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How the brain processes the age of faces
'Fountain of youth' technique rejuvenates aging stem cells
Study Points to Potential New Therapies for Cancer and Other Diseases
Alcohol Drinking Behavior Reduced By Inhibiting Brain Protein in Rodents
Combination of two pharmaceuticals proves effective in the treatment of multiple sclerosis
Bothered by Negative, Unwanted Thoughts? Just Throw Them Away
Alzheimer’s Disease in Mice Alleviated Promising Therapeutic Approach for Humans
BioMAP screening procedure could streamline search for new antibiotics
Bioengineered Marine Algae Expands Environments Where Biofuels Can Be Produced
Topical simvastatin shown to accelerate wound healing in diabetes
Researchers Discovers What Keeps a Cell's Energy Source Going
Lead-proton collisions yield surprising results
New hope for setback-dogged cancer treatment
Enzyme explains angina in diabetics
Galapagos tortoises are a migrating species

How the brain processes the age of faces

Posted: 28 Nov 2012 02:48 AM PST

Age is one of the most salient aspects in faces and of fundamental social relevance. Brain regions responsive to age have now been localized by functional neuroimaging. European Scientists used evocative face morphs in combination with fMRI and segregated two brain areas that process changes of facial age. Centered on the inferior temporal sulci and angular gyri, these regions extend beyond the previously known face-sensitive core network.

'Fountain of youth' technique rejuvenates aging stem cells

Posted: 27 Nov 2012 02:32 PM PST

A new method of growing cardiac tissue is teaching old stem cells new tricks. The discovery, which transforms aged stem cells into cells that function like much younger ones, may one day enable scientists to grow cardiac patches for damaged or diseased hearts from a patient's own stem cells—no matter what age the patient—while avoiding the threat of rejection.

Study Points to Potential New Therapies for Cancer and Other Diseases

Posted: 27 Nov 2012 12:36 PM PST

Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute (TRSI) are fueling the future of cancer treatment by improving a powerful tool in disease defense: the body’s immune system. By revealing a novel but widespread cell signaling process, the scientists may have found a way to manipulate an important component of the immune system into more effectively fighting disease.

Alcohol Drinking Behavior Reduced By Inhibiting Brain Protein in Rodents

Posted: 27 Nov 2012 12:24 PM PST

Decreasing the level of a key brain protein led to significantly less drinking and alcohol-seeking behavior in rats and mice that had been trained to drink, according to a study by researchers at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at UCSF.

The scientists identified the protein, known as H-Ras, as a promising target for development of new medications to treat alcohol abuse disorders in humans.

Combination of two pharmaceuticals proves effective in the treatment of multiple sclerosis

Posted: 27 Nov 2012 12:18 PM PST

A new substance class for the treatment of multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases now promises increased efficacy paired with fewer side effects. To achieve this, a team of scientists under the leadership of Prof. Gunter Fischer (Max Planck Research Unit for Enzymology of Protein Folding, Halle/Saale, Germany) and Dr. Frank Striggow (German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE)) have combined two already approved pharmaceutical substances with each other using a chemical linker structure.

Bothered by Negative, Unwanted Thoughts? Just Throw Them Away

Posted: 27 Nov 2012 12:04 PM PST

If you want to get rid of unwanted, negative thoughts, try just ripping them up and tossing them in the trash.

In a new study, researchers found that when people wrote down their thoughts on a piece of paper and then threw the paper away, they mentally discarded the thoughts as well. The results are published online in the journal Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

Alzheimer’s Disease in Mice Alleviated Promising Therapeutic Approach for Humans

Posted: 27 Nov 2012 11:53 AM PST

Pathological changes typical of Alzheimer’s disease were significantly reduced in mice by blockade of an immune system transmitter. A research team from Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the University of Zurich has just published a new therapeutic approach in fighting Alzheimer’s disease in the current issue of Nature Medicine. This approach promises potential in prevention, as well as in cases where the disease has already set in.

BioMAP screening procedure could streamline search for new antibiotics

Posted: 27 Nov 2012 11:42 AM PST

Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have developed a new strategy for finding novel antibiotic compounds, using a diagnostic panel of bacterial strains for screening chemical extracts from natural sources.

Bioengineered Marine Algae Expands Environments Where Biofuels Can Be Produced

Posted: 27 Nov 2012 11:36 AM PST

Biologists at UC San Diego have demonstrated for the first time that marine algae can be just as capable as fresh water algae in producing biofuels.

The scientists genetically engineered marine algae to produce five different kinds of industrially important enzymes and say the same process they used could be employed to enhance the yield of petroleum-like compounds from these salt water algae. Their achievement is detailed in a paper published online in the current issue of the scientific journal Algal Research.

Topical simvastatin shown to accelerate wound healing in diabetes

Posted: 27 Nov 2012 10:52 AM PST

Delayed wound healing is a major complication of diabetes because the physiological changes in tissues and cells impair the wound healing process. This can result in additional disease outcomes such as diabetic foot ulcer, a significant cause of morbidity in the growing population of diabetic patients. A new study has found that topically applied simvastatin accelerates wound healing in diabetic mice, suggesting important implications for humans with diabetes. This study is published in the December issue of The American Journal of Pathology.

Researchers Discovers What Keeps a Cell's Energy Source Going

Posted: 27 Nov 2012 10:42 AM PST

Most healthy cells rely on a complicated process to produce the fuel ATP. Knowing how ATP is produced by the cell’s energy storehouse – the mitochondria -- is important for understanding a cell’s normal state, as well as what happens when things go wrong, for example in cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurodegeneration, and many rare disorders of the mitochondria.

Lead-proton collisions yield surprising results

Posted: 27 Nov 2012 08:14 AM PST

Collisions between protons and lead ions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have produced surprising behavior in some of the particles created by the collisions. The new observation suggests the collisions may have produced a new type of matter known as color-glass condensate.

New hope for setback-dogged cancer treatment

Posted: 27 Nov 2012 08:07 AM PST

Several drugs companies have ineffectively tried to produce antibodies that bind to the IGF-1 receptor on the cell surface, which has a critical part to play in the development of cancer. Scientists at Karolinska Institutet have now ascertained how these antibodies work, and can explain why only some cancer patients are helped by IGF-1 blockers during clinical tests. The researchers also present a means by which drugs of this kind could help more cancer patients.

Enzyme explains angina in diabetics

Posted: 27 Nov 2012 08:01 AM PST

In a new study published in the scientific journal Circulation, scientists at Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital show that an enzyme called arginase might have a key part to play in the development of cardiovascular disease in patients who already have type II diabetes. According to the team, arginase prevents the formation of protective nitrogen oxide in the blood vessels, and treatments that inhibit this enzyme reduce the risk of angina in diabetics.

Galapagos tortoises are a migrating species

Posted: 27 Nov 2012 07:56 AM PST

The Galapagos giant tortoise, one of the most fascinating species of the Galapagos archipelago, treks slowly and untiringly across the volcanic slopes. Scientists of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Radolfzell, together with the Charles Darwin Foundation, have used GPS technology and modern 3D acceleration measurements to find out that especially the dominant male tortoise wanders up to 10 kilometres into the highlands of the island. Only the fully grown animals migrate, the young tortoises stay year round in the lowlands.