A new study from Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm shows that hundreds of genes in the thigh muscle are activated in regular cycle training. The study also reveals that great differences in training response may be due to the ability in some people to activate their genes much more forcefully. The study is published May 2 in FASEB Journal.

For the first time, physicians at University Health Network and University of Toronto have identified a small subset of genes that can predict whether a patient with chronic Hepatitis C will be able to respond to current treatments.

These genes could also become the basis of a simple new test in the future to predict which patients will respond to therapy.

University of Utah researchers-feeding microscopic pills of RNA to quarter-inch long worms called planarians-have identified many genes essential to understanding a biological mystery that has captivated scientists for hundreds of years: regeneration.

In pinpointing the genes, the U School of Medicine researchers have established the planarian as a genetically sound model for human biology, to take its place alongside Drosophila (fruit flies), C.elegans (another worm), zebrafish, and mice.

Cornell University researchers have revealed a process that has stumped scientists for many years: exactly how an acid derived from vitamin A enters a cell's nucleus, where it has strong anti-carcinogenic effects.

Discovery of this basic transport mechanism opens a new door for future research on related compounds. The finding has important implications for the fight against cancer and other diseases.

Coyotes tend to avoid human contact. But recently, coyotes have been getting increasingly aggressive in the eastern United States, including southeastern New York state, attacking neighborhood pets on the fringe of urban and suburban areas.

Louisiana State University scientists in the Department of Biological Sciences have unraveled the details of a 25-million-year-old evolutionary process in the human genome. Specific DNA sequences that appear to have persisted in a latent state for long periods of time may not be simply lying dormant. Instead, the researchers say that these elements have played a crucial role in human evolution by surreptitiously spawning hyperactive progeny copies, giving rise to the most abundant family of DNA elements in the human genome: Alu elements. The study, which was led by LSU scientist Dr. Mark A. Batzer, provides the first strong mechanistic evidence for the evolution of Alu elements to date. It appears in the May issue of the journal Genome Research.

Researchers from the University of Southern California and the Doheny Eye Institute's Doheny Retina Institute will be presenting data on the first six patients implanted with an intraocular retinal prosthesis-more popularly referred to as an artificial retina-developed and manufactured in partnership with Second Sight Medical Products, Inc., of Sylmar, Calif.