When human heart muscle cells derived from embryonic stem cells are implanted into a rat after a heart attack, they can help rebuild the animal's heart muscle and improve function of the organ, scientists report in the September issue of Nature Biotechnology.

The researchers also developed a new process that greatly improves how stem cells are turned into heart muscle cells and then survive after being implanted in the damaged rat heart. The findings suggest that stem-cell-based treatments might one day help people suffering from heart disease, the leading cause of death in most of the world.

The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle and at Geron Corp. in Menlo Park, Calif.

Boys with difficulty reading actually respond better to female teachers, according to a new Canadian study. Research shows that boys develop higher positive self-perceptions as readers when they worked with female research assistants compared to working with male research assistants.

The study focused on 175 third- and fourth-grade boys who were identified as struggling readers by their teachers. The boys participated in a 10-week reading intervention to determine the effect of the reading teacher’s gender on boys’ reading performance, self-perception as readers, and view of reading as a masculine, feminine or gender-neutral activity.

According to a new study, visual information is processed on a daily schedule set within the eyes themselves rather than one dictated by the brain.

The researchers found in mice that the eyes’ normal rhythmic response to light requires only that a molecular "clock" inside the retina go on ticking. The retina is a layer of nerve tissue covering the back of the eyeball, which is often likened to the film in a camera; without it, images can't be captured.

The results offer the first glimpse into the physiological importance of circadian clocks found in organs throughout the body, said Charles Weitz of Harvard Medical School.

Working with embryonic mouse brains, a team of Johns Hopkins scientists seems to have discovered an almost-too-easy way to distinguish between “true” neural stem cells and similar, but less potent versions. Their finding, reported this week in Nature, could simplify the isolation of stem cells not only from brain but also other body tissues.

What the researchers identified is a specific protein “signal” that appears to prevent neural stem cells – the sort that might be used to rebuild a damaged nervous system – from taking their first step toward becoming neurons. “Stem cells don’t instantly convert into functional adult tissue,” says author Nicholas Gaiano, Ph.D., assistant professor at the Institute for Cell Engineering.

Snakes are relatively new on the world scene, having been around for about 100 million years. Yet they currently comprise about half of all reptile species. This new kid on the evolutionary block's novel survival strategies could be used to determine the health of snake populations.

“These animals take energy reduction to a whole new level,” said Marshall McCue, a graduate student in biological sciences in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. He reported his findings in the journal Zoology.

While scientists knew that some snake species could survive for up to two years without a meal, no studies have examined the physiological changes that take place when a snake goes for prolonged periods without food.

Leave it to Scotland to find a reason to make more whisky. A new research project at the University of Abertay Dundee could make it possible for cars of the future to run on fuel made from the by-products of brewing and distilling booze.

Researchers in Abertay’s School of Contemporary Sciences have been awarded a Carnegie Trust Research Grant to investigate turning residues from beer and whisky processes into biofuel.

The year long project will look at new methods of turning spent grain into bioethanol, a more environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels.