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Genetic Mutation Provides Clues to Battling Childhood Obesity
That Allergic Reaction to Bee Stings? It's Meant to Protect You
Barrier to HIV Cure Bigger Than Previously Thought
Researchers identify gene variant that raises risk for colorectal cancer from eating processed meat
Physicists decode decision circuit of cancer metastasis
'Anklebot' helps determine ankle stiffness
Induced pluripotent stem cells reveal differences between humans and great apes
The unusual disk around the star HD 21997 contains both gas and dust

Genetic Mutation Provides Clues to Battling Childhood Obesity

Posted: 24 Oct 2013 09:00 AM PDT

As the number of children battling obesity continues to grow, researchers are racing to identify causes and possible interventions. Now, a new paper publishing October 24 in the journal Cell identifies a possible genetic root to the insatiable appetite and slow metabolism of some obese patients. The study, which sequenced 2,101 individuals with severe early-onset obesity, found that patients harboring mutations in a particular gene, KSR2, had an increased appetite and a slower metabolism than people with a normal copy of the gene.

That Allergic Reaction to Bee Stings? It's Meant to Protect You

Posted: 24 Oct 2013 09:00 AM PDT

Allergic reactions to bee stings can be damaging or even deadly, but new evidence from two independent studies of mice reported in the Cell Press journal Immunity on October 24th suggest that the immune response to bee venom and other allergens actually evolved and may continue to serve as a protective defense mechanism. Perhaps they aren't just misdirected immune responses after all.

Barrier to HIV Cure Bigger Than Previously Thought

Posted: 24 Oct 2013 09:00 AM PDT

HIV infection is typically treated with antiretroviral therapy, which targets actively replicating HIV but does not affect inactive or latent forms of the virus. The latent reservoir is the biggest barrier to curing HIV, and a study published by Cell Press October 24th in the journal Cell has shown that it could be 60 times larger than previously thought.

Researchers identify gene variant that raises risk for colorectal cancer from eating processed meat

Posted: 24 Oct 2013 08:26 AM PDT

A common genetic variant that affects 1 in 3 people significantly increases the risk of colorectal cancer from the consumption of red meat and processed meat, according to a study presented today at the annual American Society of Human Genetics 2013 meeting, the largest gathering of human geneticists in the world.

Physicists decode decision circuit of cancer metastasis

Posted: 24 Oct 2013 08:19 AM PDT

Cancer researchers from Rice University have deciphered the operating principles of a genetic switch that cancer cells use to decide when to metastasize and invade other parts of the body. The study found that the on-off switch’s dynamics also allows a third choice that lies somewhere between “on” and “off.” The extra setting both explains previously confusing experimental results and opens the door to new avenues of cancer treatment.

'Anklebot' helps determine ankle stiffness

Posted: 24 Oct 2013 08:09 AM PDT

For most healthy bipeds, the act of walking is seldom given a second thought: One foot follows the other, and the rest of the body falls in line, supported by a system of muscle, tendon, and bones.

Upon closer inspection, however, locomotion is less straightforward. In particular, the ankle — the crucial juncture between the leg and the foot — is an anatomical jumble, and its role in maintaining stability and motion has not been well characterized.

Induced pluripotent stem cells reveal differences between humans and great apes

Posted: 24 Oct 2013 08:00 AM PDT

Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have, for the first time, taken chimpanzee and bonobo skin cells and turned them into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), a type of cell that has the ability to form any other cell or tissue in the body.

The unusual disk around the star HD 21997 contains both gas and dust

Posted: 24 Oct 2013 07:31 AM PDT

Planets are formed in disks of gas and dust around nascent stars. Now, combined observations with the compound telescope ALMA and the Herschel Space Observatory have produced a rare view of a planetary construction site in an intermediate state of evolution: Contrary to expectations, the disk around the star HD 21997 appears to contain both primordial gas left over from the formation of the star itself and dust that appears to have been produced in collisions between planetesimals - small rocks that are the building blocks for the much larger planets.