Category Health/Medical

Jasmine M. McCammon, Alicia Blaker-Lee, Xiao Chen, Hazel Sive. The 16p11.2 homologs fam57ba and doc2a generate certain brain and body phenotypes. Human Molecular Genetics, 2017; DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddx255

For the first time, Whitehead Institute scientists have documented a direct link between deletions in two genes – fam57ba and doc2a – in zebrafish and certain brain and body traits, such as seizures, hyperactivity, enlarged head size, and obesity. “Finding the molecular connections between a brain and a body phenotype is indeed really paradigm shifting,” says Whitehead Institute Member Hazel Sive, who is also a professor of biology at MIT...

Slow-wave sleep is controlled by a subset of nucleus accumbens core neurons in mice. Nature Communications, 2017; 8 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00781-4

As humans, we often defy sleepiness and stay awake when attention is necessary, but also experience an inescapable desire to sleep in boring situations. The brain mechanisms governing the regulation of sleep by cognitive and emotional factors are not well understood. A new paper published in the journal Nature Communications finds that a part of the brain that is associated with motivation and pleasure – the nucleus accumbens – also can produce sleep. The new findings may explain why we have the tendency to fall asleep in the absence of motivating stimuli, i.e., when bored.

Researchers at the University of Tsukuba’s International Institute ...

A three-layered glove developed by materials chemist Trisha Andrew has one layer coated by the conducting polymer PEDOT and is powered by a button battery weighing 1.8 grams. Credit: UMass Amherst

Vapor deposition method for nano-coating fabric to create sewable, weavable, electrically heated material. Skiers, crossing guards and others who endure frozen fingers in cold weather may look forward to future relief as manufacturers are poised to take advantage of a new technique for creating electrically heated cloth. Researchers have made gloves that keep fingers as warm as the palm of the hand.

The three-layered glove, with one layer coated by the conducting polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxytiophene), also known as PEDOT, are powered by a button battery weighing 1.8 grams...

Structural characterization of retrocyclin. (a) CD spectrum demonstrating the similarity in structure between retrocyclin and RTD-1, both at 0.5 mg/ml in a 1:1 mixture of trifluoroethanol in PBS at pH 7.4. (b) A hypothetical model of retrocyclin made by templating its sequence on the backbone of a similar peptide from porcine neutrophils, protegrin-1 (PDB accession code: 1PG1). (c) A cartoon version of b, wherein arginines are black, cysteines are gray, and the other residues are identified by single letter code. (d) A similar cartoon of rhesus RTD-1, indicating the similarity in structure with retrocyclin.

New research in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology identifies potential protective agent against flu infection...