking cessation therapy proves promising Posted: 01 Mar 2010 08:00 AM PST A novel technology for delivering nicotine to the lungs may soon give smokers a new way to kick the habit. When compared to the nicotine vapor delivery system used in the Nicotrol/Nicorette inhaler, the new technology proved more effective at delivering nicotine to the blood stream. As a result, it provides immediate relief of withdrawal symptoms, according to researchers

Tree-dwelling mammals climb to the heights of longevity Posted: 01 Mar 2010 05:00 AM PST The squirrels littering your lawn with acorns as they bound overhead will live to plague your yard longer than the ones that aerate it with their burrows, according to a new study. Researchers found that tree-dwelling mammals live longer than those who live on the ground. Humans are an exception, but tree-dwelling ancestors may explain that.

'Milk drops' under the tongue appear to treat milk allergies Posted: 01 Mar 2010 05:00 AM PST Placing small amounts of milk protein under the tongues of children who are allergic to milk can help them overcome their allergies, according to the findings of a small study.

Cancer, aging: Key interaction that controls telomeres discovered Posted: 01 Mar 2010 05:00 AM PST In the dominoes that make up human cells, researchers have traced another step of the process that stops cells from becoming cancerous.

Robot-assisted option offers advantages for kidney surgery, comparison shows Posted: 01 Mar 2010 05:00 AM PST A comparison of two types of minimally invasive surgery to repair kidney blockages that prevent urine from draining normally to the bladder found that robot-assisted surgery was faster and resulted in less blood loss and shorter hospital stays.

Mountaintop mining poisons fish Posted: 01 Mar 2010 05:00 AM PST Dead and deformed fish indicate selenium pollution from mountaintop coal mining is causing permanent damage to the environment and poses serious health risks, says a biologist.

Biggest Marathon, Half-Marathon Training Mistakes Posted: 01 Mar 2010 05:00 AM PST Half marathons and marathons can be over in a matter of hours, but runners, both newbies and elite, often spend months training for the 13.1- and 26.2-mile races. Experts describe four common mistakes runners make when preparing for these major races.

DNA sequence of extinct ancient cattle uncovered Posted: 01 Mar 2010 02:00 AM PST Researchers, based in Ireland and Britain, have found the complete mitochondrial DNA genome sequence of ancient wild cattle using a sample from a 6,700 year-old bone.

Pinpointing immune system disturbances in celiac disease Posted: 01 Mar 2010 02:00 AM PST New research has identified four aspects of immune system disturbance which lead to the development of celiac disease. Nearly 40 different inherited risk factors which predispose to the disease have now been identified. These latest findings could speed the way towards improved diagnostics and treatments for the autoimmune complaint that affects 1 in 100 of the population, and lead to insights into related conditions such as type 1 diabetes.

Global warming may hurt some poor populations, benefit others Posted: 01 Mar 2010 02:00 AM PST The impact of global warming on food prices and hunger could be large over the next 20 years. But even as some poor populations are hurt, others would be helped out of poverty, according to a new study.

Study supports alternative anti-seizure medication following acute brain injury Posted: 01 Mar 2010 02:00 AM PST A new study supports the use of an alternative medication to prevent seizures in patients who have suffered a life-threatening traumatic brain injury or bleeding stroke.

E. coli as sole indicator of water pollution questioned Posted: 01 Mar 2010 02:00 AM PST New research investigating pathogen survival in soils has found that E. coli can become integrated into the indigenous microbial community in soils and survive for more than nine years, considerably longer than scientists initially thought.

Stroke incidence rising among younger adults, decreasing among elderly Posted: 01 Mar 2010 02:00 AM PST Stroke, often considered a disease of old age, is declining in the elderly and increasing at younger ages. The percentage of strokes occurring in people under age 45 has grown significantly since the 1990s.

Mouse model may provide insight into the schizophrenic brain Posted: 28 Feb 2010 11:00 PM PST Schizophrenia is an incredibly complex and profoundly debilitating disorder that typically manifests in early adulthood but is thought to arise, at least in part, from pathological disturbances occurring during very early brain development. Now, a new study manipulates a known schizophrenia susceptibility gene in the brains of fetal mice to begin to unravel the complex link between prenatal brain development and maturation of information processing and cognition in adult animals.

Easing egg allergies with eggs: Oral immunotherapy study shows it works Posted: 28 Feb 2010 11:00 PM PST Children with egg allergies who consume increasingly higher doses of egg protein -- the very nutrient they react to -- appear to gradually overcome their allergies, tolerating eggs better over time and with milder symptoms, according to new research.

Screening cancer genomes for the driver mutations in tumour suppressor genes Posted: 28 Feb 2010 11:00 PM PST Researchers have developed a method to find mutations in a class of cancer genes that, when removed, promote cancer. The research goes some way to addressing the challenge of discerning the causative, "driver" mutations from the "passenger" mutations. The team were able to construct signatures associated with deletions in cancer causing tumor suppressor genes. The research also finds that at least one in nine genes can be removed without killing cancer cells in test tubes.

Anti-inflammatory signal protein discovered Posted: 28 Feb 2010 11:00 PM PST Researchers have discovered a protein that is crucial in mediating the anti-inflammatory actions of nuclear lipid receptors. The findings link lipid metabolism and inflammation and open up new possibilities for developing treatments of metabolic diseases associated with inflammation, such as diabetes and atherosclerosis.

Campaign to end sale of electronic mosquito repellents Posted: 28 Feb 2010 11:00 PM PST A campaign to stop the sale of electronic mosquito repellents by major airlines is beginning to bear fruit with the immediate withdrawal of the products from KLM flights. The issue, say experts, is that these electronic repellents, sold to airline passengers, many on their way to malaria endemic countries, just don't work.

Similar advertising strategies used by indoor tanning and tobacco industries Posted: 28 Feb 2010 11:00 PM PST While the proven negative health consequences of smoking and tanning are undeniable, tobacco and indoor tanning advertisers would like consumers to think otherwise. In fact, a new study comparing the tactics used in advertising tobacco and indoor tanning products found several similarities in how these two industries market unhealthy products.

Beewolves protect their offspring with antibiotics; digger wasp larvae use bacteria against infections Posted: 27 Feb 2010 09:00 PM PST Beewolves house beneficial bacteria on their cocoons that guarantee protection against harmful microorganisms. Scientists have discovered that bacteria of the genus Streptomyces produce a cocktail of nine different antibiotics and thereby fend off invading pathogens. Using imaging techniques based on mass spectrometry, the antibiotics could be displayed on the cocoon's surface. Moreover, it was shown that the use of different kinds of antibiotics provides effective protection against infection with a multitude of different pathogenic microorganisms.

Root or shoot: Power struggle between genetic master switches decides stem cell fate, growth orientation in plants Posted: 27 Feb 2010 09:00 PM PST The first order of business for any fledgling plant embryo is to determine which end grows the shoot and which end puts down roots. Now, researchers expose the turf wars between two groups of antagonistic genetic master switches that set up a plant's polar axis with a root on one end and a shoot on the other.

New technique allows study of protein folding, dynamics in living cells Posted: 27 Feb 2010 09:00 PM PST A new technique to study protein dynamics in living cells has been created by a team of scientists, and evidence yielded from the new method indicates that an in vivo environment strongly modulates a protein's stability and folding rate.

Inventing new oat and barley breads Posted: 27 Feb 2010 09:00 PM PST Scientists are working on a delicious new all-oat or all-barley bread.

You are subscribed to email updates from ScienceDaily: Latest Science News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610