Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have found out how mouse basal cells that line airways “decide” to become one of two types of cells that assist in airway-clearing duties. The findings could help provide new therapies for either blocked or thinned airways.   “Our work has identified the Notch signaling pathway as a central regulatory ‘switch’ that controls the differentiation of airway basal stem cells,” said Jason Rock, Ph.D., lead author and postdoctoral researcher in Brigid Hogan’s cell biology laboratory.

Researchers from Upstate New York institutions, including the University at Buffalo, have documented elevated levels of two industrial pollutants in carp in eastern Lake Erie, adding to the body of scientific work demonstrating the lasting environmental effects of human activity and waste disposal on the Great Lakes. The two contaminants the scientists studied were polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), manmade comanic compounds once used in products including motor oils, adhesives, paints, plastics, pigments and dyes, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), a class of flame-retardants found in common household items including furniture, personal computers, consumer electronics and drapes.

A curious contagious cancer, found in dogs, wolves and coyotes, can repair its own genetic mutations by adopting genes from its host animal, according to a new study in the journal Science .

UCSF researchers have developed a new approach to decoding the vast information embedded in an comanism’s genome, while shedding light on exactly how cells interpret their genetic material to create RNA messages and launch new processes in the cell. By combining biochemical techniques with new, fast DNA-sequencing technology and advanced computer technology, the team was able to examine with unprecedented resolution how a cell converts DNA into RNA – a molecular cousin of DNA that is used in the process of creating proteins that govern most biological functions.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – While monogamy is often touted as a way to protect against disease, young couples who say they have discussed monogamy can’t seem to agree on what they decided.

Wild red deer on the Isle of Rum, which were featured in the BBC TV series Autumnwatch, are rutting earlier in the year, a study shows.