LRI-funded researcher Betty Tsao, Ph.D., at UCLA has discovered that humans -- males in particular -- with a variant form of the immune receptor gene "Toll Like Receptor 7" are at increased risk of developing the autoimmune disease lupus. This breakthrough finding offers renewed hope for developing more targeted treatments.

The September cover story of the nation's leading cancer journal, "Cancer Research," features a new study from The Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota, that links capsaicin, a component of chili peppers, to skin cancer.

Bold and coordinated leadership at the federal level is essential to create secure, long-term, sustainable biomedical research funding policies based on strategic priorities, say the authors of a commentary about America's fledgling biomedical research framework published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association.

A survey of emergency medical services agencies from across the country found wide variation in perceptions of workplace safety culture -- providing a tool that might point to potential patient safety threats, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Statements, published in the journal Maturitas, cover the management of the menopause in the context of obesity, epilepsy, endometriosis and premature ovarian failure

The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology has released a statement that expresses opposition to the Federal District Court injunction that froze federal funding for human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research. ARVO supports technological developments and policies that encourage all facets of stem cell research, including research utilizing hESCs.

Biopharmaceutical firms and other life science organizations are taking definitive steps toward creating greener working environments and developing more sustainable operations, reports Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News. This promising trend was made clear through a series of presentations and panel discussions that took place at GEN's "GreenBioPharma" conference, which was recently held in Philadelphia.

The academic performance of adolescents will suffer in at least one of four key subjects -- English, math, science, history -- if their DNA contains one or more of three specific dopamine gene variations, according to a study led by renowned biosocial criminologist Kevin M. Beaver of the Florida State University.

Sugar, salt, alcohol and a little serendipity led Northwestern University researchers to discover a new class of nanostructures that could be used for gas storage and food and medical technologies. And the compounds are edible. The porous crystals are the first known all-natural metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that are simple to make. Most other MOFs are made from petroleum-based ingredients, but the Northwestern MOFs you can pop into your mouth and eat, and the researchers have.

People who believe that fate and chance control their lives are more likely to be superstitious -- but when faced with death they are likely to abandon superstition altogether, according to a recent Kansas State University undergraduate research project.

The old joke is a joke no more. In a special September issue of the ASCB's online journal, CBE-Life Sciences Education, the adage that biology is for science students who don't do math is laid to rest forever. "Bio-math" or "math-bio" is the future for students of both disciplines, say the contributors of seven essays and 17 research articles on new ways to integrate mathematical thinking into biology education and vice versa.

Scientists have built a clearer picture of how lengthy strands of DNA are concertinaed when our cells grow and divide, in a discovery could help explain how cell renewal can go wrong.

Ants are not out of their weight class when defending trees from the appetite of nature's heavyweight, the African elephant, a new University of Florida study finds.

Unexpectedly, scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory have now discovered a true counterpart of the cerebral cortex in an invertebrate, a marine worm. Their findings, published today in Cell, give an idea of what the most ancient higher brain centers looked like, and what our distant ancestors used them for.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified the molecular mechanism that makes omega-3 fatty acids so effective in reducing chronic inflammation and insulin resistance.