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Public Release: 2-Aug-2013
 Nature CommunicationsResearchers create 'soft robotic' devices using water-based gels Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new technique for creating devices out of a water-based hydrogel material that can be patterned, folded and used to manipulate objects. The technique holds promise for use in "soft robotics" and biomedical applications. 
National Science Foundation
Contact: Mick Kulikowski
Public Release: 2-Aug-2013
Nature CommunicationsNew drugs to find the right target to fight Alzheimer's disease The future is looking good for drugs designed to combat Alzheimer's disease. EPFL scientists have unveiled how two classes of drug compounds currently in clinical trials work to fight the disease. Their research suggests that these compounds target the disease-causing peptides with high precision and with minimal side-effects. The encouraging conclusions of their research have been published in the journal Nature Communications. Contact: Patrick Fraering
Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
Pediatrics In Review Study finds physicians need to better recognize use of herbal supplements while breastfeeding In an article published in this month's issue of Pediatrics In Review, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine stress the importance of physicians recognizing that many mothers use herbal supplements while breastfeeding in order to make accurate health assessments for both mother and child.
NIH/National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Contact: Gina DiGravio
Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
ScienceScientists discover new type of protein modification, may play role in cancer and diabetes Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute have discovered a new type of chemical modification that affects numerous proteins within mammalian cells. The modification appears to work as a regulator of important cellular processes including the metabolism of glucose. Further study of this modification could provide insights into the causes of diabetes, cancer and other disorders.
National Institutes of Health, Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
Contact: Mika Ono
Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
NatureAdvance in regenerative medicine could make reprogrammed cells safer while improving their function The enormous promise of regenerative medicine is matched by equally enormous challenges. But a new finding by a team of researchers led by Weill Cornell Medical College has the potential to improve both the safety and performance of reprogrammed cells.
National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation
Contact: John Rodgers
Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
Advanced Functional MaterialsLight that moves and molds gels Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have demonstrated a biomimetic response using hydrogels -- a material that constitutes most contact lenses and microfluidic or fluid-controlled technologies. Their study, published in Advanced Functional Materials, is the first to show that these gels can be both reconfigured and controlled by light, undergoing self-sustained motion -- a uniquely biomimetic behavior. Contact: B. Rose Huber
Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
Science Translational MedicineA roadblock to personalized cancer care? Leading experts in cancer treatment and research, including university researchers, industry and insurance providers, have published a paper urging more focus and attention on the field of research that involves identifying genetic and molecular markers that help guide cancer treatment. The current attitude toward biomarker research has led to a vicious cycle that undervalues the crucial role these kinds of tests play in developing personalized cancer treatments. Contact: Nicole Fawcett
Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
BiomicrofluidicsCatching cancer early by chasing it Reaching a clinic in time to receive an early diagnosis for cancer -- when the disease is most treatable -- is a global problem. And now a team of Chinese researchers proposes a global solution: have a user-friendly diagnostic device travel to the patient, anywhere in the world. Contact: Jason Socrates Bardi
Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesGeoscientists unearth mineral-making secrets potentially useful for new technologies Proteins have gotten most of the attention in studies of how organic materials control the initial step of making the first tiny crystals that organisms use to build structures that help them move and protect themselves. Virginia Tech researchers have discovered that certain types of sugars, known as polysaccharides, may also control the timing and placement of minerals that animals use to produce hard structures.
National Science Foundation, US Department of Energy
Contact: John Pastor
Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesA new tool for brain research Physicists and neuroscientists from The University of Nottingham and University of Birmingham have unlocked one of the mysteries of the human brain, thanks to new research using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging and electroencephalography.
Medical Research Council, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, University of Nottingham, University of Birmingham
Contact: Emma Rayner
Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
CellBlocking sugar intake may reduce cancer risk or progression in obese and diabetic people Blocking dietary sugar and its activity in tumor cells may reduce cancer risk and progression, according to researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine. The study, conducted in fruit flies and published in the journal Cell, provides insight as to why metabolism-related diseases such as diabetes or obesity are associated with certain types of cancer, including pancreatic, breast, liver, and colon cancers. Contact: Mount Sinai Press Office
Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
Molecular CellSanford-Burnham researchers map a new metabolic pathway involved in cell growth Deciphering the body's complex molecular pathways that lead to disease when they malfunction is highly challenging. Researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute now have a more complete picture of one particular pathway that can lead to cancer and diabetes. In the study published by Molecular Cell, the scientists uncovered how a protein called p62 has a cascade affect in regulating cell growth in response to the presence of nutrients such as amino acids and glucose.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Deborah Robison
Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
ScienceCU-Boulder team develops new water splitting technique that could produce hydrogen fuel A University of Colorado Boulder team has developed a radically new technique that uses the power of sunlight to efficiently split water into its components of hydrogen and oxygen, paving the way for the broad use of hydrogen as a clean, green fuel.
National Science Foundation, US Department of Energy
Contact: Alan Weimer
Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
CellNew insight into how brain 'learns' cocaine addiction A team of researchers says it has solved the longstanding puzzle of why a key protein linked to learning is also needed to become addicted to cocaine. Results of the study, published in the Aug. 1 issue of the journal Cell, describe how the learning-related protein works with other proteins to forge new pathways in the brain in response to a drug-induced rush of the "pleasure" molecule dopamine.
NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH/National Cancer Institute, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, US Department of Energy
Contact: Shawna Williams
Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
Nature Communications'Evolution will punish you if you're selfish and mean' Two Michigan State University evolutionary biologists offer new evidence that evolution doesn't favor the selfish, disproving a theory popularized in 2012. "We found evolution will punish you if you're selfish and mean," said lead author Christoph Adami, MSU professor of microbiology and molecular genetics. "For a short time and against a specific set of opponents, some selfish organisms may come out ahead. But selfishness isn't evolutionarily sustainable."
National Science Foundation
Contact: Layne Cameron
Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
ScienceAs climate, disease links become clearer, study highlights need to forecast future shifts Climate change is affecting the spread of infectious diseases worldwide, according to an international team of leading disease ecologists, with serious impacts to human health and biodiversity conservation. Writing in the journal Science, they propose that modeling the way disease systems respond to climate variables could help public health officials and environmental managers predict and mitigate the spread of lethal diseases.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Sonia Altizer
Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
ScienceScientists find long-sought method to efficiently make complex anticancer compound Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute have achieved the first efficient chemical synthesis of ingenol, a highly complex, plant-derived compound of interest to drug developers for its anticancer potential. The achievement will enable scientists to synthesize a wide variety of ingenol derivatives and investigate their therapeutic properties. The achievement also sets the stage for the efficient commercial production of ingenol mebutate, an existing anticancer drug that at present must be extracted inefficiently from plants.
LEO Pharma, Carlsberg Foundation, Danish Council for Independent Research, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Contact: Mika Ono
Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
Current BiologyA week's worth of camping synchs internal clock to sunrise and sunset, CU-Boulder study finds Spending just one week exposed only to natural light while camping in the Rocky Mountains was enough to synch the circadian clocks of eight people participating in a University of Colorado Boulder study with the timing of sunrise and sunset. Contact: Kenneth Wright
Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
Science'Soft' approach leads to revolutionary energy storage Monash University researchers have brought next generation energy storage closer with an engineering first -- a graphene-based device that is compact, yet lasts as long as a conventional battery.
Australian Research Council
Contact: Emily Walker
Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
CellNew designer compound treats heart failure by targeting cell nucleus Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have made a fundamental discovery relevant to the understanding and treatment of heart failure -- a leading cause of death worldwide. The team discovered a new molecular pathway responsible for causing heart failure and showed that a first-in-class prototype drug, JQ1, blocks this pathway to protect the heart from damage.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Jessica Studeny
Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
Journal of the Acoustical Society of AmericaUltrasound patch heals venous ulcers in human trial In a small clinical study, researchers administered a new method for treating chronic wounds using a novel ultrasound applicator that can be worn like a band-aid. The applicator delivers low-frequency, low-intensity ultrasound directly to wounds, and was found to significantly accelerate healing in five patients with venous ulcers.
NIH/National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
Contact: Margot Kern
Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
Science2 dimensions of value: Dopamine neurons represent reward but not aversiveness The experiments reported here show that dopamine neurons are sensitive to the value of reward but not punishment (like the aversiveness of a bitter taste). This demonstrates that reward and aversiveness are represented as two discrete dimensions (or categories) in the brain. Contact: Lan Yoon
Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
Nature CommunicationsFly study finds 2 new drivers of RNA editing A new study in Nature Communications finds that RNA editing is not only regulated by sequences and structures near the editing sites but also by ones found much farther away. One newly discovered structure gives an editing enzyme an alternate docking site. The other appears to throttle competing splicing activity.
National Science Foundation
Contact: David Orenstein
Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
Current BiologyWe each live in our own little world -- smellwise There are some smells we all find revolting. But toward a handful of odors, different people display different sensitivities. A pair of studies identifies the genetic differences that underpin the differences in smell sensitivity. The researchers tested 200 people for their sensitivity to 10 different chemical compounds. They then searched through the subjects' genomes for areas of the DNA that differed between people who could smell a given compound and those who could not. Contact: Mary Beth O'Leary
Public Release: 1-Aug-2013
CellPromising compound could offer new treatment for heart failure Heart failure occurs when the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the body's needs. Current therapies are not adequately effective at improving health. A study reveals the key role of a family of molecules known as BET proteins in activating genes that contribute to heart failure. The study also demonstrates that a BET-inhibiting drug can protect against heart failure in mice, opening up promising new avenues for the treatment of this devastating condition. Contact: Mary Beth O'Leary
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