A new study by UC San Francisco scientists shows that the proportion of normal cells, especially immune cells, intermixed with cancerous cells in a given tissue sample may significantly skew the results of genetic analyses and other tests performed both by researchers and by physicians selecting precision therapies.

Cells dynamically respond to environmental signals by turning appropriate sets of genes on or off. The "control system" that determines which genes need to be expressed at what time depends primarily on the interactions between transcription factor proteins (TFs) and the regulatory DNA sequence. This system is highly complex--especially in cells of multicellular organisms--as correct combinations of TF molecules need to bind specific sites on the DNA. Surprisingly, while multicellular organisms need to regulate more genes compared to bacterial cells, their TFs are less specific and bind promiscuously on many genomic locations, including unsuitable ones. So how can TFs reliably turn on the correct gene, while avoiding erroneously turning on the others?

PHILADELPHIA, December 4, 2015 - Immune dysfunction is increasingly recognized as a cause of drug-resistant epilepsy but how or why the immune system attacks nerve cells - and the consequences on seizure control - are not well understood. Two studies presented at the American Epilepsy Society's (AES) 69th Annual Meeting explore how different types of autoimmune response elicit markedly different responses in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy.

A study by researchers from the University of Toronto and Western University (abstract 3.153) offers evidence that not all autoimmune epilepsies are equal, at least in terms of prognosis and response to treatment.

The dye business of the 19th century was a mature, fast-moving and international industry, according to an analysis of four purple dresses. The study found that a brand new purple dye went from first synthesis to commercial use in just a few years.

Before the 1800s, purple dye came at a premium, so it was usually restricted to royalty -- hence the connection between royals and purple. The 19th century saw the discovery of several synthetic purple dyes, making purple textiles more affordable and readily available. Understanding where these dyes came from and were used is therefore of historical interest.

Falling oxygen levels caused by global warming could be a greater threat to the survival of life on planet Earth than flooding, according to an estimate led by Sergei Petrovskii, Professor in Applied Mathematics from the University of Leicester's Department of Mathematics.

Their mathematical model estimates that an increase in the water temperature of the world's oceans of around six degrees Celsius, which the most aggressive claims (two degrees is the scientific consensus) say could occur as soon as 2100, could stop oxygen production by phytoplankton by disrupting the process of photosynthesis. 

But while public attention is focused on whether we should use it to change the genes of embryos, application of the technology to genetically modify pig tissues and organs for transplantation into humans could potentially have a bigger and more immediate impact on human health.

An experiment to study aging in yeast cells followed molecular processes inside and discovered that an overproduction of the proteins needed to make new proteins which could be the root cause of the cellular processes that eventually kill the cells. 

Baker's yeast is extensively used to study aging. A 'mother cell' can produce some twenty daughters in about four days, following which it dies. But as mothers and daughters are mixed in any yeast culture, it is virtually impossible to follow the aging process in great detail. 

Russian scientists have found that neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer can stimulate evolution of the tumor. The results of the research conducted by Nicholay Litvyakov, D.Sc. at Cancer Research Institute, Head of the Tumor Virology Laboratory, and TSU researcher Marina Ibragimova, were published in "Siberian Journal of Oncology."

Scientists conducted a study in which they analyzed biopsies of women with breast cancer and preparing for operation. In each biopsy, researchers examined the genetic landscape - chromosomal abnormalities that are present in it.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Burnout among U.S. physicians is getting worse. An update from a three-year study evaluating burnout and work-life balance shows that American physicians are worse off today than they were three years earlier. These dimensions remained largely unchanged among U.S. workers in general, resulting in a widening gap between physicians and workers in other fields. The study conducted by Mayo Clinic researchers in partnership with the American Medical Association compared data from 2014 to metrics they collected in 2011 and found that now more than half of U.S. physicians are experiencing professional burnout. The findings appear in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Scientists have identified a network of nine genes that play a key role in the onset of Alzheimer's Disease.

The finding could help scientists develop new treatments to delay the onset of the disease, said lead researcher Associate Professor Mauricio Arcos-Burgos from The Australian National University (ANU).

In a study of a family of 5,000 people in Columbia, scientists identified genes that delayed the disease, and others that accelerated it, and by how much.

Associate Professor Arcos-Burgos (centre) with Dr Claudio Mastronardi and Dr Hardip Patel. Credit: Stuart Hay, ANU