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Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. — An international team of scientists led by a Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) investigator has discovered that the deadly facial tumors decimating Australia’s Tasmanian devil population probably originated in Schwann cells, a type of tissue that cushions and protects nerve fibers.

Cells that protect nerves are the likely origin of the Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) that has been devastating Australia’s Tasmanian devil population, an international team of scientists has discovered.

“While the long term effects of genome mutations are quite well understood, we did not know how often new mutations arise in the first place,” said Detlef Weigel, director at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. It is routine today to compare the genomes of related animal or plant species.

Faster sequencing of DNA holds enormous potential for biology and medicine, particularly for personalized diagnosis and customized treatment based on each individual’s genomic makeup. At present however, sequencing technology remains cumbersome and cost prohibitive for most clinical applications, though this may be changing, thanks to a range of innovative new techniques.

JUPITER, FL — Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have determined for the first time that prions, bits of infectious protein devoid of DNA or RNA that can cause fatal neurodegenerative disease, are capable of Darwinian evolution.

Researchers have new insight into the sex lives of the much-maligned mosquitoes that are responsible for the vast majority of malaria deaths, according to a report published online on December 31st in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. In finding a partner of the right species type, male and female mosquitoes depend on their ability to “sing” in perfect harmony.

DNA that is left in the remains of long-dead plants, animals, or humans allows a direct look into the history of evolution. So far, studies of this kind on ancestral members of our own species have been hampered by scientists’ inability to distinguish the ancient DNA from modern-day human DNA contamination.

Achievements in Research, Education and Advocacy Cause for Celebration and Hope

Need a little extra incentive to kick the habit?

Just in time for New Year’s resolutions, a UCLA study finds that even after age 80, smoking continues to increase one’s risk for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in Americans over 65.

The American Journal of Ophthalmology publishes the findings in its January edition.

Young people aged under 18 years are more likely than adults to catch swine flu from an infected person in their household, according to a new study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. However, the research also shows that young people are no more likely than adults to infect others with the pandemic H1N1 virus.

The following highlights summarize research papers that have been published in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL).

A new guideline issued by the American Academy of Neurology finds that transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS), a widely used pain therapy involving a portable device, is not recommended to treat chronic low-back pain – pain that has persisted for three months or longer – because research shows it is not effective.

Researchers from the Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories at Thomas Jefferson University have identified a way to increase the oil in tobacco plant leaves, which may be the next step in using the plants for biofuel. Their paper was published online in Plant Biotechnology Journal.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Young hunters between the ages of 15 and 34 are the most likely to suffer serious injuries in tree stand-related incidents, say researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Center for Injury Sciences (CIS). The same researchers’ findings, though, suggest that such injuries are preventable.

An instrument package developed in part by the University of Colorado at Boulder for the $2.2 billion orbiting Herschel Space Observatory launched in May by the European Space Agency has provided one of the most detailed views yet of space up to 12 billion years back in time.

Vitamin-fortified foods and dietary health supplements can ease health worries. But what kinds of vitamins are right for you? And how much of them should you take, and how often?

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Caffeine is a stimulant drug, although legal, and adults use it widely to perk themselves up: Being “addicted” to caffeine is considered perfectly normal.

But how strong is caffeine’s appeal in young people who consume an abundance of soft drinks? What impact does acute and chronic caffeine consumption have on their blood pressure, heart rate and hand tremor?

DALLAS — Dec. 30, 2009 — A vascular surgical technique pioneered at UT Southwestern Medical Center and designed to replace infected aortic grafts with the body’s own veins has proved more durable and less prone to new infection than similar procedures using synthetic and cadaver grafts.

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 30 — Closing schools for less than two weeks during a flu pandemic may increase infection rates and prolong an epidemic, say University of Pittsburgh researchers in a study published ahead-of-print and online in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. The findings, developed from a series of computer simulations based on U.S.

Jerusalem, December 30, 2009 — Coordination of conservation efforts across national boundaries could achieve significantly higher results and at less cost than conservation actions planned within individual states, researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and in Australia have found.