Methalobacterkum

Study compares cterial composition in healthy vs. cancerous breast tissue. The Cleveland team has discovered for the first time that healthy breast tissue contains more of the bacterial species Methylobacterium, a finding which could offer a new perspective in the battle against breast cancer. Researchers have long suspected that a “microbiome” exists within breast tissue and plays a role in breast cancer but it has not yet been characterized. The research team has taken the first step toward understanding the composition of the bacteria in breast cancer by uncovering distinct microbial differences in healthy and cancerous breast tissue.

“To my knowledge, this is the first study to examine both breast tissue and distant sites of the body for bacterial differences in breast...

L. Cortese, B. Catinella, S. Janowiecki. ALMA Shows that Gas Reservoirs of Star-forming Disks over the Past 3 Billion Years Are Not Predominantly Molecular. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, October 2017

Astronomers have shed fresh light on the importance of hydrogen atoms in the birth of new stars. Only hydrogen molecules are thought to directly fuel star formation but research published shows there are more hydrogen atoms than molecules even in young galaxies that are making a lot of stars. Astrophysicist Dr Luca Cortese, from The University of Western Australian node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, said new stars are constantly forming in the Universe. “New stars are born in dense clouds of gas and dust that are found in most galaxies,” he said...

The South Pole-Aitken basin is the darker area at the bottom of this image.
Credit: Photo by NASA/Goddard Space Flight CenterScientific Visualization Studio

A large basin on the moon has revealed that its interior is made of a different mineral than Earth’s interior, contradicting the theory that the interior of the planets look mostly the same. The mantle of the Earth is made mostly of a mineral called olivine, and the assumption is usually that all planets are like the Earth,” said Jay Melosh, Distinguished Professor of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at Purdue University, who led the study. “But when we look at the spectral signature of rocks exposed deep below the moon’s surface, we don’t see olivine; we see orthopyroxene.”

Around 4 billion years ago, an asteroid collided wit...

Credit: Albert Einstein College of Medicine
This image depicts the structure of the BAX protein (purple). The activator compound BTSA1 (orange) has bound to the active site of BAX (green), changing the shape of the BAX molecule at several points (shown in yellow, magenta and cyan). BAX, once in its final activated form, can home in on mitochondria and puncture their outer membranes, triggering apoptosis (cell death).

Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have discovered the first compound that directly makes cancer cells commit suicide while sparing healthy cells. The new treatment approach, described in today’s issue of Cancer Cell, was directed against acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells but may also have potential for attacking other types of cancers.

“We’re hopeful that the t...