Survey reports latest honey bee losses

The loss of honey bee colonies nationwide totaled 33.8 percent from all causes from October 2009 to April 2010.Beekeepers identified starvation, poor weather, and weak colonies going into winter as the top reasons for mortality in their operations. This precentage has increased from from last year's 29 percent that was reported. The 28 percent of beekeeping operations that reported some of their colonies perished without dead bees present lost 44 percent of their colonies.

New HIV model suggests killer T cell for vaccine

A new system developed by Chinese researchers suggests that a particular type of T cell could be useful in the development of an AIDS vaccine. New research describes how physicists and biologists from Xiamen University have been able to incorporate random patterns in the virus mutation, and the way the virus responds to antibodies, into their model. Clinical trials show that the HIV virus behaves quite normally during the acute first phase of human infection, normally 2-6 weeks after HIV enters the host body, during which time the strength of the virus increases and our immune systems deploy killer T cells, CD4+ T cells, to battle against it. Researchers suspect that HIV's ability to avoid annihilation has to do with its own mutating properties and its ability to preferentially target CD4+ T cells, the master regulators of our immune system.

Autism susceptibility genes identified

There have been two genes associated with autistic spectrum disorders in a new study of 661 families. Researchers studied four candidate genes in families from the UK, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany. The proteins encoded by these two genes have been implicated in brian development, which is often impaired in autistic individuals. The study covered four brian enriched leucine-rich repeat candidates and taken together, there is converging evidence that common genetic variants in LRRTM3 and LRRN3 confer susceptibility to ASD.


http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2010/03/26/autism_susceptibility_genes_identified.html

The formula for making teeth will soon be found

Each cusp of our teeth is regulated by genes which controls the development. A team of researchers developed a computer model reproducing population level variation in structures like teeth and organs. The team has compiled so much data over the past 15years that the main aspects of a formula for making teeth are becoming clear. Researchers have tested there model proposed on a moose tooth. The mathematical model may give a new understanding to the three-dimensional shapes.

Groundbreaking research to find vaccine for hepatitis C

Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus that is transmitted through the contact of blood of other people who are affected. There are an estimated 1500 people in and around the Plymouth area who have the disease and most do not even know they have it. Once the virus is in the system people are at risk of cirrhosis, liver cancer and possibly an early death. Researchers at the South West Liver Unit at Plymouth Hospitals and Peninsula Medical School are working to save more lives and improve the health of people who suffer from the virus by developing a vaccine for the disease. Treatment for the virus is available, however very expensive but is only effective in about half the people treated.

http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2010/03/04/groundbreaking_research_to_find_vaccine_for_hepatitis_c.html

Potentially Deadly Infection Linked to Frequent Cow Exposure

A bacteria found in adults females that can be passed on to newborns and cause life threatening infections are now being linked to frequent contact with cows. Gbs is a bacteria that leads to infections and is found in the breast of cows and is now found in 36 percent of pregnant women in their digestive or genital tracts. The infection affects only 1 in every 2,000 babies and there is a prenatal test that can identify it early on. Researchers conducted a study on 68 families and their live stock, and one of the couples can back with the exact same Gbs strains as their cows.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100218141805.htm

Scientists identify maternal and fatel genes

Researchers have figured out that there are DNA variants in mothers and fetuses that seemed to have some kind of involvement in preterm labor and delivery. The inflammatory harmones may play a huge part in the labor process. When harmones are released by either the mother or the fetus they set in motion a cascade of events that can cause labor to begin. The evidence that was found explains why preterm labor happens in some pregnacies and not others. Reseachers hope that with there findings one day it will lead to ways to reduce the occurence of preterm birth.

Premature birth affects 13 million infants worldwide each year, roughly one half million occur in the United States. Infants who are born premature sometimes result in death or many other disabilities.

http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2010/02/04/nih_scientists_identify_maternal_and_fetal_genes_that_increase_preterm_birth_risk.html">NIH