Genetic markers that could help highlight who is at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease have been identified by US scientists.

The research in Neuron identifies mutations that affect the build-up of certain proteins in the brain.

High levels of these tau proteins increase the chance of having the disease.

UK experts said the study could help understand the changes that occur in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.

BBC Health

In a leap forward in understanding the basic science of one of the most lethal cancers, two groups of researchers have found mutations in most melanomas that are unlike any they have seen before in cancer. The changes are in regions that control genes, not in the genes themselves. The mutations are exactly the type caused by exposure to ultraviolet light, indicating they might be among the first DNA changes in a cell’s path to melanoma.

New York Times

A gene that helps the body convert that big plate of holiday cookies you just polished off into fat could provide a new target for potential treatments for fatty liver disease, diabetes and obesity.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, are unlocking the molecular mechanisms of how our body converts dietary carbohydrates into fat, and as part of that research, they found that a gene with the catchy name BAF60c contributes to fatty liver, or steatosis.

In the study, to be published online Dec. 6 in the journal Molecular Cell, the researchers found that mice that have had the BAF60c gene disabled did not convert carbohydrates to fat, despite eating a high-carb diet.

»newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/12/···-to-fat/

See front page article ---> »dslreports.com Update - May 02 2012

Herpesviruses are master manipulators. Once inside the body, they can turn healthy cells into virus factories within a few short hours.

In cancer, the protein known as TGF-beta is both a blessing and a curse. Among cells just beginning to turn malignant, it acts as a tumor suppressor, inhibiting their growth.

Tinkering with nature’s blueprints is all the rage today. From biochemists building drug-producing bacteria, to energy researchers developing biofuel crops, scientists are hard at work manipulating genes to better suit human aims.

Cancer is a case of betrayal. A cell that once cooperated with other tissues turns traitor, stealing nutrients to propagate itself.

Response after One Dose of a Monovalent Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 Vaccine — Preliminary Report

From Abstract:

Background A novel influenza A (H1N1) 2009 virus is responsible for the first influenza pandemic in 41 years. A safe and effective vaccine is urgently needed.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The discovery of immune system particles that attack the AIDS virus may finally open a way to make a vaccine that could protect people against the deadly and incurable infection, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.

They used new technology to troll through the blood of 1,800 people infected with the AIDS virus and identified two immune system compounds called antibodies that could neutralize the virus.

And they found a new part of the virus that the antibodies attack, offering a new way to design a vaccine, they reported in the journal Science.

»www.reuters.com/article/scienceN···enceNews

It is the first gene clue to the condition in 16 years and has prompted scientists to rethink their theories on how the disease develops.

The genes were pinpointed in a study of 16,000 DNA samples and are known to be implicated in inflammation and cholesterol breakdown.

It is hoped the Nature Genetics study will open the way for new treatments.

»news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8237686.stm

Scientists have been trying to get an accurate estimate of the mutation rate for over 70 years.

* * *

However, next generation sequencing technology has enabled the scientists to produce a far more direct and reliable estimate.

Flu pandemic alert raised to phase 6
11 June 2009 -- On the basis of available evidence and expert assessments of the evidence, the scientific criteria for an influenza pandemic have been met. The Director-General of WHO has therefore decided to raise the level of influenza pandemic alert from phase 5 to phase 6.

LONDON (Reuters) - Researchers said on Sunday they had found a safer way to transform ordinary skin cells into powerful stem cells in a move that could eventually remove the need to use human embryos.

It is the first time that scientists have turned skin cells into induced pluripotent stem cells or iPS cells -- which look and act like embryonic stem cells -- without having to use viruses in the process.

The new method also allows for genes that are inserted to trigger cell reprogramming to be removed afterwards.

»www.reuters.com/article/scienceN···20090301

DNA is known as the code of life—and justly so. It contains the assembly information for organisms ranging from bacteria to blue whales.

"Obesity can be "caught" as easily as a common cold from other people's coughs, sneezes and dirty hands, scientists said Monday.

The condition has been linked to a highly-infectious virus which causes sniffles and sore throats....the virus, known as AD-36, infects the lungs then whisks around the body, forcing fat cells to multiply and also causing sore throats."

»www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,482788,00.html

On first read, I was leary of the original article, however doing a google search seems to bring a few pages of similar. This particular one appears to have further links on the exact study.

»www.pbrc.edu/news/Featured_Stori···asp?id=9

A privately financed team of scientists and engineers is nearing completion of a special-purpose supercomputer intended to offer more than a thousandfold increase in performance for complex molecular simulations.

The machine, named Anton, in homage to Anton van Leeuwenhoek, a pioneer in microbiology, is a bold gamble to jump ahead of the most powerful general-purpose supercomputers by as much as a half decade.

It could be used to investigate problems of great scientific interest, like the folding of protein molecules, and in the design of drugs based on the simulated biological activity of different molecules.

NY Times article (Vijay Pande quoted in last two paragraphs)

An injection of stem cells has been used to cure mice with a normally fatal nervous system condition.

The therapy which helped repair faulty nerve wiring raises hopes of treatments for children with rare and deadly nervous leukodystrophy disorders.

A UK expert said human treatments were still some way off - but potentially the technique could be used to treat conditions such as multiple sclerosis.

»news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7435137.stm

Peter Kasson has been working hard on a new approach to improve the Windows SMP core stability.

»folding.typepad.com/news/2008/03···cli.html

At first glance, it bears an uncanny resemblance to a piece of modern art. A grid of red, yellow, and green spots glows against a glassy black backdrop in an abstract composition no larger than a microscope slide.