A new study has found that both type-1 diabetes and type-2 diabetes are the result of the same mechanism - the formation of toxic clumps of a hormone called amylin.

The results, based on 20 years' work in New Zealand, suggest that type-1 and type-2 diabetes could both be slowed down and potentially reversed by medicines that stop amylin forming these toxic clumps.

As well as producing insulin, cells in the pancreas also produce another hormone called amylin. Insulin and amylin normally work together to regulate the body's response to food intake. If they are no longer produced, then levels of sugar in the blood rise resulting in diabetes and causing damage to organs such as the heart, kidneys, eyes and nerves if blood sugar levels aren't properly controlled.

Even the most careful chosen meal can contain surprises and to defend against infectious microbial fifth columnists in the intestines, a dedicated contingent of immune cells keeps watch within the thin layer of tissue that divides the contents of the gut from the body itself. 

New research at Rockefeller University sheds light on the development of a unique class of immune cells known as intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) that reside in this critical interface. . 

Everyone's heard of the birds and the bees - why do they leave out the flowers that are being fertilized?

Maybe because it is too complicated. The fertilization process for flowering plants is particularly complex and requires extensive communication between the male and female reproductive cells. New research from an international team reports
in Nature Communications about discoveries in the chemical signaling process that guides flowering plant fertilization. 

Using a combination of genetic and optical techniques, researchers at the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme have established the effect of serotonin on sensitivity to pain.

"Serotonin is a small molecule known to be implicated in a wide range of brain functions, from the control of sleep and appetite, to the regulation of complex emotional behaviours, This neurotransmitter is also popularly thought to contribute to feelings of well being and happiness, as some anti-depression medications work through increasing serotonin in the brain," says Zachary Mainen, CNP director and principal investigator of the Systems Neuroscience Lab.

A method based on computer vision algorithms similar to those used in facial recognition systems combined with visualization of only the diagnostically most relevant areas can mean a big breakthrough in malaria diagnostics, according to a new paper. Tablet computers can be utilized in viewing the images.

In this new method, a thin layer of blood smeared on a microscope slide is first digitized. The algorithm analyzes more than 50,000 red blood cells per sample and ranks them according to the probability of infection. Then the program creates a panel containing images of more than a hundred most likely infected cells and presents that panel to the user. The final diagnosis is done by a health-care professional based on the visualized images. 

A ubiquitous skin fungus linked to dandruff, eczema and other itchy, flaky maladies in humans has now been tracked to even further global reaches—including Hawaiian coral reefs and the extreme environments of arctic soils and deep sea vents.

A review in the scientific journal PLOS Pathogens considers the diversity, ecology, and distribution of the fungi of the genus Malassezia in light of new insights gained from screening environmental sequencing datasets from around the world.