ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Canola oil may be an oil of choice for people with type 2 diabetes
• Improving diet quality reduces risk for type 2 diabetes
• Plate tectonics: Studies show movements of continents speeding up after slow 'middle age'
• Endangered species baby boom at zoo
• Nurses play critical role in responding to global resurgence of pertussis
• Scientists find trigger to decode the genome
• Fungal protein found to cross blood-brain barrier
• Proliferation cues 'natural killer' cells for job change
• Antibodies from desert as guides to diseased cells
• Insights into geometry of genetic coding
• Climate change beats biodiversity as a press, scientific, and funding priority
• Promising protein discovered for new drugs against tuberculosis

Canola oil may be an oil of choice for people with type 2 diabetes Posted: 14 Jun 2014 12:03 PM PDT New research suggests canola oil may be one of the oils of choice for people with Type 2 diabetes. Researchers compared people with Type 2 diabetes who ate either a low glycemic index diet that included bread made with canola oil, or a whole wheat diet known to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. The research found that those on the canola bread diet experienced both a reduction in blood glucose levels and a significant reduction in LDL, or "bad," cholesterol.

Improving diet quality reduces risk for type 2 diabetes Posted: 14 Jun 2014 12:03 PM PDT Improving the overall quality of one's diet helps to prevent type 2 diabetes, independent of other lifestyle changes, according to a new study. The study found that those who improved their diet quality index scores by 10 percent over four years -- by eating more whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and less sweetened beverages and saturated fats, for example -- reduced their risk for type 2 diabetes by about 20 percent, compared to those who made no changes to their diets.

Plate tectonics: Studies show movements of continents speeding up after slow 'middle age' Posted: 13 Jun 2014 07:51 PM PDT Two studies show that the movement rate of plates carrying the Earth's crust may not be constant over time. This could provide a new explanation for the patterns observed in the speed of evolution and has implications for the interpretation of climate models.

Endangered species baby boom at zoo Posted: 13 Jun 2014 01:16 PM PDT The Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute celebrated several births recently. During the past several weeks, 31 new residents have been born, many of which were endangered species. A short-eared elephant shrew was born May 8 at the Zoo's Small Mammal House. A red panda gave birth to two surviving cubs May 27 at SCBI. This species is vulnerable because of habitat loss. Red pandas live in the cool temperate bamboo forests in parts of China, Nepal and northern Myanmar. There are fewer than 10,000 adult red pandas left in the wild.

Nurses play critical role in responding to global resurgence of pertussis Posted: 13 Jun 2014 10:04 AM PDT Pertussis (whooping cough) is on the increase in the United States and around the world -— and nurses play an essential role in educating parents and patients about the safety and effectiveness of pertussis vaccination, according to a new paper. Caused by infection with Bordetella pertussis bacteria, pertussis has been increasing in recent years. Worldwide, there are an estimated 50 million cases of pertussis and 300,000 deaths. Pertussis is a major cause of death in infants worldwide.

Scientists find trigger to decode the genome Posted: 12 Jun 2014 09:13 AM PDT An important trigger that dictates how cells change their identity and gain specialized functions has been decoded by scientists. The scientists have found out how embryonic stem cell fate is controlled which will lead to future research into how cells can be artificially manipulated. "We believe that our research will help to make regenerative medicine more effective and reliable because we'll be able to gain control and manipulate cells -- thus our understanding of the regulatory events within a cell shed light on how to decode the genome," concluded the lead author.

Fungal protein found to cross blood-brain barrier Posted: 12 Jun 2014 07:49 AM PDT In a remarkable series of experiments on a fungus that causes cryptococcal meningitis, a deadly infection of the membranes that cover the spinal cord and brain, investigators have isolated a protein that appears to be responsible for the fungus' ability to cross from the bloodstream into the brain.

Proliferation cues 'natural killer' cells for job change Posted: 12 Jun 2014 06:52 AM PDT Why would already abundant 'natural killer' cells proliferate even further after subduing an infection? It's been a biological mystery for 30 years. But now scientists have an answer: After proliferation, the cells switch from marshaling the immune response to calming it down. The findings illuminate the functions of a critical immune system cell important for early defense against disease induced by viral infection.

Antibodies from desert as guides to diseased cells Posted: 12 Jun 2014 06:52 AM PDT Nanoparticles are considered a promising approach in detecting and fighting tumor cells. The method has, however, often failed because the human immune system recognizes and rejects them before they can fulfill their function. Researchers have developed nanoparticles that bypass the body's defense system and find the diseased cells. This procedure uses fragments from an antibody that only occurs in camels and llamas.

Insights into geometry of genetic coding Posted: 11 Jun 2014 10:19 AM PDT A surprising mechanism that allows a key enzyme, alanyl-tRNA synthetase, to properly assemble a tRNA molecule with its cognate proper amino acid, alanine, allowing cells to accurately translate their genetic code into the proteins that are essential for biological functions, has been discovered by a team of researchers.

Climate change beats biodiversity as a press, scientific, and funding priority Posted: 11 Jun 2014 10:18 AM PDT A study that compared coverage of biodiversity and of climate change in newspapers, scientific articles, and research funding decisions shows that climate change eclipsed biodiversity loss as a priority in the mid-2000s, according to several measures. Since both trends threaten essential ecosystems, biodiversity researchers should seek to emulate the ascendancy of climate change and increase their efforts on research that addresses both trends.

Promising protein discovered for new drugs against tuberculosis Posted: 11 Jun 2014 10:17 AM PDT Immune cells keep tuberculosis bacteria under control by breaking them down. A biologist and her team have discovered which protein triggers this process. This protein (DRAM1) is a potential target for new drugs, they report.

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