Latest National Academy of Sciences Stories

Rice computational study tracks E. coli cells’ regulatory mechanisms Environment is not the only factor in shaping regulatory patterns — and it might not even be the primary factor, according to a new Rice University study that looks at how cells’ protein networks relate to a bacteria’s genome. The Rice lab of computer scientist Luay Nakhleh reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that when environmental factors are eliminated from an evolutionary model,...

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center report that cancers physically alter cells in the lymphatic system – a network of vessels that transports and stores immune cells throughout the body – to promote the spread of disease, a process called metastasis. The findings are published in this week's online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Roughly 90 percent of all cancer deaths...

Findings could be a boon for patients with limited treatment options Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified a protein that drives the formation of pituitary tumors in Cushing's disease, a development that may give clinicians a therapeutic target to treat this potentially life-threatening disorder. The protein, called TR4 (testicular orphan nuclear receptor 4), is one of the human body's 48 nuclear receptors, a class of proteins found in cells that are...

Scientists’ picture of how a gene strongly linked to Alzheimer’s disease harms the brain may have to be revised, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found. People with harmful forms of the APOE gene have up to 12 times the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease compared with those who have other variations of the gene. Many researchers believe that the memory loss and cognitive problems of Alzheimer’s result from the buildup over many years...

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA astrophysicist Chryssa Kouveliotou, a senior scientist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., has been selected for membership in the National Academy of Sciences, in recognition of her distinguished and continuing achievements in original scientific research. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) Kouveliotou, a longtime leading researcher in NASA's space science mission, conducts...

A type of low-grade but sometimes lethal brain tumor in children has been found in many cases to contain an unusual mutation that may help to classify, diagnose and guide the treatment of the tumors, report scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The researchers led a study of pediatric low-grade gliomas, samples of which were collected through an international consortium organized by brain tumor specialists at Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center. Their findings are being...

Prof Rick Larrick looks at how political ideology affects how people buy energy-efficient products When it comes to deciding which light bulb to buy, a label touting the product's environmental benefit may actually discourage politically conservative shoppers. Dena Gromet and Howard Kunreuther at The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and Rick Larrick at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business conducted two studies to determine how political ideology affected a person's...

DALLAS, April 30, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Academy of Sciences today announced the election of Dr. Beth Levine, professor of internal medicine and microbiology, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator at UT Southwestern Medical Center, to membership, representing one of the highest honors attainable by an American scientist. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130430/DC05145) With Dr. Levine's election, UT Southwestern now has 20 members...

This past weekend teams from the National Football League used statistics like height, weight and speed to draft the best college players, and in a few weeks, armchair enthusiasts will use similar measures to select players for their own fantasy football teams. Neuroscientists at Carnegie Mellon University are taking a similar approach to compile "dream teams" of neurons using a statistics-based method that can evaluate the fitness of individual neurons. After assembling the teams, a...

Mammalian females ovulate periodically over their reproductive lifetimes, placing significant demands on their ovaries for egg production. Whether mammals generate new eggs in adulthood using stem cells has been a source of scientific controversy. If true, these "germ-line stem cells" might allow novel treatments for infertility and other diseases. However, new research from Carnegie's Lei Lei and Allan Spradling demonstrates that adult mice do not use stem cells to produce new eggs. Their...