Extreme Weather Events Can Unleash A 'Perfect Storm' Of Infectious Diseases, Research Study Says:
An international research team, including University of Minnesota researcher Craig Packer, has found the first clear example of how climate extremes, such as the increased frequency of droughts and floods expected with global warming, can create conditions in which diseases that are tolerated individually may converge and cause mass die-offs of livestock or wildlife.
Our Genome Changes Over Lifetime, And May Explain Many 'Late-onset' Diseases:
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have found that epigenetic marks on DNA-chemical marks other than the DNA sequence-do indeed change over a person's lifetime, and that the degree of change is similar among family members. The team suggests that overall genome health is heritable and that epigenetic changes occurring over one's lifetime may explain why disease susceptibility increases with age.
Newly Identified Role For 'Power Plants' In Human Cells Could Lead To Targeted Therapies:
Scientists have determined that human cells are able to shift important gene products into their own mitochondria, considered the power plants of cells. The finding could eventually lead to therapies for dozens of diseases.
An analysis published June 25th in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases highlights that diseases very similar to those plaguing Africa, Asia, and Latin America are also occurring frequently among the poorest people in the United States, especially women and children. These diseases -- the "neglected infections of poverty" -- are caused by chronic and debilitating parasitic, bacterial, and congenital infections.
Climate Change Could Severely Impact California's Unique Native Plants:
The native plants unique to California are so vulnerable to global climate change that two-thirds of these "endemics" could suffer more than an 80 percent reduction in geographic range by the end of the century, according to a new University of California, Berkeley, study.
No Scent, No Sex For The Japanese Beetle:
No scent. No sex. If a male Japanese beetle is unable to detect the sex pheromone released by a female, he won't be able to locate her and reproduce.
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