Scientists have carried out the first ever genome-wide survey of heritable molecular changes that regulate gene activity in wheat. Epigenetic marks are chemical tags which physically attach themselves to DNA, and modify its function without changing the genetic code. DNA methylation is one such mechanism of epigenetic gene expression control that can be passed down to future generations.

Now, developing technology has allowed scientists to study DNA methylation across the complex and challenging wheat genome.

Women who used contraceptive implants or injections after an abortion are a lot more likely to have another one, finds a large United Kingdom study. Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) such as implants and Depo-Provera are often promoted as contraceptive method of choice for women undergoing abortion.

The authors found that women who used either implants or the contraceptive injection Depo-Provera were more likely to have another abortion 2-5 years after the first termination compared to those who used other methods. While LARC methods are 'effective', explain the authors, "discontinuation rates are high, and therefore make terminations more likely." 

Most climate models overestimate the increase in global precipitation due to climate change, according to an analysus of over 25 models and found they underestimate the increase in absorption of sunlight by water vapor as the atmosphere becomes moister, and therefore overestimate increases in global precipitation.

The team found global precipitation increase per degree of global warming at the end of the 21st century may be about 40 percent less than what the models, on average, currently predict. 

DECEMBER 10, 2015 A new epidemiologic study showed that patients with early stage dementia, who had been referred to a specialist, have twice the risk of institutionalization compared to those who are not, according to a research study published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease this month. The research suggested the influence of early specialist referral for dementia patients on institutionalization risk and demonstrated that the benefits of early dementia diagnosis may lead to challenging issues.

SAN DIEGO, CA, Dec. 10, 2015 -- Ghosts are not your typical cell biology research subjects. But scientists at the Carnegie Institution for Science and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) who developed a technique to observe muscle stem/progenitor cells migrating within injury sites in live mice, report that 'ghost fibers,' remnants of the old extracellular matrix left by dying muscle fibers, guide the cells into position for healing to begin.

Pretty much everything happening in the brain would fail without astrocytes. These star-shaped glial cells are known to have a critical role in synapse creation, nervous tissue repair, and the formation of the blood-brain barrier. But while we have decades of data in mice about these nervous system support cells, how relevant those experiments are to human biology (and the success of potential therapies) has been an open question.