The Human Dynasty

(Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News) Continuous glucose monitoring devices represent a critical step toward achieving automated glucose measurement, offering people with diabetes a promising new tool for maintaining optimal glucose control. A comprehensive review of this rapidly changing field, featuring the most recent research findings and critical analysis, is the focus of a special supplement of Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert Inc.

(Worcester Polytechnic Institute) Two researchers in Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center have received awards from the National Institutes of Health. Glenn Gaudette, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, will receive $403,000 over two years to advance his work using bone marrow derived stem cells to restore function to damaged hearts. Terri Camesano, associate professor of chemical engineering, will receive $218,000 over two years to continue her studies of how cranberry juice prevents urinary tract infections.

(Hebrew SeniorLife Institute for Aging Research) Two scientists at the Institute for Aging Research of Hebrew SeniorLife are part of an international team of investigators that has identified genes that influence the start of menstruation, a milestone of female reproductive health that has lifelong influences on overall health. The breakthrough was published online in Nature Genetics, one of the world’s leading scientific journals.

(American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) Using a controlled diet study with human volunteers, researchers may have teased out a biological basis for the increased inflammation observed due to humans’ shift in their consumption of omega fatty acids.

(University of Michigan) By using ultrafast laser pulses to slice off pieces of chromosomes and observe how the chromosomes behave, biomedical engineers at the University of Michigan have gained pivotal insights into mitosis, the process of cell division.

Sensory ataxic neuropathy (SAN) is a recently identified neurological disorder in Golden Retriever dogs with onset during puppyhood. Affected dogs move in an uncoordinated manner and have sensory deficits. Researchers in Sweden have now revealed that SAN is caused by a mutation in mitochondrial DNA.

Stretches of DNA previously believed to be useless ‘junk’ DNA play a vital role in the evolution of our genome, researchers have now shown. They found that unstable pieces of junk DNA help tuning gene activity and enable organisms to quickly adapt to changes in their environments.

Humans may be programmed by evolution to care about the long-term future, suggests new research. A study finds that individuals may have an innate tendency to care about the long-term future of their communities, over timescales much longer than an individual’s lifespan. This in turn may help to explain people’s wish to take action over long-term environmental problems.

Humans may be programmed by evolution to care about the long-term future, suggests new research. A study finds that individuals may have an innate tendency to care about the long-term future of their communities, over timescales much longer than an individual’s lifespan. This in turn may help to explain people’s wish to take action over long-term environmental problems.

New Scientist met palaeontologist Jørn Hurum to ask him about the media frenzy over Darwinius masillae – better known as Ida – and about what lies ahead for the fossil