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WEDNESDAY, April 22, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- In a step toward personalized vaccines against cancer, scientists report they have developed an immune-system therapy that knocks out several types of aggressive tumors in mice. German researchers said the findings, reported April 22 in the journal Nature, could lead to a "blueprint" for developing tailored vaccines for a range of cancers. Such vaccines would be designed for individual patients, based on the specific genetic mutations in their tumors.

If you think you can rid your body of bacteria with a quick squirt of hand sanitizer, you'd be oh so wrong. Turns out we have an incredible array of microorganisms living on us AND inside us. But as Anthony tells you, these little guys do some very important work.

Neutrophils are our body's first line of defense against bacterial infections. After leaving nearby blood vessels, these cells recognize chemicals produced by bacteria in a cut or scratch and migrate "toward the smell". The above neutrophils were placed in a gradient of fMLP (n formyl methionine- leucine- phenylalanine), a peptide chain produced by some bacteria. The cells charge out like a "posse" after the bad guys.

The first activity will have you investigate some of the animals in the Mexican ecosystem.  Figure out who are the predators and who are their prey and build your own food web.

You're probably aware of eight basic blood types: A, AB, B and O, each of which can be "positive" or "negative." They're the most important, because a patient who receives ABO +/- incompatible blood very often experiences a dangerous immune reaction. For the sake of simplicity, these are the types that organizations like the Red Cross usually talk about. But this system turns out to be a big oversimplification. Each of these eight types of blood can be subdivided into many distinct varieties. There are millions in all, each classified according to the little markers called antigens that coat the surface of red blood cells.

Controversial new research suggests that contrary to the history books, the "Black Death" that devastated medieval Europe was not the bubonic plague, but rather an Ebola-like virus. History books have long taught the Black Death, which wiped out a quarter of Europe's population in the Middle Ages, was caused by bubonic plague, spread by infected fleas that lived on black rats. But new research in England suggests the killer was actually an Ebola-like virus transmitted directly from person to person.

If the holy grail of medieval alchemists was turning lead into gold, how much more magical would it be to draw gold from, well, poop? It turns out that a ton of sludge, the goo left behind when treating sewage, could contain several hundred dollars' worth of metals-potentially enough to generate millions of dollars worth of gold, silver, and other minerals each year for a city of a million people.

Naked mole rats are hairless, blind, underground dwellers that are remarkably impervious to cancer. But why you ask? Well, researchers at the University of Rochester asked that same question and it turns out a cluster of genes, called the INK4 locus, is the answer. This locus, also found in humans and mice, uses that cluster to carry instructions, or encode, for several cancer fighting proteins.

The question of cell renewal is one that all of us have intuitive daily experience with. We all notice that our hair falls out regularly, yet we don't get bald (at least not until males reach a certain age!).  Similarly, we have all had the experience of cutting ourselves only to see how new cells replaced their damaged predecessors. And we donate blood or give blood samples without gradually draining our circulatory system. All of these examples point to a replacement rate of cells, that is characteristic of different tissues and in different conditions, but which makes it abundantly clear that for many cell types renewal is a part of their story.

Human-engineered microbes are workhorses of the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, churning out biofuels, drugs, and many other products. But they can cause big problems if they become contaminated by other microbes or viruses or escape into the environment. Now, a new type of microbe that can survive only on artificial nutrients promises better security against such mishaps. The strategy, described in two papers in this week's issue of Nature, might ultimately be used to control genetically engineered plants or other organisms released into the wild to create products or clean up pollution.

Life on Earth is intimately connected to the natural cycles of light and dark that make up a 24-hour day. For plants, animals, and even bacteria, these circadian rhythms control many biological functions. Humans can overrule their body clocks, but at a price: People whose circadian rhythms are regularly disrupted-by frequent jet lag or shift work, for example-are more vulnerable to diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. There are various theories to explain these associations, and researchers now have a new player to consider: the bacteria that live in the digestive tract. According to a study in mice and a small group of human volunteers, the internal clocks of these gut microbes sync up with the clocks of their hosts. When our circadian rhythms get out of whack, so do those of our bacteria.

In the animal kingdom, humans are known for our big brains. But not all brains are created equal, and now we have new clues as to why that is. Researchers have uncovered eight genetic variations that help determine the size of key brain regions. These variants may represent "the genetic essence of humanity," says Stephan Sanders, a geneticist and pediatrician at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved in the study. These results are among the first to come out of the ENIGMA (Enhancing Neuro Imaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis) collaboration, involving some 300 scientists from 33 countries. They contributed MRI scans of more than 30,000 people, along with genetic and other information, most of which had been collected for other reasons. "This paper represents a herculean effort," Sanders says.

Diagnosis article, woman kept passing out

North Carolina Science Now brings science out of the lab and into the classroom.  This collection of 5-7 minute videos includes related links and discussion questions for teachers and students.

Have you ever seen a tree with a big, twisted knot growing out of it? That's just one way that plants can show signs of cancer. Quick Questions explains.

Aneuploidy-the incorrect number of chromosomes in a cell-is extremely common in early embryos and is the primary reason for pregnancy loss. A report published today (April 9) in Science reveals that one cause of this aneuploidy-aberrant cell divisions in the embryo-is linked to a genetic mutation carried by the mother. Astonishingly, this mutation turns out to be very common and appears to have been under positive selection during human evolution.

When you get sick, your immune system comes to the rescue. Find out more in this movie for kids.

However, new research led by Michigan State University psychology professor David Z. Hambrick suggests that, unfortunately for many of us, success isn't exclusively a product of determination - that despite even the most hermitic practice routine, our genes might still leave greatness out of reach.

Welcome to Your Disease Risk, the source on prevention. Here, you can find out your risk of developing five of the most important diseases in the United States and get personalized tips for preventing them. Developed over the past ten years by world-renowned experts, Your Disease Risk collects the latest scientific evidence on disease risk factors into one easy-to-use tool.

This animated short film tells the engaging tale of the discovery of the coelacanth. In 1938, South African museum curator Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer came across a strange blue fin poking out of a pile of fish. With its fleshy, lobed fins and its tough armored scales, the coelacanth did not look like any other fish that exists today. The coelacanth belongs to a lineage that has remained virtually unchanged for hundreds of millions of years-earning it the description of a "living fossil."