A year ago, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers discovered that the spleen might be a source of adult stem cells that could regenerate the insulin-producing islets of the pancreas. In a follow-up to that unexpected finding, members of the same team now report that these potential adult stem cells produce a protein previously believed to be present only during the embryonic development of mammals. The finding both supports the existence of these splenic stem cells and also suggests they may be able to produce an even greater variety of tissues. The report appears in the January 19 issue of SAGE KE, an online resource on the science of aging from the publishers of the journal Science.

Two genes with very strong associations with the disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have been identified by a team of scientists headed by researchers at the Department of Medical Sciences at Uppsala University. The findings are being published today on the Web page of the highly prestigious American Journal of Human Genetics. "These findings are probably the first genetic pieces of a huge 'interferon puzzle,' with whose help it will be possible to discover the mechanisms behind the disease SLE, and maybe other autoimmune diseases at the molecular level," says Professor Lars Rönnblom.

Researchers have discovered a way to make light sensitive cells in the eye by switching on a single gene. According to research published online today in Nature, the team from Imperial College London and the University of Manchester, have discovered that activating the melanopsin gene in the nerve cells causes them to become light responsive, or photoreceptive.

UC Riverside researchers from the Departments of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Botany and Plant Sciences have worked together to discover a way to utilize Quantum Dot bio-conjugates to uncover new knowledge about the binding of a protein at the growing pollen tube tip. This protein plays a critical role along with another protein (chemocyanin) in guiding sperm-laden pollen tubes to the eggs found in ovules.