Scientists can gain insights into new ways to use microorganisms in medicine and manufacturing through a coordinated large-scale effort to sequence the genomes of not just individual microorganisms but entire ecosystems, according to a new report from the American Academy of Microbiology that outlines recommendations for this massive effort.

Reproductive researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have succeeded in isolating and transplanting pure populations of the immature cells that enable male reproduction in two species – human spermatogonia and mouse gonocytes. These germline stem cells, taken from testis biopsies, demonstrated viability following transplantation to mouse testes within a [...]

The Lupus Research Institute (LRI) has named 12 new grant recipients for 2009. The awards, totaling $3.6 million, recognize innovative work across a broad spectrum of lupus research. All were selected for their creativity, novelty, and potential to drive scientific discovery to ultimately prevent, treat, and cure the complex disease of systemic lupus.

Charles Nichols, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has been awarded a grant in the amount of $1.4 million over four years by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health to find and characterize novel genes involved in psychosis and schizophrenia, using novel research methods.

Pieces in the complex autism inheritance puzzle are emerging in the latest study from a research team including geneticists from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). The study identified 27 different genetic regions where rare copy number variations – missing or extra copies of DNA segments – [...]