Press monitoring
Desert Farming Forms Bacterial Communities That Promote Drought Resistance
19.11.2012 | Press monitoring
When there is little water available for plants to grow, their roots form alliances with soil microbes that can promote plant growth even under water-limiting conditions, according to research from the University of Milan. In this study, the researchers grew pepper plants under conditions of limited water and analyzed the bacterial species around...
Rare Parasitic Fungi Could Have Anti-Flammatory Benefits
16.11.2012 | Press monitoring
Caterpillar fungi (Cordyceps) are rare parasites found on hibernating caterpillars in the mountains of Tibet. For centuries they have been highly prized as a traditional Chinese medicine -- just a small amount can fetch hundreds of pounds. Scientists at The University of Nottingham have been studying how this fungus could work by studying...
A Better Route to Xylan: Researchers Find New Access to Abundant Biomass for Advanced Biofuels
15.11.2012 | Press monitoring
After cellulose, xylan is the most abundant biomass material on Earth, and therefore represents an enormous potential source of stored solar energy for the production of advance biofuels. A major roadblock, however, has been extracting xylan from plant cell walls. Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Joint BioEnergy Institute...
Extra Chromosome 21 Removed from Down Syndrome Cell Line
13.11.2012 | Press monitoring
University of Washington scientists have succeeded in removing the extra copy of chromosome 21 in cell cultures derived from a person with Down syndrome, a condition in which the body's cells contain three copies of chromosome 21 rather than the usual pair. The condition has characteristic eye, facial and hand features, and can cause many...
Adding Soy to Diet Does Not Affect Onset of Menopausal Hot Flashes
12.11.2012 | Press monitoring
A team of investigators led by UC Davis found that eating soy products such as soy milk and tofu did not prevent the onset of hot flashes and night sweats as women entered menopause. The new study focused on the 1,651 women who had not yet had hot flashes and night sweats (called vasomotor symptoms) at the beginning of the study, because the...
Mechanism Found for Destruction of Key Allergy-Inducing Complexes
9.11.2012 | Press monitoring
Researchers have learned how a synthetic molecule destroys complexes that induce allergic responses -- a discovery that could lead to the development of highly potent, rapidly acting interventions for a host of acute allergic reactions. The study, published online Oct. 28 in Nature, was led by scientists at the Stanford University School of...
Brain Imaging Alone Cannot Diagnose Autism
8.11.2012 | Press monitoring
In a column appearing in the current issue of the journal Nature, McLean Hospital biostatistician Nicholas Lange, ScD, cautions against heralding the use of brain imaging scans to diagnose autism and urges greater focus on conducting large, long-term multicenter studies to identify the biological basis of the disorder. "Several studies in the...
Mice With Humanized Livers Improve Early Drug Testing
7.11.2012 | Press monitoring
Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have used bioengineered mice with livers composed largely of human cells to characterize a drug about to enter early-stage clinical development for combating hepatitis C. Tests using the new mouse model accurately predicted significant aspects of the drug's behavior in humans -- including its...
Chloroplast Breakthrough Could Help Unlock Key to Controlling Fruit Ripening in Crops
6.11.2012 | Press monitoring
Biologists may have unearthed the potential to manipulate the functions of chloroplasts, the parts of plant cells responsible for photosynthesis. Researchers in the University of Leicester's Department of Biology discovered that chloroplasts are affected by the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) -- a process which causes the breakdown of unwanted...
Reactions to Everyday Stressors Predict Future Health
5.11.2012 | Press monitoring
Contrary to popular perception, stressors don't cause health problems -- it's people's reactions to the stressors that determine whether they will suffer health consequences, according to researchers at Penn State. "Our research shows that how you react to what happens in your life today predicts your chronic health conditions and 10 years in...
