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Biology/Health Science

Secret sex life of killer fungus
A fungus that causes life-threatening infections in humans may be having sex, say scientists.
Trust (UK), Duke University

aeron.haworth@manchester.ac.uk
University of Manchester

Actin moves chromosomes: Discovery changes fundamental thinking
Microtubules need a helping hand to find chromosomes in dividing egg cells, scientists have discovered. Although it was generally accepted that microtubules act alone as the cellular ropes to pull chromosomes into place, a new study by researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) shows that this is not the case. They found that in large cells such as animal eggs, something else is needed to move the chromosomes into the correct location – fibres of the cytoskeletal molecule actin.

dawson@embl.de
European Molecular Biology Laboratory

Boosting vitamin C in plants can help reduce smog damage
The harmful effects of smog on people and animals – the stinging eyes and decreased lung capacity – are the stuff of well-researched fact. Now, the body of knowledge about air pollution's effects on plants has grown with University of California, Riverside Biochemistry Professor Daniel Gallie's discovery of the importance of vitamin C in helping plants defend themselves against the ravages of ozone – smog's particularly nasty component.

ricardo.duran@ucr.edu
University of California - Riverside

Ants win a waxy race
Specialist ants are capable of running on slippery waxy plant surfaces in order to reach their nests and food supplies. A second specialist ant lives in symbiosis with a pitcher plant which uses its slippery charateristic and digestive fluid to catch insects. Tanja Bruening and Holger Bohn from the University of Wuerzburg, Germany are presenting their work on ant-plant partnerships at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Main Meeting in Barcelona [session A 7.68 and A7.70].

d.vangent@lancaster.ac.uk
Society for Experimental Biology

A new molecule discovered in the battle between plants and disease
Scientists at Washington State University in Pullman have discovered a molecule that plays a role in the battle plants must win against bacteria and fungi that would eat them for lunch. The group led by Professor Clarence A. "Bud" Ryan isolated a small protein called Pep1 that appears to act like a hormone, signaling to the rest of the plant to raise its defenses at the first sign of an infection.
bhyps@aspb.org

Shark skin saves naval industry money
The growth of marine organisms such as barnacles on ship hulls is a major cause of increased energy costs in the naval industry. Shark skin offers a structural design that prevents this so called ´bio-fouling´. Ralph Liedert from the University of Applied Sciences, Bremen, Germany, is presenting his work on the application of artificial shark skin in a new anti-fouling strategy at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Main Meeting in Barcelona [session A7.66].

d.vangent@lancaster.ac.uk
Society for Experimental Biology

Living fossil roams the seas
Genomics is being used for the first time to investigate the mystery of the 'living fossil' fish coelacanth, first dragged up along the coast of South Africa in 1938, having been considered extinct for 65 million years. Dr. Chris Amemiya from the Genome Resource Center Benaroya Research Institute (Seattle, USA), will be presenting his work on the generation of a DNA library of the Indonesian coelacanth.

d.vangent@lancaster.ac.uk
Society for Experimental Biology

New markers of climate change
Epiphytes (plants without roots) are being investigated for their use as markers of climate change in rainforests. Monica Mejia-Chang from Cambridge University, UK, will present her research on how changes in photosynthesis and water evaporation in these plants could indicate the effects of climate change over the past 50 years.

d.vangent@lancaster.ac.uk
Society for Experimental Biology

Brain 'avalanches' may help store memories
Recent studies suggest that avalanches in your brain could actually help you to store memories. Slices of rat brain tissue placed on a microelectrode array have shown that the brain cells activate each other in cascades called "neuronal avalanches." New computer models by Indiana University biophysicist John Beggs now suggest that these brain avalanches may be optimal for information storage. If so, certain neurochemical treatments might someday improve life for people with memory problems.
hkibbey@indiana.edu
Indiana University

Holidays, birthdays and postponement of cancer deaths
A careful analysis of the timing of over a million deaths reveals no evidence that cancer patients can intentionally postpone their demise in order to live long enough to reach an emotionally significant or meaningful event, say scientists in the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center. The findings run counter to the widely held belief that some people are able to "cheat death" through sheer willpower or perhaps by some other, unknown psychosomatic mechanism.
Gailiun.1@osu.edu
Ohio State University

Australia to develop world leading internet cancer trials technology
State-of-the-art internet technology will have the potential to establish Australia as a world leader in the quality and efficiency of cancer clinical trials, thanks to a National Health and Medical Research Council enabling grant announced today.
glen.turner@cancer.org.au
Research Australia

Microreactor efficiently regenerates cofactors for biocatalysis
One of the longstanding challenges in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and food additives is the continuous regeneration of molecules called cofactors that permit the synthesis through inexpensive and environmentally friendly biocatalytic processes. Now, a team of researchers has developed a microreactor that efficiently regenerates cofactors through enzyme-catalyzed reactions.
kloeppel@uiuc.edu
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Would boosting the oxytocin system lead to longer breast-feeding?
The benefits of breastfeeding infants over giving them formula are well-known. But a baby's slow weight gain and growth rate is a major reason many women stop. University of Utah researchers found that blocking central OT receptors in the pregnant females' brain reduced their offspring's growth from the third day after birth through their two-week experiment. They're now seeking ways to boost efficiency of the oxytocin system.
mresnick@the-aps.org
American Physiological Society

Study warns against global use of old asthma medicines for kids' coughs
An asthma medicine widely used around the world to stop children's coughs has no provable benefit for that purpose and may cause harm, a new review of existing studies reports. The class of drugs known as methylxanthines is no longer used to treat childhood asthma in Western countries, having been replaced by corticosteroids. But the drugs remain the leading therapy for asthma in the developing world, where they are also used to cure routine coughing in children.

annechang@ausdoctors.net
Center for the Advancement of Health

Hepatitis C responds best to combo of ribavirin and interferon, study concludes
A combination of the drugs ribavirin and interferon is more effective in treating hepatitis C than using interferon alone, but it also increases the risk of side effects, according to a new systematic review of recent evidence.

jbrok@ctu.rh.dk
Center for the Advancement of Health

Doctors should stop prescribing antibiotics for the common cold, review advises
Antibiotics should not be prescribed to patients with the common cold because there is scant evidence they stop other infections, and the benefits do not outweigh the risks, according to a new systematic review of current evidence.

b.arroll@aukland.ac.nz
Center for the Advancement of Health

Single-dose antibiotics reduce appendectomy complications
A single dose of antibiotics may be just as effective as multiple doses in preventing infections after an appendectomy, a new research review confirms. The review found that antibiotic injections do work no matter how diseased the appendix was or whether it was diseased at all. This is significant, because some surgeons contend that antibiotics should be used only when the appendix is at a more advanced stage of disease.

cccg@cccg.dk
Center for the Advancement of Health

Bone-protecting drugs reduce pain and fractures in metastatic breast cancer
When breast cancer spreads to bones, relatively new protective drugs called bisphosphonates can reduce skeletal damage, says a new systematic review of previous studies. While the new treatment approach does not improve survival rates, it can minimize disabling fractures, spinal cord compression and pain.

pavlakis@med.usyd.edu.au
Center for the Advancement of Health

Recent Use Of Antibiotics Doubles Your Chances Of Being Resistant

A new study has shown that a prescription of antibiotics taken within the previous two months doubles the chances of patients carrying antibiotic resistant bacteria. The same effect was not seen in patients who had had antibiotics prescribed within the previous 12 months.

ScienceDaily Headlines 

Oldest Evidence of Photosynthesis

Danish scientists have discovered the oldest evidence of photosynthesis in rocks. Researchers say the 3.7 billion year-old rocks from Greenland show life-forms were using the process of photosynthesis about one billion years earlier than previously thought. Further information about this research can be found in the publication Earth and Planetary Science Letters.