The increased risk of persons with schizophrenia committing violent crime may be largely mediated by co-existing substance abuse problems, according to a new study. Many studies have reported on the association between major mental disorder and violence, including some that specifically have examined the relationship with schizophrenia. "These reports typically find that schizophrenia is rela...

New research provides exciting genetic insight into a rare syndrome that first appeared in the medical literature in the mid 1800s with the case of Julia Pastrana, the world`s most notorious bearded lady. The study, published by Cell Press in the May 21st issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics, reveals intriguing molecular clues about the pathogenesis of this mysterious condition that has...

A new species of yeast has been discovered deep in the Amazon jungle. In a paper published on-line in FEMS Yeast Research, IFR scientists and colleagues from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador describe the novel characteristics of Candida carvajalis sp. nov. Yeasts have long been the powerhouses of our food and fermentation industries. Each new species adds to our knowledge of the ...

Once placed into a patient`s body, stem cells intended to treat or cure a disease could end up wreaking havoc simply because they are no longer under the control of the clinician. But gene therapy has the potential to solve this problem, according to a perspective article from physician-scientists at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center published in a recent issue of the jour...

Dartmouth Medical School geneticists have made new inroads into understanding the regulatory circuitry of the biological clock that synchronizes the ebb and flow of daily activities, according to two studies published May 15. Research on the relationship between clocks and temperature, reported in Cell, offers insight into a longstanding puzzle of temperature compensation: why the 24-hour circadia...

Researchers at Iowa State University have discovered a previously unknown pathway in plant cells that regulates plant growth. Yanhai Yin, an assistant professor in genetics, development and cell biology, examined signaling mechanisms of a plant hormone called brassinosteroids. The hormone controls the growth of cells. The brassinosteroids (BRs) have a major impact on how large the plant grows, say...

Individuals with heart disease are twice as likely to suffer from depression as the general population, an association the medical community has largely been unable to explain. Now, a new study by researchers at The Miriam Hospital, in conjunction with The Montréal Heart Institute, University of Montréal and McGill University, reveals there may be genetic variations that contribute t...

Renal diseases shall be diagnosed earlier and treated more successfully in the future. Towards this aim, researchers from nine European countries*, coordinated by the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany, have been working for the past four-and-a half years to create a three-dimensional virtual "Kidney Atlas". It incorporates the latest research find...

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center researchers have uncovered a gene signature that may help predict clinical outcomes in certain types of breast cancer. In the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Harold (Hal) Moses, M.D., and colleagues report that this gene signature – which is associated with the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) signaling pathway – correlates with reduced re...

A team of Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators has cracked one of clinical medicine`s enduring mysteries – what happened to the tuberculosis vaccine. The once-effective vaccine no longer prevents the bacterial lung infection that kills more than 1.7 million people worldwide each year. Their solution, reported in the journal PLoS One, could lead to an improved TB vaccine and als...