A plasma ‘force field’ to protect against shock waves :
It could protect military vehicles from energy emitted by nearby blasts.
Researchers are trying to build defence systems that can keep pace with sophisticated weapons, and what’s better than a force field?

Aerospace and defence giant Boeing has been awarded a patent to develop a force field-like system that could protect military vehicles from shockwaves following explosions from missiles or improvised explosive devices.
Boeing’s proposed system involves using a combination of lasers, electricity and microwaves to rapidly heat up the air between the vehicle and a blast. This heat creates a plasma shield that's denser than the surrounding air and able to deflect or absorb the energy from the incoming shockwave.

Boeing’s system is designed to protect a target - which could be a vehicle carrying troops, or a building such as a command centre or a hospital - from the after-effects of nearby explosions.

The system, which would likely be mounted on a military vehicle, or some other target, would have sensors that can detect the velocity and shape of an incoming threat. The system would also be able to determine the size and force of the resulting explosion.

Its sensors and computers would be able to calculate the time it would take the shock wave from an explosion to reach the target, and from what direction. This is important, as the generated force field would only protect a small region of the target, rather than enveloping the entire thing.

Once it has determined the timing of the shock wave, the system’s objective is to somehow heat the air around the target, generating what Boeing terms a “transient medium” that intercepts the shock wave and reduces the energy density.

But till now it is at the stage of patent application. It means that the company thinks enough of the idea to try and protect it.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/aerospace/military/boeing-files-...

Scientists successfully produce highly effective medication for malaria from plant waste material
Professor Peter H. Seeberger, Professor Andreas Seidel-Morgenstern and their team are successful in producing a low-cost but highly effective medication for malaria from plant waste material. For their findings, they received the $25,000 award “Humanity in Science” during Pittcon 2015 in New Orleans.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends artemisinin as the most effective base material for medication against malaria. The two scientists produced artemisinin in a continuous process in a very short time and very high yield. This process can substantially reduce the price for the production of effective anti- malaria drugs and can make the combat against malaria affordable for people in need. The scientists have been using, among others, KNAUER technology for their processes.
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20150330/Scientists-successfully-p...

Ancient onion and garlic remedy kills antibiotic-resistant bugs ... and it is 1000 years old!
A 1,000-year-old Anglo-Saxon ‘eye salve’ made from onion, garlic, wine and part of a cow’s stomach has been shown to wipe out 90 percent of antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, otherwise known as MRSA. And it works better than modern antibiotics in both lab and mouse models.

The 9th Century ‘eye salve’ recipe was originally found in Bald’s Leechbook - an old English manuscript held by the British Library.
It was translated from ancient Anglo-Saxon by researchers at the University of Nottingham in the UK, in the hopes of finding new solutions to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance - which a recent report has predicted will kill 300 million people by 2050. But the team wasn't expecting to find something so potent.
To find out whether the ancient eye salve worked, they made the recipe as faithfully as possible - even using wine from a vineyard that existed back in the 9th Century - and then tested it against large MRSA cultures in the lab. They also tested each individual ingredient on its own against the superbugs, as well as a control solution.

Incredibly, they found that the eye salve killed up to 90 percent of MRSA bacteria, but only when all the ingredients were used together.
The team then went on to test the salve on biofilms of MRSA - sticky colonies of bacteria that are notoriously difficult for antibiotics to penetrate, and which pose a particular problem on hospital equipment. The results were the same.

The next step was to ship the eye salve off to the United States where it was tested on in vivo mouse wounds as a topical treatment. Again, it wiped out most of the MRSA cells after just 24 hours and was more efficient than modern antibiotics.
The team presented their findings at the Annual Conference of the Society for General Microbiology, in Birmingham recently. However they're still not sure exactly how the remedy works, and finding that out will be the next step.
Bald's eye salve

- Equal amounts of garlic and another allium (onion or leek), finely chopped and crushed in a mortar for two minutes.

- Add 25ml (0.87 fl oz) of English wine - in this case, taken from a historic vineyard near Glastonbury.

- Dissolve bovine salts in distilled water, add and then keep chilled for nine days at 4 degrees Celsius before straining through a cloth to remove particulates.

A one thousand year old Anglo-Saxon remedy for eye infections which originates from a manuscript in the British Library has been found to kill the modern-day superbug MRSA in an unusual research collaboration at The University of Nottingham.

Dr Christina Lee, an Anglo-Saxon expert from the School of English has enlisted the help of microbiologists from University’s Centre for Biomolecular Sciences to recreate a 10th century potion for eye infections from Bald’s Leechbook an Old English leatherbound volume in the British Library, to see if it really works as an antibacterial remedy. The Leechbook is widely thought of as one of the earliest known medical textbooks and contains Anglo-Saxon medical advice and recipes for medicines, salves and treatments.

Early results on the 'potion', tested in vitro at Nottingham and backed up by mouse model tests at a university in the United States, are, in the words of the US collaborator, “astonishing”. The solution has had remarkable effects on Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) which is one of the most antibiotic-resistant bugs costing modern health services billions.

New research: The location of memories: Individual neurons
Scientists have shown, for the first time ever, that memories are stored in specific brain cells. By triggering a small cluster of neurons, the researchers were able to force the subject to recall a specific memory. By removing these neurons, the subject would lose that memory.
In the experiment, scientists gave mice an electric shock to create a fear memory in the hippocampus region of the brain and then later, using laser light, activated the neurons where the memory was stored. The mice “quickly entered a defensive, immobile crouch,” strongly suggesting the fear memory was being recalled.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v484/n7394/full/nature11028.html
A similar work published in e-Life also says the same!

Super-efficient graphene lightbulbs:
A lightbulb made from wonder-material graphene will reportedly go on sale later this year, and it's promising to be brighter, cheaper, longer-lasting and use 10 percent less energy than even the best LEDs.

The dimmable lightbulb contains a filament-shaped LED that's coated in graphene, a one-atom-thick material that's 200 times stronger than steel, super flexible and also extremely conductive. If all goes to plan, this will be the first commercial graphene product to hit the market.
It's the conductive ability of graphene that makes the light bulbs so efficient, according to the developers at the University of Manchester in the UK, where the material was first discovered in 2004.

Poverty Shrinks Brains from Birth
Studies show that children from low-income families have smaller brains and lower cognitive abilities
The stress of growing up poor can hurt a child’s brain development starting before birth, research suggests—and even very small differences in income can have major effects on the brain.
The brains of children from the lowest income bracket—less than US$25,000—had up to 6% less surface area than did those of children from families making more than US$150,000, the researchers found. In children from the poorest families, income disparities of a few thousand dollars were associated with major differences in brain structure, particularly in areas associated with language and decision-making skills. Children's scores on tests measuring cognitive skills, such as reading and memory ability, also declined with parental income.
http://www.nature.com/news/poverty-shrinks-brains-from-birth-1.17227

People say body odour is one of the most annoying things they face. Now science is providing a solution to the problem of body odour: Sweaty people around the world may one day sing the praises of science now.

Researchers in England have made a groundbreaking genetic discovery about bacteria called Staphylococcus hominis. They are some of the bacteria that live in your underarm microbiome. They make body odor smell less than pleasant by breaking down naturally secreted molecules that are in sweat.
The scientists -- Daniel Bawdon and Gavin Thomas of York, along with Gordon James and Diana Cox of Unilever, which makes personal care products -- presented their research this week at the Society for General Microbiology's annual conference in Birmingham, England.
They've identified the genes encoding the proteins responsible for producing free thioalcohols, an important component of what makes people stinky when they sweat. It's part of the reason unwashed gym clothes smell worse on a second day. These bacteria have had a longer time to lunch on sweat and produce more thioalcohols.

One gene the researchers found was not just in Staphylococcus hominis, but also in two other Staphylococcus species that produce thioalcohols. It turns out you only need a tiny number of these bacteria to create an "extremely smelly amount" of this odor, often described as having an oniony smell or the smell of rotten eggs, according to the researchers. They may now know what path to travel to stop this chemical process from happening.
Good hygiene helps only little. Your genes can also play a big role in how good or bad you smell. In fact some people, no matter how much they shower, still smell bad. These individuals have a larger amount of "bad" bacteria.

The approach now is to replace the "bad" bacteria that produce the smell with "good" bacteria. And it worked in lab conditions.

Shift to LGB identity in early adulthood tied to depressive symptoms
People whose sexual identity changed toward same-sex attraction in early adulthood reported more symptoms of depression in a nationwide survey than those whose sexual orientations did not change or changed in the opposite direction, according to a new study by a University of Illinois at Chicago sociologist.

“Sexual Orientation Identity Change and Depressive Symptoms: A Longitudinal Analysis,” published in the current issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, found that gay, lesbian and bisexual people who initially identified as heterosexual or who had not reported same-sex romantic attraction or relationships were more likely to experience depressive symptoms than others.

Individuals who reported stable sexual identities throughout the survey period – whether lesbian, gay, bisexual, or heterosexual – had no change in depressive symptoms over time. Similarly, individuals who reported identities that were less same-sex-oriented did not experience increases in depression.
The findings suggest that a sexual identity change toward same-sex attraction may continue to be a stressful life event.
Sexual Orientation Identity Change and Depressive Symptoms
A Longitudinal Analysis
http://hsb.sagepub.com/content/56/1/37

Loneliness might drive elders to physicians more frequently according to a study:
Experiences of loneliness and social isolation can lead to increased health care use among older adults, according to new research from the University of Georgia College of Public Health. The study, published online in the American Journal of Public Health, found that the frequency of physician visits was particularly influenced by chronic loneliness—and suggests that the identification and targeting of interventions for lonely elders may significantly decrease physician visits and health care costs.
Loneliness as a Public Health Issue: The Impact of Loneliness on Health Care Utilization Among Older Adults

http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2014.302427

High-fat dairy products linked to reduced type 2 diabetes risk
Consumption of high-fat yogurt and cheese are linked to a reduction in the risk of type 2 diabetes by as much as a fifth, according to new research from Lund University in Sweden. High meat consumption, on the other hand, is linked to a higher risk. The findings, which have been published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, are in line with previous studies of eating habits that indicated a link between high consumption of dairy products and a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.

However, the new study indicates that it is high-fat dairy products specifically that are associated with reduced risk.

“Those who ate the most high-fat dairy products had a 23 per cent lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those who ate the least. High meat consumption was linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes regardless of the fat content of the meat”, said Ulrika Ericson, who conducted the study.
The researchers studied the eating habits of 27 000 individuals aged 45 to 74. The participants took part in the Malmö Diet and Cancer study in the early 1990s, in which they provided details of their eating habits. Twenty years on, over ten per cent – 2 860 people – had developed type 2 diabetes.

The aim of the study has been to clarify the significance of fat in food for the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Instead of focusing on the total intake of saturated fat, the researchers looked at different sources of saturated fat.

Both meat and dairy products contain saturated fat, but certain saturated fatty acids are particularly common in dairy products. This difference could be one of the reasons why most studies show that those who eat meat are at higher risk of type 2 diabetes, whereas those who eat a lot of dairy products appear to have a lower risk.

“When we investigated the consumption of saturated fatty acids that are slightly more common in dairy products than in meat, we observed a link with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. However, we have not ruled out the possibility that other components of dairy products such as yoghurt and cheese may have contributed to our results. We have taken into account many dietary and lifestyle factors in our analysis, such as fermentation, calcium, vitamin D and physical activity. However, there may be other factors that we have not been able to measure that are shared by those who eat large quantities of high-fat dairy products. Moreover, different food components can interact with each other. For example, in one study, saturated fat in cheese appeared to have less of a cholesterol-raising effect than saturated fat in butter.

“Our results suggest that we should not focus solely on fat, but rather consider what foods we eat. Many foodstuffs contain different components that are harmful or beneficial to health, and it is the overall balance that is important.”
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2015/04/01/ajcn.114.103010

A new exciting approach to cancer treatment : personalised cancer vaccines
Two of the most promising recent approaches to cancer treatment are immunotherapy, which harnesses the body’s own immune system to fight cancer, and personalised medicine, which involves therapeutics that are targeted to the genome of a particular patient and that patient’s cancer.

Now scientists have combined those two strategies to create a novel treatment: a vaccine developed for a single patient that triggers an immune system attack that is laser-focused on that patient’s tumours.
In the very first human trial testing this approach, the personalised vaccines successfully activated an immune response in three patients with melanoma.

The research is in its earliest stages - it’s too soon to say if the treatment actually improved survival in the patients or whether it will work in others at all. Still, scientists are excited about the idea and the proof-of-concept results, which were published in the journal Science on April 2.
In cancer, each tumour is unique, which is one reason that they can be so hard to treat. In this new approach, scientists have used that to their advantage. The broken genes that make a tumour grow out of control "can also be targeted by the immune system to control malignancies," researchers from the Netherlands Cancer Institute and Washington University School of Medicine explained.
To create the personalised treatments, scientists determined the unique genetic make-up of each patient’s melanoma tumours, which had been surgically removed. They then identified special targets, called neoantigens, on the surface of each patient’s cancer cells. Using those targets, they developed a personalised vaccine for each patient that would hopefully encourage their immune system to attack these specific neoantigens on that patient’s cancer cells.

Selecting those unique-to-the-tumour targets "helps to minimise adverse events or side effects," explained Elaine Mardis, a study co-author and researcher at the Genome Institute at the Washington University School of Medicine, on a call with reporters. The immune response triggered by the personalised vaccines is designed to behave more like a sniper than a bomb - using the neoantigens as "flags" so it can specifically taking out the cancerous cells.

Still, the process is complicated: developing each vaccine took the research team about three months - too long to wait for many cancer patients. They’re hoping a timeline of four to six weeks will become possible as they refine the process.

Even at this early and uncertain stage, scientists are encouraged by this approach because there’s a chance it could prove effective in patients who don’t respond to existing treatments. And while the trial was in melanoma, the researchers are eager to try it out on other cancers that are associated with carcinogens, like bladder, lung, and colorectal cancers.
A dendritic cell vaccine increases the breadth and diversity of melanoma neoantigen-specific T cells

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2015/04/01/science.aaa3828

Changing human DNA permanently... well science is moving faster than ethics can catch it...

Scientists around the world are anticipating the results of a Chinese study that would mark the first time DNA in a human embryo has been modified in a way that would carry into future generations.

Although the embryos would be for study only, and not intended for implantation, the research would mark a significant milestone: the first time human DNA had been altered so substantially that it would change the “germ line” — the eggs or sperm of any child produced from the embryo.

Theoretically that could allow parents in the not-too-distant future to essentially clean their own eggs and sperm of undesired genes — such as ones known to cause cancer — and prevent those genes from being passed on to grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Genetics research is already improving medicine, for example, informing women if they are more likely to develop breast or ovarian cancer. Scientists can sequence the human genome and parse it, find out where it goes wrong, and use that information to prevent, treat and even cure certain diseases, with implications for everything from autism to ALS.

But there’s a big difference between gene therapy — a growing field of largely clinical research that uses genes in treatment — and altering the germ line. That’s because current gene therapies make “somatic” changes to DNA, or ones that don’t affect eggs and sperm or embryos.

There are about 2,000 gene-therapy studies underway around the world. One clinical trial is seeking to turn off the genes that make the body susceptible to the HIV virus. Another pending trial out of the University of Alberta seeks to alter genes in men to stop the progression of a degenerative eye disease that leaves sufferers legally blind by middle age.

Germ-line research does get into deeper questions of eugenics, especially with spectrum disorders. We’ve got to take a deep breath because we’re about to alter the human genetic code in a way that it’s never been altered before.

However, some scientists say the fear about this kind of research is the one like we had in 1970's 'test tube babies'. Now the thing has become common. The same thing will happen to this one too.

Well...wait and watch

One can develop allergies a few weeks after receiving blood transfusions
'Peanut and fish allergy due to platelet transfusion in a child'
http://www.cmaj.ca/content/early/2015/04/07/cmaj.141407
Although this is rare, an eight year old boy developed allergy toward salmon and peanut butter after the blood transfusion because the donor had these allergies. However, these allergies are short lived and dissipate after some months because the recipients themselves don't produce the allergen antibodies.
The principle behind it is Clinicians purposefully transfer antibodies to give patients protection against infections, so it is not surprising that other antibodies could be transferred and cause ripple effects. Large amounts of immunoglobulin-E (IgE) antibodies remain in blood products even after storage of more than a month. Typically, fresh frozen plasma will contain the largest amount of the antibodies, followed by platelets and then red cells because all three blood components contain plasma, which can contain antibodies.
Multiple events must come together for a patient to have this rare allergic reaction. First, the blood donor must have high levels of IgE antibodies—those that react against allergens. Second, a substantial amount of blood product must be given to the patient. Then, in order to detect the new allergy, the patient would have to be exposed to the specific allergen the antibodies would react against within a few months of receiving the transfusion. That window is tight, because passively acquired antibodies will naturally fade after a few months and the transient allergy will disappear. IgE is estimated to have a half-life of just a few hours or days, but once it enters the body and binds to cells, it can remain detectable for weeks or months and cause allergic reactions

This topic always fascinates me... understanding the death dance...another step towards it...
Asphyxia-activated corticocardiac signaling accelerates onset of cardiac arrest
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/04/02/1423936112
Death Brain Signaling Accelerates Demise of the Heart...
What happens in the moments just before death is widely believed to be a slowdown of the body’s systems as the heart stops beating and blood flow ends. For the study, performed in rats, researchers simultaneously examined the heart and brain during experimental asphyxiation and documented an immediate release of more than a dozen neurochemicals, along with an activation of brain-heart connectivity. This new laboratory study by the University of Michigan Medical School reveals a storm of brain activity that erupts as the heart deteriorates and plays a surprising destabilizing role in heart function.

This near-death brain signaling may be targeted to help cardiac arrest patients survive.
Despite the loss of consciousness and absence of signs of life, internally the brain exhibits sustained, organized activity and increased communication with the heart, which one may guess is an effort to save the heart.
However the brain signaling at near-death may, in fact, accelerate cardiac demise, according to the study published in this week’s PNAS Early Edition.

Researchers with backgrounds in engineering, neuroscience, physiology, cardiology, chemistry, and pharmacology looked at the mechanism by which the heart of a healthy person ceases to function within just a few minutes without oxygen.

While the animal study examined asphyxia-induced cardiac arrest, sudden cardiac death can also follow fatal cardiac arrhythmias, ischemic stroke, traumatic brain injury, brain hemorrhage and epilepsy.

Following a steep fall of the heart rate, brain signals strongly synchronized with the heart rhythm, as visualized beat-by-beat using a new technology developed in the Borjigin laboratory called electrocardiomatrix.

According to the study, blocking the brain’s outflow significantly delayed ventricular fibrillation, in which the lower chambers of the heart quiver and the heart cannot pump any blood. It’s the most serious cardiac rhythm disturbance.

The study suggests that a pharmacological blockade of the brain’s electrical connections to the heart during cardiac arrest may improve the chances of survival in cardiac arrest patients.
This new study provides a neurochemical foundation for the surge in brain activity and a brain-heart connectivity that may be targeted to lengthen detectable brain activity.

How neuro-scientists think they can do the head transplants...

The procedure starts with cooling both the body and head right down so the cells won’t die when deprived of oxgyen through the process. Next, the neck is severed and all the crucial blood vessels are hooked up to tubes while the spinal cord on both the head and the body are severed.

"The recipient's head is then moved onto the donor body and the two ends of the spinal cord – which resemble two densely packed bundles of spaghetti – are fused together,” says Thomson. "To achieve this, scientists intend to flush the area with a chemical called polyethylene glycol, and follow up with several hours of injections of the same stuff. Just like hot water makes dry spaghetti stick together, polyethylene glycol encourages the fat in cell membranes to mesh.”

Canavero told Thomson the final step would be to stitch up the muscles and blood supply, and to induce a three- or four-hour coma to let the body heal itself while embedded electrodes stimulate the spinal cord to strengthen the new nerve connections.

The recipient won’t be able to get up and walk around soon after the surgery because the damage to the spinal cord would take about 12 months to heal fully. The recipient would retain their old voice though.
But... we don’t even know if the plan to use polyethylene glycol to fuse the spinal cords is even going to work, in which case scientists will be forced to use one of their other options. There is no evidence that the connectivity of cord and brain would lead to useful sentient or motor function following head transplantation.
And... how do you get the body to stop automatically rejecting the head?

There’s no telling what the transplant - and all the new connections and foreign chemicals that the head and brain will have to suddenly deal with - will do to person’s psyche, could result in a hitherto never experienced level and quality of insanity. Scary!

- The New Scientist

Why do people do what they do? It is the brain chemistry that decides!
The function of two chemical signals critical to human behavior: Dopamine–responsible for reward and risk-taking–and CREB–needed for learning.
We can now predict future animal behaviors based on past sensory experience, independent of the influence of genetic factors using this information.
Dumping dopamine onto a brain–human or otherwise–makes one more willing to take risks.
Stimulated by large varieties in its environment, dopamine surges in the organism's system and activates four other neurons in the learning circuit, giving them a greater response range. This prompts the it to search more actively in a wider area (risk-taking) until it hits a more consistent environment. The amount of dopamine in its system serves as its memory of the past experience: about 30 minutes or so and it forgets information gathered in the time before that.
While it’s been known that the presence of dopamine is tied to risk-taking behavior, how exactly dopamine does this hasn’t been well understood. With a new work, scientists now have a fundamental model of how dopamine signaling leads the organism to take more risks and explore new environments.
The connection between dopamine and risk is conserved across animals and is already known, but the new work showed mechanistically how it works. Interestingly, the scientists found that the high-threshold neurons also lead to increased signaling from a protein called CREB, known in humans and other animals to be essential to learning and retaining new memories. The researchers showed that not only are the presence of CREB important to learning, but the amount of CREB protein determines how quickly an animal learns. This surprising connection could lead to new avenues of research for brain enhancements.
When the protein CREB was present in larger amounts, the team found that the organisms took far less time to learn.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0896627315002500
Neural Mechanisms for Evaluating Environmental Variability in Caenorhabditis elegans
C. elegans learn variability in their food environment and modify future behavior
•

The authors describe the minimal circuit that evaluates environmental variability
•

Dopamine levels store information about variability to regulate behavior
•

The amount of CREB determines the rate of learning variability

Preliminary studies by neuro-scientists tell an interesting story:

Birth control pills taken by women effects brain structure and activity...

 Birth control pills have structural effects on regions of the brain that govern higher-order cognitive activities, suggesting that a woman on birth control pills may literally not be herself -- or is herself, on steroids.

Neuroscientists from the University of California, Los Angeles in the US took brain scans of 90 women who were either currently using the pill or not, and found that two key brain regions were thinner in pill users - the lateral orbitofrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate cortex.

New research suggests that the synthetic steroids delivered by the female contraceptive pill can shrink certain regions of the female brain and could also be altering their function.

Neuroscientists from the University of California, Los Angeles in the US took brain scans of 90 women who were either currently using the pill or not, and found that two key brain regions were thinner in pill users - the lateral orbitofrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate cortex.

These two regions are involved in emotion regulation, decision-making and reward response, and the researchers believe that their findings could help explain why some women become anxious or depressed when taking the contraceptive pill. It's possible that this change in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex may be related to the emotional changes that some women experience when using birth control pills.

Scientists have previously shown that the pill can affect to whom a woman is attracted, and can halve the size of their ovaries. And in 2010, a team from Austria also found that the contraceptive pill could change the shape of the brain regions associated with learning, memory and emotion regulation. But their research suggested that it thickened those regions, rather than thinning them, a result that this new study contradicts.

However, it's important to note that the research is in the very early stages, and didn't look into whether going on or off the pill changed brain shape within the same women. The researchers also haven't studied whether the effects are permanent or temporary.

:"Oral contraceptive pill use is associated with localized decreases in cortical thickness":

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hbm.22797/abstract?campa...

Researchers have found that inhibiting DNA recombination at the telomeres can promote longevity, at least in yeast. Their results have been published in PLOS Genetics. Homologous recombination is a process used to repair double stranded breaks in DNA, thereby preventing genome instability which is believed to cause aging. The shortening of telomeres, the physical ends of eukaryotic linear chromosomes, has also implicated in aging. However, due to the resemblance of telomeres to DNA double strand breaks (DSBs), homologous recombination can not be eliminated from telomeres. Professor Zhou Jinqiu and his group at the Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has now identified a telomere recombination regulator, the yeast KEOPS subunit Cgi121, as a novel longevity regulator. They showed that inactivation of Cgi121 inhibited telomere recombination and significantly extended the lifespan of yeast.

''Inhibition of Telomere Recombination by Inactivation of KEOPS Subunit Cgi121 Promotes Cell Longevity''
http://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pg...

Physicists are able to make cylindrical objects completely invisible in the microwave range, without using any metamaterial coating layers, ushering in new era of electromagnetic wave scattering.

The scientists from ITMO University, Ioffe Institute and Australian National University achieved the unique result based on light scattering from a glass cylinder filled with water, representing a two-dimensional analog of a classical scattering from a homogenous sphere (Mie scattering).

Using ordinary water whose refractive index can be regulated by reducing temperature, they applied two scattering methods —
resonant and non-resonant scattering. Resonant scattering is related to localization of light inside the cylinder and in non-resonant it is reflected by smooth dependence on the wave frequency, they explained. And interaction between the two mechanisms is called Fano resonances.
In their xperiment, the researchers discovered that at certain frequencies waves scattered via both mechanisms in opposite
phases and are mutually destroyed, making the object invisible. By the cancellation of scattering, they were able to develop a new technique to switch from visibility to invisibility at the same freequency of 1.9GHz by reducing the temperature of water in a cylinder from 90°C to 50°C.

“Our theoretical calculations were successfully tested in microwave experiments. What matters is that the invisibility idea we implemented in our work can be applied to other electromagnetic wave ranges, including to the visible range,” said Mikhail Rybin, lead author of the paper at the Metamaterials Laboratory in ITMO University.

The discovery can help develop nanoantennas, wherein invisible rods could be used as supports for a miniature antenna complex connecting two optical chips. Since the new discovery of invisibility phenomenon in a homogenous object and not an object covered with additional coating layers makes it deviate from conventional ideas of invisibility.

Nevertheless, coating layers based on metamaterials are extremely hard to fabricate and are not compatible with many other invisibility ideas. The new method based on scattering processes leaves behind the existing mechanisms both in simplicity and cost-effectiveness, they said.

Wearing an invisibility cloak is every fantasy-lovers dream. It has caught the attention of physicists for centuries and even films like ‘Mr India’ with an invisibility watch had an exciting viewership, while epics are aplenty about the examples of ancient sages going invisible or making objects invisible.
- http://www.microfinancemonitor.com/2015/04/14/physicists-create-hom...

Sperm from men with children with early signs of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have distinct DNA methylation patterns which could be contributory to autism. This is the main finding of a new study from researchers in John Hopkins published online in the International Journal of Epidemiology on April 15th.
The authors concluded that the methylation results from paternal sperm, together with the post-mortem brain evidence showing directionally consistent, potentially related epigenetic mechanisms, suggest that epigenetic methylation differences in paternal sperm may be contributory to risk of autism spectrum disorders in children. As this was a relatively small study, the team plans to extend the study to more families to confirm its and to examine occupations and environmental exposures of the fathers in the study. Currently, there is no genetic or epigenetic test available to assess autism risk. Studies such as this may help to address this problem for the future.
http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/04/14/ije.dyv028.s...

How the skin fusing works in wound healing ... an interesting observation by scientists

Scientists from the Goethe University Frankfurt, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory Heidelberg and the University of Zurich explain skin fusion at a molecular level and pinpoint the specific molecules that do the job in their latest publication in the journal Nature Cell Biology.

As a first step, as the scientists discovered, cells find their opposing partner by "sniffing" each other out. As a next step, they develop adherens junctions which act like a molecular Velcro. This way they become strongly attached to their opposing partner cell. The biggest revelation of this study was that small tubes in the cell, called microtubules, attach to this molecular Velcro and then deploy a self-catastrophe, which results in the skin being pulled towards the opening, as if one pulls a blanket over.

Damian Brunner who led the team at the University of Zurich has performed many genetic manipulations to identify the correct components. The scientists were astonished to find that microtubules involved in cell-division are the primary scaffold used for zipping, indicating a mechanism conserved during evolution.

"What was also amazing was the tremendous plasticity of the membranes in this process which managed to close the skin opening in a very short space of time. When five to ten cells have found their respective neighbors, the skin already appears normal", says Achilleas Frangakis from the Goethe University Frankfurt, who led the study.

The scientists hope that their results will open new avenues into the understanding of epithelial plasticity and wound healing.

"Quantitative analysis of cytoskeletal reorganization during epithelial tissue sealing by large-volume electron tomography"

http://www.nature.com/ncb/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ncb3159.html

How to avoid pet-associated (zoonotic infections) diseases:

We all love pets. However, we can get a few diseases from them too - especially those who are more vulnerable like young children, older people and people with weak immune systems because of various diseases are at higher risk.

Disease can be transmitted to people by all kinds of pets. Examples of the types of pathogens that can be transmitted include Salmonella, multidrug resistant bacteria (including Clostridium difficile) and Campylobacter jejuni, as well as parasites such as hookworm, roundworm and Toxoplasma. Routes of transmission include bites, scratches and contact with faeces and indirect transmission via infected surfaces from reptiles and amphibians.

Relatively simple steps can be taken to reduce risk of infection, including use of gloves when cleaning aquariums, cages and removing faeces, hand washing after contact with pets and their living and feeding areas, keeping living, sleeping and feeding areas clean and disinfected, keeping litter boxes away from human food preparation and consumption areas, discouraging face-licking, avoidance of contact with exotic animals, taking pets for regular veterinary checks and holding off on acquiring new pets until immune status of a vulnerable person has improved.

http://www.cmaj.ca/content/early/2015/04/20/cmaj.141020

Social exchange can amplify subjective fears and risk perception...
New findings by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the University of Konstanz show that subjective fears about potential risks may be amplified in social exchange. Their findings have now been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA .
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the University of Konstanz studied 10-person communication chains in the laboratory. In an experiment based on a “pass the message” game, they examined how risk information is transmitted from one person to the next, and how this process influences risk perception. The results show not only that information is often gradually lost or distorted, but that new information can be spontaneously created. “The participants’ messages became shorter, less accurate, and increasingly dissimilar,“ says Mehdi Moussaïd, lead author of the study and researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin.
The authors of the study found that participants’ preconceptions affected the information transmitted, and in turn influenced the perceptions of those receiving the information. The subjective view of the communicator was thus amplified. “People tend to single out the information that fits their preconceptions, and communicates primarily that information to the next person,“ says Henry Brighton, co-author of the study and researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development. This can lead to preconceptions being reinforced, so that the original message eventually has a negligible impact on the receiver’s judgments, and leads to an increasingly alarmist perception of potential risks.
The results of this study provide insights into the public response to risk and the formation of often unnecessary fears and anxieties. The researchers emphasize the socio-political importance of the realistic assessment of potential dangers. To combat the social amplification of risk, they call for the open, transparent communication of scientific evidence. “Without scaremongering, but also without giving people a false sense of security or an illusion of certainty,“ says co-author Wolfgang Gaissmaier, Professor of Social Psychology and Decision Sciences at the University of Konstanz.
"The amplification of risk in experimental diffusion chains"
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/04/14/1421883112

Asthma's potential root cause has been identified...
A team of scientists have for the first time identified the potential root cause of asthma and an existing drug that offers a new treatment. Published in Science Translational Medicine, Cardiff University researchers, working in collaboration with scientists at King’s College London and the Mayo Clinic (USA), describe the previously unproven role of the calcium sensing receptor (CaSR) in causing asthma, a disease which affects 300 million people worldwide.

The team, which includes Professor Christopher Corrigan and Professor Jeremy Ward from the Division of Asthma, Allergy and Lung Biology at King’s College London, used mouse models of asthma and human airway tissue from asthmatic and non-asthmatic people to reach their findings.

Crucially, the paper highlights the effectiveness of a class of drugs known as calcilytics in manipulating CaSR to reverse all symptoms associated with the condition. These symptoms include airway narrowing, airway twitchiness and inflammation - all of which contribute to increased breathing difficulty. For the first time researchers have found a link airways inflammation, which can be caused by environmental triggers - such as allergens, cigarette smoke and car fumes – and airways twitchiness in allergic asthma.
The research paper shows how these triggers release chemicals that activate CaSR in airway tissue and drive asthma symptoms like airway twitchiness, inflammation, and narrowing. Using calcilytics, nebulized directly into the lungs, and show that it is possible to deactivate CaSR and prevent all of these symptoms.
The identification of CaSR in airway tissue means that the potential for treatment of other inflammatory lung diseases beyond asthma is immense. These include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and chronic bronchitis, for which currently there exists no cure. It is predicted that by 2020 these diseases will be the third biggest killers worldwide.

The team is now seeking funding to determine the efficacy of calcilytic drugs in treating asthmas that are especially difficult to treat, particularly steroid-resistant and influenza-exacerbated asthma, and to test these drugs in patients with asthma.
Calcilytics were first developed for the treatment of osteoporosis around 15 years ago with the aim of strengthening deteriorating bone by targeting CaSR to induce the release of an anabolic hormone. Although clinically safe and well tolerated in people, calcilytics proved unsuccessful in treating osteoporosis.

But this latest breakthrough has provided researchers with the unique opportunity to re-purpose these drugs, potentially accelerating the time it takes for them to be approved for use asthma patients. Once funding has been secured, the group aim to be trialling the drugs on humans within two years.
- King's College London

Heritability of Attractiveness to Mosquitoes
Abstract

Female mosquitoes display preferences for certain individuals over others, which is determined by differences in volatile chemicals produced by the human body and detected by mosquitoes. Body odour can be controlled genetically but the existence of a genetic basis for differential attraction to insects has never been formally demonstrated. This study investigated heritability of attractiveness to mosquitoes by evaluating the response of Aedes aegypti (=Stegomyia aegypti) mosquitoes to odours from the hands of identical and non-identical twins in a dual-choice assay. Volatiles from individuals in an identical twin pair showed a high correlation in attractiveness to mosquitoes, while non-identical twin pairs showed a significantly lower correlation. Overall, there was a strong narrow-sense heritability of 0.62 (SE 0.124) for relative attraction and 0.67 (0.354) for flight activity based on the average of ten measurements. The results demonstrate an underlying genetic component detectable by mosquitoes through olfaction. Understanding the genetic basis for attractiveness could create a more informed approach to repellent development.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.01...

Labs are not boring places.  Apart from searching for and spreading knowledge they have aesthetic values too! See for yourself :

http://gizmodo.com/these-are-the-most-beautiful-science-labs-in-the...

The Lancet: Scientists announce final trial results of the world's most advanced malaria vaccine
The first malaria vaccine candidate (RTS,S/AS01) to reach phase 3 clinical testing is partially effective against clinical disease in young African children up to 4 years after vaccination, according to final trial data, published in The Lancet. The results suggest that the vaccine could prevent a substantial number of cases of clinical malaria, especially in areas of high transmission. The findings reveal that vaccine efficacy against clinical and severe malaria was better in children than in young infants, but waned over time in both groups. However, protection was prolonged by a booster dose, increasing the average number of cases prevented in both children and young infants.
In children who received 3 doses of RTS,S/AS01 plus a booster, the number of clinical episodes of malaria at 4 years was reduced by just over a third (36%). This is a drop in efficacy from the 50% protection against malaria seen in the first year.

Importantly, without a booster dose, significant efficacy against severe malaria was not shown in this age group. However, in children given a booster dose, overall protective efficacy against severe malaria was 32%, and 35% against malaria-associated hospitalisations.

In infants who received 3 doses of RTS,S/AS01 plus a booster, the vaccine reduced the risk of clinical episodes of malaria by 26% over 3 years follow-up. There was no significant protection against severe disease in infants.
- The Lancet

Mitochondrial diseases are maternally inherited genetic disorders that cause a wide spectrum of debilitating conditions and which currently have no cure. In a study published April 23 in the journal Cell, Salk Institute researchers report the first successful attempt using gene-editing technology to prevent mutated mitochondrial DNA associated with multiple human mitochondrial diseases from being passed from mothers to offspring in mice.

"This technique is based on a single injection of mRNA into a mother's oocytes or early embryos and therefore could be easily implemented in IVF [in vitro fertilization] clinics throughout the world," said senior study author Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. "Since mutations in mitochondrial DNA have also been implicated in neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, and aging, our technology could potentially have broad clinical implications for preventing the transmission of disease-causing mutations to future generations."

Mitochondria are known as the powerhouse of the cell because they generate most of the cell's supply of energy. Each cell in the body contains anywhere from 1,000 to 100,000 copies of mitochondrial DNA, which is exclusively transmitted through maternal inheritance. In most patients with mitochondrial disease, mutated and normal mitochondrial DNA molecules are mixed together in cells. A high percentage of mutated mitochondrial DNA can lead to the degeneration and catastrophic failure of various organs, resulting in serious health problems such as seizures, dementia, diabetes, heart failure, liver dysfunction, vision loss, and deafness.
In the new study, Belmonte and his team demonstrated the therapeutic promise of an alternative approach that allows the direct correction of the mutated DNA in mitochondria by using DNA-cutting enzymes called restriction endonucleases and TALENs. This gene-editing approach might be safer, simpler, and more ethical than mitochondrial replacement therapy because it does not require donor eggs. The enzymes are designed to target a specific mutated DNA sequence and introduce a precise cut that destroys the mutated mitochondrial DNA while leaving the normal mitochondrial DNA intact, thereby shifting the balance toward a healthy genetic state in mitochondria.
''Selective Elimination of Mitochondrial Mutations in the Germline by Genome Editing''
http://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674%2815%2900371-2?_return...

How orchid petals get their shape:
Model for perianth formation in orchids

Orchid flowers are well-known for their unique shape and the beautiful patterns on their petals. A team of researchers from Taiwan have discovered that an orchid flower's unique perianth (shape) is the result of competition between two groups of proteins. In a study published in the journal Nature Plants, Professor Yang Chang-Hsien and colleagues from the National Chung Hsing University in Taiwan showed that the shape of orchids is determined by a competition between two protein complexes, a phenomenon they named the perianth (P) code.

study published in the journal Nature Plants
Unlike most flowers with star-shaped (actinomorphic) symmetry, orchid flowers typically have mirror-image (zygomorphic) symmetry with a striking well-differentiated lip that acts as the main pollinator attractant by employing visual, fragrance and tactile cues. These lips attract insects and enable the orchids to be pollinated. The researchers found that two competing protein complexes serve different functions in perianth formation. The higher-order heterotetrameric SP (sepal/petal) complex specifies sepal/petal formation, whereas the L (lip) complex is exclusively required for lip formation. The authors also found that orchid species from many subfamilies with different types of lips and petals all obey this perianth code. They were also able to convert lips into petals in two orchid species by reducing the activity of the L complex using gene silencing. This study adds to the current knowledge of how orchid petals develop and the evolutionary changes that orchids have undergone to ensure pollination.

http://www.nature.com/articles/nplants201546

Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology have developed a new technique that extends the time that donor organs last and can also resuscitate organs obtained after cardiac arrest. The work published in Scientific Reports details a procedure that cools organs down to 22°C (71.6°F) and slows down organ function while still supplying oxygen, resulting in more successful transplants than the current standard methods. Team leader Professor Tsuji Takashi notes that this system should quickly increase the pool of available donor organs and could even be used to grow whole 3D organs in the future.
"Hypothermic temperature effects on organ survival and restoration"
http://www.nature.com/srep/2015/150422/srep09563/full/srep09563.html

Scientists Launch Investigation into Climate Data “Adjustments”

http://www.thenewamerican.com/tech/environment/item/20762-scientist...

HIV-positive men dramatically reduce virus spreading after circumcision but not while wound healing
The World Health Organization recommends male circumcision (the surgical removal of foreskin from the penis) which reduces HIV acquisition by 50-60% for teh control of HIV. However, scientists report that a new study of HIV-infected men in Uganda has identified a temporary, but potentially troublesome unintended consequence of the procedure: a possible increased risk of infecting female sexual partners while circumcision wounds heal.

In a study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and Rakai Health Sciences Program, 223 HIV-positive Ugandan men were medically circumcised. Health workers poured 5 milliliters (about a teaspoon) of saline solution over the circumcision site near the neck of the penis and collected the solution for testing just before surgery, during the operation, and once a week for 12 weeks.

Data showed that among the 183 men not taking anti-retroviral drugs, less than 10 percent were shedding HIV before circumcision, but nearly 30 percent were shedding the virus two weeks after surgery. The percentages dropped sharply as the men's wounds healed, to less than three percent at six weeks and less than two percent at 12 weeks.

Circumcision reduced the number of HIV-positive men who were shedding the virus more than five-fold over the long term, but it had the opposite effect in the weeks right after the surgery.
""HIV Shedding from Male Circumcision Wounds in HIV-Infected Men: A Prospective Cohort Study""
http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pm...

Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes have difficulty regulating their glucose – or blood sugar – levels, particularly after meals. Now, University of Missouri researchers have found that Type 2 diabetics can eat more protein at breakfast to help reduce glucose spikes at both breakfast and lunch.

“People often assume that their glucose response at one meal will be identical to their responses at other meals, but that really isn’t the case,” said Jill Kanaley, professor and associate chair in the MU Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology. “For instance, we know that what you eat and when you eat make a difference, and that if people skip breakfast, their glucose response at lunch will be huge. In our study, we found those who ate breakfast experienced appropriate glucose responses after lunch.”

Kanaley and her colleagues monitored Type 2 diabetics’ levels of glucose, insulin and several gut hormones – which help regulate the insulin response – after breakfast and lunch. The participants ate either high-protein or high-carbohydrate breakfasts, and the lunch included a standard amount of protein and carbohydrates.

The researchers found eating more protein at breakfast lowered individuals’ post-meal glucose levels. Insulin levels were slightly elevated after the lunch meal, which demonstrated that individuals’ bodies were working appropriately to regulate blood-sugar levels, Kanaley said.

“The first meal of the day is critical in maintaining glycemic control at later meals, so it really primes people for the rest of the day,” Kanaley said. “Eating breakfast prompts cells to increase concentrations of insulin at the second meal, which is good because it shows that the body is acting appropriately by trying to regulate glucose levels. However, it is important for Type 2 diabetics to understand that different foods will affect them differently, and to really understand how they respond to meals, they need to consistently track their glucose. Trigger foods may change depending on how much physical activity people have gotten that day or how long they have waited between meals.”

Kanaley said that although it would be helpful for individuals with high blood sugar to eat more protein, they do not need to consume extreme amounts of protein to reap the benefits.

“We suggest consuming 25 to 30 grams of protein at breakfast, which is within the range of the FDA recommendations,” Kanaley said.
http://jn.nutrition.org/content/145/3/452

Babies born with drug withdrawal symptoms on the rise in US
The number of infants born in the United States with drug withdrawal symptoms, also known as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), nearly doubled in a four-year period. By 2012, one infant was born every 25 minutes in the U.S. with the syndrome, accounting for $1.5 billion in annual health care charges, according to a new Vanderbilt study published in the Journal of Perinatology.

Neonatal abstinence syndrome has been linked to both illicit drug use as well as use of prescription opioids -- narcotic pain relievers such as hydrocodone -- by pregnant women. Infants born with NAS are more likely to have respiratory complications, feeding difficulty, seizures and low birth-weight.

The study found that from 2009-2012, the incidence of neonatal abstinence syndrome rose in the United States from 3.4 births per 1,000 to 5.8 births per 1,000. Broken down by geographic area, the east south central division (Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi and Alabama) had the highest rates of the syndrome, occurring in 16.2 hospital births per 1,000.

"The rise in neonatal abstinence syndrome mirrors the rise we have seen in opioid pain reliever use across the nation. Our study finds that communities hardest hit by opioid use and their complications, like overdose death, have the highest rates of the NAS," said study lead author Stephen Patrick, M.D., MPH, MS, assistant professor of Pediatrics and Health Policy in the Division of Neonatology with the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.
Source: Vanderbilt University

More than 200 scientists outline potential health concerns from fluorinated chemicals, urge replacements and tightened regulations

Chemicals used to make products waterproof and stain resistant are persistent, pervasive, potentially harmful to humans, and should be regulated and largely replaced, according a statement signed by more than 200 scientists.

The “Madrid Statement” was authored by 14 scientists and signed by 208 more from 38 countries around the world representing a variety of scientific disciplines. The statement was issued amid growing concern that exposure to highly fluorinated chemicals — found everywhere, including in people — is linked to certain cancers, hormone disruption, brain and liver problems and lower birth weights.

“We call on the international community to cooperate in limiting the production and use of PFASs [poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances] and in developing safer non-fluorinated alternatives,” says the statement published in today’s Environmental Health Perspectives journal.
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2015/may/fluorinate...

Most recently, studies point to a direct role for soil bacteria in shielding crops from drought; improving their growth and ability to absorb nutrients; and enhancing their tolerance of flooding, high temperatures, low temperatures and many other challenges of a changing global climate.
''Turning to Bacteria to Fight the Effects of Climate Change''
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2015/04/30/turning-t...

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common, and widespread antibiotic resistance has led to urgent calls for new ways to combat them. Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences report that an experimental drug that stabilizes a protein called HIF-1alpha protects human bladder cells and mice against a major UTI pathogen. The drug might eventually provide a therapeutic alternative or complement to standard antibiotic treatment.

The study is published April 30 by PLOS Pathogens.

HIF-1alpha is known to influence the innate immune response, the body’s first line of defense against intruding pathogens. Like many regulator proteins, HIF-1alpha is relatively short-lived. To increase HIF-1alpha levels, researchers have developed drugs that delay its breakdown. This same pathway has been the target for drugs now in advanced clinical trials for treatment of anemia.

In this study, Victor Nizet, MD, professor of pediatrics and pharmacy, and colleagues explored the use of HIF-1alpha-stabilizing drugs to boost the innate immune response to uropathogenic E.coli (UPEC) bacteria, a major cause of UTIs. In healthy human urinary tract cells, treatment with the drugs increased HIF-1alpha levels. Such cells were then more resistant to UPEC attachment, invasion and killing than human urinary tract cells with normal HIF-1alpha levels.

Using a mouse model of UTI, the researchers showed that administration of HIF-1alpha stabilizers directly into the bladder protected against UPEC infection. They also found that invasion of bladder cells, a critical early step in the infection process, was reduced in treated mice compared to untreated mice.

To verify the importance of HIF-1alpha in the defense against UPEC infection, the researchers studied mice with reduced HIF-1alpha levels. Exposed to UPEC, these mice were more susceptible to bladder infection, and pre-treatment with HIF-1alpha stabilizers made no difference. This demonstrates that the drugs combat UTIs through their effect on HIF-1alpha.

Finally, the researchers examined whether treatment with HIF-1alpha stabilizers would be beneficial against an established UTI. To do this, they infected mice with UPEC first and then administered the drugs into the bladder six hours later. The treated mice had a more than 10-fold reduction in bladder colonization with the bacteria, demonstrating that HIF-1alpha stabilization is beneficial even after the initial infection.

“The ultimate goal of this research will be to advance HIF-1alpha stabilizers toward clinical trials in humans, using versions of the drug that can be taken orally and reach the urinary tract,” Nizet said.
http://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.p...

Scientists stumble across unknown stem-cell type ‘Region-selective’ pluripotent cells raise possibility of growing human organs in animals.

http://www.nature.com/news/scientists-stumble-across-unknown-stem-c...

Gram’s Stain Does Not Cross the Bacterial Cytoplasmic Membrane
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acschembio.5b00042
Contrary to standard scientific texts, the purple dye called crystal violet, a main ingredient in gram staining, does not actually enter bacterial cells, researchers report April 27 in ACS Chemical Biology. Instead, the dye gets trapped in a tight package of sugar-filled polymers, called peptidoglycan, which envelops bacterial cells. The thickness and integrity of the sweet bacterial armor determines whether crystal violet leaves a cell purple or not. That royal shade, or lack of it, reveals a cell’s type of outer structure.
Abstract of the paper:
For well over a century, Hans Christian Gram’s famous staining protocol has been the standard go-to diagnostic for characterizing unknown bacteria. Despite continuous and ubiquitous use, we now demonstrate that the current understanding of the molecular mechanism for this differential stain is largely incorrect. Using the fully complementary time-resolved methods: second-harmonic light-scattering and bright-field transmission microscopy, we present a real-time and membrane specific quantitative characterization of the bacterial uptake of crystal-violet (CV), the dye used in Gram’s protocol. Our observations contradict the currently accepted mechanism which depicts that, for both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, CV readily traverses the peptidoglycan mesh (PM) and cytoplasmic membrane (CM) before equilibrating within the cytosol. We find that not only is CV unable to traverse the CM but, on the time-scale of the Gram-stain procedure, CV is kinetically trapped within the PM. Our results indicate that CV, rather than dyes which rapidly traverse the PM, is uniquely suited as the Gram stain.