Cause in Biological News

New research finds possible genetic link to cause of pregnancy loss and disorders

KNOXVILLE -- Scientists at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) have published new findings about a cause of a condition at the root of genetic disorders such as Down Syndrome, pregnancy loss and infertility. Called aneuploidy, the condition i...

Protein can help cells or cause cancer, Purdue researcher finds

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A Purdue University scientist has discovered a key process in cell growth that can lead to the formation of tumors. Xiaoqi Liu, an assistant professor of biochemistry, found that an overabundance of the polo-like kinase 1, or Plk1, molecule during cell growth, as well as ...

High carbon dioxide levels cause abnormally large fish ear bones

Rising carbon dioxide levels in the ocean have been shown to adversely affect shell-forming creatures and corals, and now a new study by researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has shown for the first time that CO2 can impact a fundamental bodily structure in fish. A ...

Specific genetic cause of fetal alcohol-related developmental disorders found

Alcohol consumption by pregnant women hinders brain development in their children by interfering with the genetic processes that control thyroid hormone levels in the fetal brain, a new animal study found. Results will be presented Wednesday at The Endocrine Society's 91st Annual Meeting in Washin...

Strong immune response to new siRNA drugs in development may cause toxic side effects

New Rochelle, NY, May 20, 2009Small synthetic fragments of genetic material called small interfering RNA (siRNA) can block production of abnormal proteins; however, these exciting new drug candidates can also induce a strong immune response, causing toxic side effects. Understanding how siRNA stim...

UNC study identifies genetic cause of most common form of breast cancer

The discovery of tumor-suppressor genes has been key to unlocking the molecular and cellular mechanisms leading to uncontrolled cell proliferation the hallmark of cancer. Often, these genes will work in concert with others in a complex biochemical system that keeps our cells growing and dividing...

Camphor-containing products may cause seizures in children

May 6, 2009 (BRONX, NY) Inappropriate use of camphor-containing products may be a common and underappreciated cause of seizures in young children, according to a new study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. The study, published in this month's issue of ...

Single gene defect can cause stroke, other artery diseases

HOUSTON(May 1, 2009) For the first time, scientists have discovered a single gene defect that causes thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections as well as early onset coronary artery disease, ischemic stroke and Moyamoya disease. The research is led by scientists at The University of Texas Health ...

Tufted bacteria cause infection in premature babies

Bacteria that normally reside on the skin of healthy people can cause serious infections in premature babies. A group of researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have now found an explanation for why a certain kind of staphylococcus can attach itself to the skin and quic...

Diminuendo -- New mouse model for understanding cause of progressive hearing loss

The respective microRNA seed region influences the production of sensory hair cells in the inner ear, both in the mouse and in humans. The findings have been published ahead of print in the current online issue of Nature Genetics . This study represents a major step forward in elucidating the com...

Malfunction of the respiratory epithelium is a cause of allergy?

One reason for the development of allergy may be malfunction of the respiratory epithelium, which allows allergens to bind to, enter and travel through the epithelium. Two studies by Finnish research groups on this subject have recently been published in two international biomedical journals (1) ...

Fireflies and jellyfish help illuminate quest for cause of infertility

Genes taken from fireflies and jellyfish are literally shedding light on possible causes of infertility and autoimmune diseases in humans. Scientists are using the luminescent and florescent genes to illuminate cells that produce a hormone linked to conditions, which include rheumatoid arthriti...

Inhaling a heart attack: How air pollution can cause heart disease

BETHESDA, Md. (March 23, 2009) We are used to thinking of heart disease as a product of genetic factors or lifestyle choices, such as what we eat and how much we exercise. There is another road to heart disease: breathing. Accumulating evidence indicates that an increase in particulate air poll...

UK researcher identifies just 8 patterns as the cause of all humor

Evolutionary theorist Alastair Clarke has today published details of eight patterns he claims to be the basis of all the humour that has ever been imagined or expressed, regardless of civilization, culture or personal taste. Clarke has stated before that humour is based on the surprise recogni...

Researchers discover gene mutations that cause childhood brain cancer

March 8, 2009 TORONTO Researchers funded by the Canadian Cancer Society have discovered eight similar genes that, when mutated, appear to be responsible for medulloblastoma the most common of childhood brain cancers. The findings are published today in the online edition of the journal Nature G...

Even natural perfumes may cause allergies

Hypersensitivity to perfumes is the most common contact allergy in adults. Research at the University of Gothenburg has demonstrated that even natural aromatic oils, which many deem harmless compared to synthetic perfumes, may cause allergic reactions. Roughly one in five adults in northern Eu...

Research finds new cause of ozone wheezing and potential treatments

Researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health, and Duke University have discovered a cause of airway irritation and wheezing after exposure to ozone, a common urban air pollutant. Using an animal model, the researchers wer...

Ocean acidification from CO2 emissions will cause physiological impairment to jumbo squid

KINGSTON, R.I. December 15, 2008 The elevated carbon dioxide levels expected to be found in the world's oceans by 2100 will likely lead to physiological impairments of jumbo (or Humboldt) squid, according to research by two University of Rhode Island scientists. The results of a study by Brad...

New journal shows half-broken gene is enough to cause cancer

Tumour suppressor genes do not necessarily require both alleles to be knocked out before disease phenotypes are expressed. Research published in BioMed Central's new open access journal PathoGenetics reveals that only one allele of SMAD4 has to be damaged to put a person at risk of pancreatic an...

Study sheds light on genetic differences that cause a childhood eye disease

Medical researchers at the University of Alberta have unlocked part of the mystery underlying a childhood eye disease. New research shows how children with some types of glaucoma end up with missing or extra pieces of DNA. The missing or extra bits of DNA are called copy number variations (CNV...

Study rules out inbreeding as cause of amphibian deformities

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Although research has linked inbreeding with elevated rates of deformity in a wide variety of animals, a new study finds it plays no part in the high incidence of malformation among salamanders. Purdue University researchers recently examined 2,000 adult and juvenile salam...

Scientists discover bacteria that can cause bone infections

Scientists have discovered that a bone infection is caused by a newly described species of bacteria that is related to the tuberculosis pathogen. The discovery may help improve the diagnosis and treatment of similar infections, according to an article published in the October issue of the Interna...

Clue to genetic cause of fatal birth defect

A novel enzyme may play a major role in anencephaly, offering hope for a genetic test or even therapy for the rare fatal birth defect in which the brain fails to develop, according to a study from researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine. The study appears in the...

Wildfires cause ozone pollution to violate health standards, new study shows

BOULDER--Wildfires can boost ozone pollution to levels that violate U.S. health standards, a new study concludes. The research, by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), focused on California wildfires in 2007, finding that they repeatedly caused ground-level ozone to s...

Tracking down the cause of mad cow disease

This release is available in German . The cause of diseases such as BSE in cattle and CreutzfeldJakob disease in humans is a prion protein. This protein attaches to cell membranes by way of an anchor made of sugar and lipid components (a glycosylphosphatidylinositol, GPI) anchor. The ...

Genetic finding implicates innate immune system in major cause of blindness

Scientists have identified one of the genes implicated in age-related macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness in developed countries. The research, published online today in the Lancet , adds to the growing understanding of the genetics of age-related macular degeneration (AMD...

Scientists identify the genes that cause blindness produced by corneal edema

This press release is available in French and Spanish . Scientists of the University of Granada (Spain) and the San Cecilio Teaching Hospital (Granada) have determined for the first time the causes for the blindness produced by corneal oedema and have identified the genes which cause it...

Cortisol and fatty liver: Researchers find cause of severe metabolic disorders

A healthy body stores fat in the form of so-called triglycerides in specialized fatty tissue as an energy reserve. Under certain conditions the delicate balance of the lipid metabolism gets out of control and fat is accumulated in the liver, leading to the dreaded fatty liver. This increases the r...

Gene is likely cause of stroke-inducing vascular malformations

UCSF scientists have discovered that a gene controlling whether blood vessels differentiate into arteries or veins during embryonic development is linked to a vascular disorder in the brain that causes stroke. The UCSF studies were done in mice, and the new findings are the first to provide inf...

Alcohol consumption can cause too much cell death, fetal abnormalities

The initial signs of fetal alcohol syndrome are slight but classic: facial malformations such as a flat and high upper lip, small eye openings and a short nose. Researchers want to know if those facial clues can help them figure out how much alcohol it takes during what point in development to ...

Scientists discover major genetic cause of colorectal cancer

CHICAGO -- About one-third of colorectal cancers are inherited, but the genetic cause of most of these cancers is unknown. The genes linked to colorectal cancer account for less than 5 percent of all cases. Scientists at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and colleagues have ...

Likely cause of postpartum blues and depression identified

Unique biochemical crosstalk that enables a fetus to get nutrition and oxygen from its mother's blood just may cause common postpartum blues, researchers say. That crosstalk allows the mother's blood to flow out of the uterine artery and get just a single cell layer away from the fetus' blood, ...

Genetic cause of innate resistance to HIV/AIDS

This press release is available in French . Montreal, 16 July 2008 - Some people may be naturally resistant to infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The results of a study conducted by Dr. Nicole Bernard of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) bring...

Aerosol toxins from red tides may cause long-term health threat

NOAA scientists reported in the current issue of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives that an algal toxin commonly inhaled in sea spray, attacks and damages DNA in the lungs of laboratory rats. The findings document how the body's way of disposing the toxin inadvertently converts it...

Hepatitis C virus may need enzyme's help to cause liver disease

PITTSBURGH, July 9 A key enzyme may explain how hepatitis C infection causes fatty liver a buildup of excess fat in the liver, which can lead to life-threatening diseases such as cirrhosis and liver cancer, report University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and School of Medicine r...

Fungi the cause of many outbreaks of disease but mostly ignored

Fungi can cause a number of life-threatening diseases but they also are becoming increasingly useful to science and manufacturing every year. However, many people, scientists among them, are largely unaware of the roles fungi play in the world around us. Research on fungi and fungal diseases are ...

Domoic acid from toxic algal blooms may cause seizures in California sea lions

Scientists, reporting in the current issue of the online journal Marine Drugs , state that an increase of epileptic seizures and behavioral abnormalities in California sea lions can result from low-dose exposure to domoic acid as a fetus. The findings follow an analysis earlier this year led by F...

Oocyte-specific gene mutations cause premature ovarian failure

Mutations in a gene called FIGLA cause premature ovarian failure in at least a percentage of women who suffer from the disorder, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and Shandong University in China in a report that appears online today in the American Journal of Human Genet...

Bacterial slime helps cause serious disease

Leptospirosis is a serious but neglected emerging disease that infects humans through contaminated water. Now research published in the May issue of the journal Microbiology shows for the first time how bacteria that cause the disease survive in the environment. Leptospirosis is a major public ...

Butter-flavored popcorn ingredient suspected cause of lung disease

Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, and Singapore (April 29, 2008) An unusually high incidence of lung disease has been diagnosed in workers at popcorn factories. Researchers are focusing on diacetyl, the ingredient which is largely responsible for the odor and flavor of the butter in popcorn, accord...