Sweet success of parasite survival could also be its downfall

Scientists have discovered how a parasite responsible for spreading a serious tropical disease protects itself from starvation once inside its human host. The findings provide a new understanding of the metabolism of the Leishmania parasite and this new knowledge could potentially be used in its eradication.

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Violent video games blamed more often for school shootings by white perpetrators

People are more likely to blame violent video games as a cause of school shootings by white perpetrators than by African-American perpetrators, possibly because of racial stereotypes that associate minorities with violent crime, according to new research.

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How IL-6 allows the immune response to develop for a key cell, the T follicular helper

A preclinical study shows how the interplay of two interleukin signaling proteins, IL-6 and IL-2, affects the development of T follicular helper cells and germinal centers. This interplay may either maintain or disrupt the balancing act of the immune system between attacking infections and benign surveillance of the body's own cells. Thus, the research may help guide future disease treatment for autoimmune diseases like lupus.

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How new loops in DNA packaging help us make diverse antibodies

It's long been known that our immune cells mix and match bits of genetic code to make new kinds of antibodies to fight newly encountered threats. But how these different gene segments come together has been a mystery. A study provides the answer, showing how the classic process of V(D)J recombination makes use of chromatin looping to gather the segments to be spliced.

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Anesthetic drug sevoflurane improves sepsis outcomes, animal study reveals

Patients with sepsis often require surgery or imaging procedures under general anesthesia, yet there is no standard regimen for anesthetizing septic patients. Of volatile (inhaled) anesthetics, sevoflurane and isoflurane are the most commonly used drugs, despite their undetermined mechanisms of action. A novel study suggests that the type of drug used in general anesthesia could be critical to the survival of patients with sepsis.

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