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Deficient DNA Repair Capacity Associated With Increased Risk Of Breast Cancer

Deficiencies in the ability of cells to repair damaged DNA are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, according to a new study in the January 19 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. is the system of defenses designed to protect the integrity of the genome. Studies have suggested that deficiency...

Boosting HIV screening can increase survival and is cost effective

Expanded HIV screening can increase patient life span, prevent the spread of the disease, and is cost effective, researchers at Yale, Harvard and the Massachusetts General Hospital report in the February 10 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). The study's findings are part of a two-paper series in NEJM on the value of expanded HIV screening in the United States. The Yale/H...

Sexual cooperation: Mating increases longevity in ant queens

The phenomenon of sexual conflict is a powerful driving force in the evolution of reproductive biology for many animal species. Males often try to manipulate their female mates during copulation--for example, by traumatic inseminations (as in the case of bed bugs) or by the transfer of toxic seminal fluids (as in the case of the fruitfly Drosophila). These manipulations are beneficial to males be...

Dead zone area in Gulf could be increasing, researchers say

The "dead zone" area of the Gulf of Mexico ?a region that annually suffers from low oxygen which can result in huge marine life losses ?has appeared much earlier this year, meaning it could be potentially larger in 2005 and affect marine life more adversely than normal, researchers are reporting. A team of scientists from Texas A&M University, Texas A&M at Galveston, Louisiana Stat...

Low level of extinction during ice age linked to adaptability

A Johns Hopkins University graduate student may have figured out why rates of extinction were so low for many of the major groups of marine life during one of the greatest ice ages of them all, which occurred from about 330 million to 290 million years ago, late in the Paleozoic Era. The likely answer: because those aquatic life forms that did survive during this era were singularly equipp...

Increased risk of osteoporosis associated with gene that one in five people have

About nineteen percent of people have a genetic variation that may increase susceptibility to osteoporosis, a new study reveals. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis demonstrated that in women the variant gene speeds up the breakdown of estrogen and is associated with low density in the bones of the hip. The study will be reported in the February issue of t...

WHO Warns Of Increased Risk Of Vector-borne Diseases In Tsunami-affected Areas

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned about increased risk of vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever across tsunami-affected areas in Southeast Asia. Nearly four weeks after the disaster struck the region on 26 December, the organization is strengthening its disease surveillance, stagnant water conditions creating conditions for mosquito vectors to multiply to sufficient leve...

Super predators and mass extinctions

Mass extinctions seem to occur on Earth roughly every 26 million years, leading some scientists to propose that they may be caused by rare collisions with comets or asteroids. A researcher in Poland thinks it may be possible that extraordinary predators are at fault instead. Adam Lipowski (Adam Mickiewicz University) constructed a numerical model of many species competing for both food and...

Small species back-up giant marsupial climate change extinction claim

Thinking small in a time when everything was big has helped Queensland researchers to unearth new evidence that climate change, instead of humans, was responsible for wiping out Australian giant marsupials or megafauna 40,000 years ago. Instead of only excavating 'trophy specimens' such as giant kangaroos and wombats, the researchers from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and Quee...

Making Sure Sacred Sheep Don't Become Extinct

Animal geneticist Harvey D. Blackburn is responsible for collecting and storing thousands of samples of animal germplasm -- mainly semen and embryos -- to make sure there's enough genetic material to reintroduce a species if necessary. Much of his collection deals with important livestock such as Holstein cattle and Yorkshire pigs. But one of the collections Blackburn, who is the coordinat...

Mother birds increase progesterone to hatch females

In mammals, sperm from the male determines the sex of the offspring. In birds, however, it is the female's sex chromosome that determines offspring sex. Now, Cornell University researchers think they understand the mechanism that several bird species use to bias the sex ratios of their offspring toward female. By experimenting with domestic chickens, they have determined that the presence...

Ancient DNA helps clarify the origins of two extinct New World horse species

The Patagonian Hippidion horse genus and North American stilt-legged horses have found a new place on the evolutionary tree, according to a new article in the open access journal PLoS Biology. In the paper, Jaco Weinstock, Alan Cooper, and colleagues use ancient DNA to argue that the Hippidion genus is younger than previously thought and that American stilt-legged horses were American endemics, n...

Morphine for Chest Pain Increases Death Risk

While patients hospitalized for a heart attack have long been treated with morphine to relieve chest pain, an analysis by researchers from the Duke Clinical Research Institute has shown that these patients have almost a 50 percent higher risk of dying. The researchers call for a randomized clinical trial to confirm their analysis. Meanwhile, they advise cardiologists to begin treatment wi...

Researchers find first evidence of venom system in extinct mammal

A tiny fossil found more than 10 years ago in central Alberta has proved to be the key to answering a long unsolved evolutionary question, say researchers from the University of Alberta. Back in 1991, Dr. Richard Fox and his research team found a 60 million year-old incomplete skull fossil that they now believe is the first evidence of an extinct mammal with a venom delivery apparatus. Th...

FSU scientist warns North Atlantic right whale facing extinction

The North Atlantic right whale's future looks grim if the current mortality rates continue, according to Florida State University assistant professor of oceanography Douglas Nowacek and a group of fellow scientists from across the nation. In it, N...

Size matters: Preventing large mammal extinction

Saving large mammals such as elephants and rhino from extinction could be made more effective by focusing efforts on individual species as well as their habitats. Scientists at the Zoological Society of London's Institute of Zoology (IoZ) and Imperial College London have identified fundamental new approaches to improve the success of large mammal conservation. Published today in the journa...

Climate model links higher temperatures to prehistoric extinction

Virginia Commonwealth University immunologists studying mast cells, known to play a central role in asthma and allergic disease, have identified a hormone-like molecule that can kill these cells by programming them to die in studies with mice. The findings move researchers another step closer to understanding the life cycle of mast cells, and may help researchers develop new treatments fo...

Prescription pain patch abuse blamed for increase in deaths

Drug abusers are increasingly turning to a slow-release form of a powerful painkiller for a quick and dangerous high, University of Florida researchers warn. The trend is raising alarm as the number of people dying from an overdose of the drug fentanyl, an opioid 100 times more potent than morphine, rises. Addicts are misusing a clear patch that transfers a controlled dose of fentanyl thro...

Oxygen increase caused mammals to triumph, researchers say

The first, high resolution continuous record of oxygen concentration in the earth's atmosphere shows that a sharp rise in oxygen about 50 million years ago gave mammals the evolutionary boost they needed to dominate the planet, according to Paul Falkowski, Rutgers professor of marine science and lead author of a paper published Sept. 30 in the journal Science. Falkowski and his colleague...

Ibruprofen and other commonly used painkillers for treating inflammation may increase the risk of heart attack

When it comes to the deadly skin cancer melanoma, studying functional tissue rather than cell lines may better provide insight into the disease's development, according to new research from a Howard Hughes Medical Institute predoctoral fellow at Stanford University School of Medicine. Though multiple genetic alterations are associated with melanoma development, scientists have not been abl...

Hospitalizations because of chicken pox down dramatically since implementation of vaccine

Since the introduction of the varicella (chicken pox) vaccine in 1995, hospitalizations and doctor visits because of chicken pox have dropped dramatically, according to a study in the August 17 issue of JAMA. Varicella vaccine is recommended for routine immunization of children aged 12 to 18 months and for older susceptible children and adults in the United States, according to background...

Sea Ice May Be on Increase in the Antarctic

A protein that extends lifespan in yeast, worms, and flies keeps blood sugar under control in mice, reports a new study in the August Cell Metabolism. The findings suggest therapeutic interventions for the prevention and treatment of metabolic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes, which frequently arise with age, the researchers said. The team found that mice with an excess of the protein Si...

Traditional models underestimate extinction rates

Last year, the World Conservation Union reported an unprecedented decline in biodiversity, with nearly 16,000 species facing extinction. The biggest threat to most species is loss of habitat. And as habitat loss and degradation proceed nearly unabated, the need to accurately predict the population dynamics and extinction risk of potentially endangered species has never been greater. In a new stud...

Use of Antibiotics for Acne May Increase Risk of Common Illness

Novel use of genetic testing methods helped public health officials control and limit the further spread of four outbreaks of foodborne hepatitis A virus in 2003 related to the consumption of green onions, according to a detailed analysis published in the October 15 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online. The authors of the study, Joseph J. Amon, PhD, MSPH, and c...

Global warming increases oyster sensitivity to pollution

Do you enjoy eating oysters on a hot sunny afternoon? Make the most of it ?it may not last forever. Research has shown that global warming increases the sensitivity of oysters to metal pollution, causing a deadly threat to populations in polluted areas. Dr. Gisela Lannig from the University of North Carolina, USA, will present her work on cadmium poisoning in eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginic...

New discovery blurs distinction between human cells and those of bacteria

UCLA biochemists reveal the first structural details of a family of mysterious objects called microcompartments that seem to be present in a variety of bacteria. The discovery was published Aug. 5 in the journal Science. "This is the first look at how microcompartments are built, and what the pieces look like," said Todd O. Yeates, UCLA professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and a member...

DNA traces evolution of extinct sabertooths and the American cheetah-like cat

By performing sequence analysis of ancient DNA, a team of researchers has obtained data that help clarify our view of the evolutionary relationships shared by the large predatory cats that once roamed the prehistoric New World. The work is reported in the August 9 issue of Current Biology by Ross Barnett of the University of Oxford and a team of researchers from Britain, the United States,...

Prenatal exposure to famine increases risk of schizophrenia

People born during a famine in China have an increased risk of schizophrenia, consistent with previous research suggesting a link between fetal nutritional deficiency and schizophrenia, according to a study in the August 3 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on violence and human rights. Schizophrenia is a common form of severe mental illness characterized by thought disorder, hallucinations, and...

Emerging staph strains found to be increasingly deadly and deceptive

A study of how the immune system reacts to strains of antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria--emerging strains that sicken otherwise healthy people, or so-called "community-acquired" infections--has shown for the first time that these strains are more deadly and better at evading human immune defenses than more common S. aureus strains that originate in hospitals and other health-car...

Agricultural workers at increased risk for infection with animal flu viruses

Farmers, veterinarians and meat processors who routinely come into contact with pigs in their jobs have a markedly increased risk of infection with flu viruses that infect pigs, according to a study funded in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). While the findings are not entirely unexpected, the strikin...

Restaurant seafood prices since 1850s help plot marine harvests through history

Seafood prices collected from U.S. restaurant menus dating to the 1850s will help plot the shifting harvest of marine species, according to a study to be announced at Oceans Past a Census of Marine Life conference in Denmark on the History of Marine Animal Populations. Led by paleo-oceanographer Glenn Jones at Texas A&M University at Galveston, researchers are charting over 150 years o...

Zinc supplements safe for HIV-infected children

Zinc-deficient children living in communities where they do not receive adequate amounts of zinc from their diet should be given supplements, even if they are HIV-infected, according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and other institutions. Previously, it was not known if zinc would speed up HIV disease progression in children by increasing their viral...

Extinct giant deer's descendant found in UK

UCL (University College London) scientists have found that the closest living relative to the extinct Irish Elk (giant deer) lives on our shores. The team tested for DNA and skeletal features to prove that the giant deer - which roamed across Europe and Siberia with prehistoric man and is the subject of numerous cave drawings - has its DNA in common with the fallow deer, one of the most widesprea...

The first laugh: New study posits evolutionary origins of two distinct types of laughter

In an important new study from the forthcoming Quarterly Review of Biology, biologists from Binghamton University explore the evolution of two distinct types of laughter ?laughter which is stimulus-driven and laughter which is self-generated and strategic. "Laughter that occurs during everyday social interaction in response to banal comments and humorless conversation is now being studied...

Why Christmas trees are not extinct

Conifers such as Christmas trees suffer a severe plumbing problem. The "pipes" that carry water through firs, pines and other conifers are 10 times shorter than those in flowering trees. But a University of Utah study suggests why conifers not only survive but thrive: efficient microscopic valves let water flow through conifers about as easily as it flows through other trees. "When you are...

HIV drug resistance increasing in UK and among highest in the world

Those infected with HIV in the UK have one of the highest rates of resistance to anti-HIV drugs of anywhere in the world, prompting fears of a second wave epidemic of resistant virus, a new study claims in this week's BMJ. The study authors are concerned that the large reductions in deaths and improvements to health since people with HIV were given combinations of drugs (combination antire...

Gene increases risk of tuberculosis

A study in the December 19 issue of The Journal of Experimental Medicine identifies a small genetic change that increases the odds of developing active tuberculosis (TB). Pedro Flores-Villanueva and his colleagues at the University of Texas Health Center (Tyler, TX) studied groups of patients in Mexico and Korea and found that individuals who carry this genetic change were more likely to develop...

New study pinpoints epicenters of Earth's imminent extinctions

Safeguarding 595 sites around the world would help stave off an imminent global extinction crisis, according to new research published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ( Conducted by scientists working with the 52 member organizations of the Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE –?<A HREF="http://www.zeroextinction.org...

HIV/AIDS rates in Tijuana, Mexico increasing at alarming rate

A study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine indicates that the rate of HIV/AIDS infection in Tijuana, Mexico is increasing, and much higher than had been previously estimated. The findings are based on data compiled by a team of researchers working in San Diego and Mexico to create a population-based model in order to estimate HIV infection rates....

Ocean 'dead zones' trigger sex changes in fish, posing extinction threat

Oxygen depletion in the world’s oceans, primarily caused by agricultural run-off and pollution, could spark the development of far more male fish than female, thereby threatening some species with extinction, according to a study published today on the Web site of the American Chemical Society journal, . The study is scheduled to appear in the May 1...