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Activating Pathway Could Restart Hair Growth in Dormant Hair Follicles, Penn Study Suggests
Emerging Bird Flu Strain Is Still Poorly Adapted for Infecting Humans
Researchers Find Shape-shifting Stops Migrating Cancer Cells
JILA Team Develops 'Spinning Trap' to Measure Electron Roundness
Fertility treatments keep multiple births high
The geometry of cancer cells
Insights into How Human Skin Attracts Mosquitoes Could Lead to Better Repellants and Traps
Electrical Brain Stimulation May Evoke a Person's 'Will to Persevere'
Scientists Accelerate Aging in Stem Cells to Study Age-related Diseases Like Parkinson's
Gut Bacteria Linked to Autism-related Behavior in Mice

Activating Pathway Could Restart Hair Growth in Dormant Hair Follicles, Penn Study Suggests

Posted: 06 Dec 2013 05:33 AM PST

A pathway known for its role in regulating adult stem cells has been shown to be important for hair follicle proliferation, but contrary to previous studies, is not required within hair follicle stem cells for their survival, according to researchers with the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. A new study, published in Cell Stem Cell, identifies a molecular pathway that can be activated to prompt hair growth of dormant hair follicles, or blocked to prevent growth of unwanted hair.

Emerging Bird Flu Strain Is Still Poorly Adapted for Infecting Humans

Posted: 06 Dec 2013 05:19 AM PST

Avian influenza virus H7N9, which killed several dozen people in China earlier this year, has not yet acquired the changes needed to infect humans easily, according to a new study by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI). In contrast to some initial studies that had suggested that H7N9 poses an imminent risk of a global pandemic, the new research found, based on analyses of virus samples from the Chinese outbreak, that H7N9 is still mainly adapted for infecting birds, not humans.

Researchers Find Shape-shifting Stops Migrating Cancer Cells

Posted: 06 Dec 2013 05:11 AM PST

Like a car with a front and back end, a steering mechanism and an engine to push it forward, cancer cells propel themselves through normal tissues and organs to spread cancer throughout the body. Researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida, however, have managed to turn these cells into shapes like a round fried egg and an exaggerated starfish that sticks out in many directions — both of which cannot now move.

JILA Team Develops 'Spinning Trap' to Measure Electron Roundness

Posted: 05 Dec 2013 06:25 PM PST

JILA researchers have developed a method of spinning electric and magnetic fields around trapped molecular ions to measure whether the ions' tiny electrons are truly round—research with major implications for future scientific understanding of the universe.

Fertility treatments keep multiple births high

Posted: 05 Dec 2013 07:44 AM PST

More than one in three twin births and three of four births of triplets or more in the United States arise from fertility treatments, according to new estimates published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Although in-vitro fertilization (IVF) practices have improved to produce fewer triplets or higher-order births than at peak, multiples from non-IVF treatments continue unabated.

The geometry of cancer cells

Posted: 05 Dec 2013 07:26 AM PST

A new approach has given rise to the hope for a faster and more reliable method for determining cancer cell types. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart and the University of Heidelberg found that cells can be very accurately characterised using fractal geometry. This theory describes objects whose minute structural details resemble their larger contours. Cancer cells are not able to regulate their growth and, as a consequence their shape, as effectively as healthy cells.

Insights into How Human Skin Attracts Mosquitoes Could Lead to Better Repellants and Traps

Posted: 05 Dec 2013 07:01 AM PST

Every time a mosquito is lured to the scent of your skin, you're at risk of contracting malaria, dengue fever, West Nile virus, or another deadly disease. A study published by Cell Press December 5th in the journal Cell has revealed an important class of neurons responsible for a mosquito's attraction to human skin odor, as well as odors that stimulate and inhibit the activity of these neurons. The findings could lead to a new generation of repellants and traps for effective mosquito control worldwide.

Electrical Brain Stimulation May Evoke a Person's 'Will to Persevere'

Posted: 05 Dec 2013 05:05 AM PST

What gives some people the ability to persevere through difficult situations that others may find insurmountable? The answer is no doubt a complicated one that may be beyond our full understanding, but new research publishing online December 5 in the Cell Press journal Neuron provides some intriguing insights. The study pinpoints a region of the brain that, when stimulated, causes an individual to anticipate a challenge and possess a strong motivation to overcome it.

Scientists Accelerate Aging in Stem Cells to Study Age-related Diseases Like Parkinson's

Posted: 05 Dec 2013 04:57 AM PST

Stem cells hold promise for understanding and treating neurodegenerative diseases, but so far they have failed to accurately model disorders that occur late in life. A study published by Cell Press December 5th in the journal Cell Stem Cellhas revealed a new method for converting induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into nerve cells that recapitulate features associated with aging as well as Parkinson's disease.

Gut Bacteria Linked to Autism-related Behavior in Mice

Posted: 05 Dec 2013 04:50 AM PST

Mice whose mothers suffered from infection or inflammation during pregnancy are at greater risk for developing behaviors similar to those seen in people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Now, researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Cell on December 5 have linked those neurodevelopmental symptoms in the mice to changes in the bacteria living in the animals' guts. What's more, when researchers treated those animals with bacteria found in the healthy gut, a number of behavioral abnormalities including anxiety-like behavior largely went away.