A novel approach to cancer immunotherapy — strategies designed to induce the immune system to attack cancer cells — may provide a new and cost-effective weapon against some of the most deadly tumors, including ovarian cancer and mesothelioma. Investigators from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center report in the Journal of Hematology […]
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Combatting hospital-acquired infections with protein metal complex
A protein containing a metal complex for blue paint inhibits growth of a pathogenic bacterium through iron deprivation. Scientists have found a new method using an artificial metalloprotein (a protein that contains a metal) to inhibit the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria, which is a common bacterium that can cause diseases in humans and evolves […]
How Yosemite Keeps Its Bears’ Paws Off Campers’ Hamburgers
The park’s bears have developed a taste for human food, and that’s gotten them in big trouble. But efforts to teach campers to lock up food are helping solve the problem, a bear hair analysis shows. » E-Mail This
Clash with palm oil company leaves one indigenous community member dead in Sumatra
A member of the Suku Anak Dalam indigenous community was killed and five others were injured during a clash with security forces on an oil palm concession owned by PT Asiatic Persada in Sumatra, reports Mongabay-Indonesia. The incident occurred Wednesday evening in Bungku, Jambi.
Common mutation is culprit in acute leukemia relapse
Stem cell scientists have identified a mutation in human cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia that likely drives relapse. The research could translate into improved patient care strategies for this particular blood cancer, which typically affects children but is more deadly in adults.
Establishing standards where none exist; researchers define ‘good’ stem cells
A set of 64 crucial parameters has been identified by researchers from more than 1,000 by which to judge stem cell-derived cardiac myocytes, making it possible, for perhaps the first time, for scientists and pharmaceutical companies to quantitatively judge and compare the value of the countless commercially available lines of stem cells.
Warming temperatures are pushing two chickadee species — and their hybrids — northward
The zone of overlap between two popular, closely related backyard birds is moving northward at a rate that matches warming winter temperatures, according to a study. In a narrow strip that runs across the eastern U.S., Carolina Chickadees from the south meet and interbreed with Black-capped Chickadees from the north. The new study finds that […]
Birds of all feathers and global flu diversity
Scientists have completed the first global inventory of flu strains in birds by reviewing more than 50 published studies and genetic data, providing new insight into the drivers of viral diversity and the emergence of disease that can ultimately impact human health and livelihoods.
The rise of spring allergies: Fact or fiction?
The spring 2014 allergy season could be the worst yet, or at least that is what you might hear. Every year is coined as being the worst for allergy sufferers, but are spring allergies really on the rise? “A number of factors, such as weather patterns, predict how intense the spring allergy season will be,” […]
Hierarchical differences
Women of different social or professional “ranks” within academic departments collaborate less than men do, according to a new Harvard study, suggesting that female full professors prefer to work on academic papers with other female full professors rather than assistant professors. When the pool was narrowed to women of the same rank, collaboration was equal […]