Researchers at Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) have created the world’s first chimeric monkeys, which may contain as many as six distinct genomes. Named Roku, Hex, and Chimero, these rhesus monkeys were produced by successfully aggregating multiple embryos and implanting the mixed embryo into a surrogate mother.

A recent two-part study from Tel Aviv University on the music-listening habits of teenagers currently aged 13 to 17 predicts that one out of every four teens will suffer from early hearing loss in their adult lives. The increased prevalence is largely due to the misusage of portable listening devices (PLDs) such as iPods and other MP3 players at high volume and for extended periods of time. While the study did not appear to correlate the prevalence of early hearing loss with other risk factors such as genetic predisposition, lead author Chava Muchnik cautions that “in 10 or 20 years it will be too late to realize that an entire generation of young people is suffering from hearing problems much earlier than expected from natural aging.” The results are published in the International Journal of Audiology.

Earlier this summer, a team of researchers led by Dennis J. Selkoe of Harvard Medical School published a potentially significant finding in Nature suggesting that alpha-synuclein, the protein that aggregates into insoluble fibrils within Lewy bodies in patients with Parkinson’s disease, has been mischaracterized. In contrast previous understanding of alpha-synuclein as a natively unstructured protein, Selkoe and his lab proposed that alpha-synuclein naturally exists as a stable tetramer before destabilization and pathological aggregation. In a push forward in Parkinson’s disease research, a recent independent study by the Petsko-Ringe and Pochapsky laboratories at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA, confirmed the hypothesis by Selkoe and colleagues. The finding is supported by analytical techniques--namely NMR and circular dichroism spectroscopy--different from the Selkoe lab and is published in the October 25 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

According to a group of researchers led by Dr. Kristina Aldridge, an assistant professor of anatomy at the University of Missouri School of Medicine and the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders, certain facial features of children with autism are distinctly different compared to those of typically developing children. Using a 3-D cranial imaging system, the scientists found that autistic compared to non-autistic boys aged 8 to 12 years have a broadened upper face, including wider eyes, shortened middle region of the face, including the cheeks and nose, and broadened mouth and philtrum, the cleft between the nose and upper lip. Additionally, two subgroups of autistic boys had facial morphology different from the majority of other autistic and typically developing boys. These findings published in the October 14, 2011 issue of Molecular Autism suggest that there are potentially multiple etiologies and genetic differences that can lead to autism.

Numerous studies are beginning to suggest that excessive exposure to white light emitting diodes (LEDs), especially at night, may have adverse effects on our brain’s circadian rhythms. Specifically, these perturbations to our biological clocks can disrupt sleep patterns and reduce the production of hormones such as melatonin, an antioxidant compound that protects DNA from damage, by as much as 25% according to model-based calculations headed by Mark Rea, director of the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.

The fight against glioblastoma, one of the deadliest brain cancers, may have received a big boost thanks to a team of researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. In a new study published September 15 in Cancer Discovery, senior author Dr. Paul Mischel, a Jonsson Cancer Center researcher and a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and of molecular and medicinal pharmacology, and his colleagues discovered that blocking cholesterol uptake into glioma cells can potently kill cancer cell lines and malignant tumors in mice. This novel finding potentially offers a more effective treatment strategy for patients with glioblastomas that have become resistant to traditional chemo and radiotherapies.

In search of going greener with battery technology, collaborating principle investigators Igor Luzinov and Gleb Yushin, of their respective Schools of Materials Science and Engineering at Clemson University and Georgia Tech, have identified a new polymer known as alginate that is capable of boosting battery capacity and performance. The material works as a more efficient binder of silicon or graphitic nanoparticles in the production of battery electrodes – cathodes and anodes. Furthermore, alginate, which is produced by and extracted from rapidly growing brown algae, offers a non-toxic and environmentally friendly alternative to current battery technologies. The findings are published in a recent report in Science.

Researchers at RIKEN, Japan's flagship research organization, have developed a ground-breaking new aqueous reagent which literally turns biological tissue transparent. Experiments using fluorescence microscopy on samples treated with the reagent, published this week in Nature Neuroscience, have produced vivid 3D images of neurons and blood vessels deep inside the mouse brain. Highly effective and cheap to produce, the reagent offers an ideal means for analyzing the complex organs and networks that sustain living systems.

Sunbathers may soon be closer to hitting the beach or pool without having to lather up with sunblock thanks to a team of researchers led by Dr. Paul Long at King’s College London who recently discovered how natural sunscreen compounds are made by coral. The goal of the research is to understand the genetic and biochemical basis on how natural sunscreens are made with the vision of developing non-topical commercial sun protection products, potentially in the form of tablets. This would eliminate the oily mess that’s made using topical lotions and also reduce the struggle to apply to hard-to-reach places like one’s back. The discovery could also prompt efforts to bioengineer crop plants to be more UV-tolerant, especially in sunlight-intense areas of the world.

Dentists may soon be armed with a new tool to fix your cavities but this time it’s not the latest model of dental drills or burs. Instead, researchers from the Leeds Dental Institute at the University of Leeds, United Kingdom, have developed a peptide-based fluid that can be applied directly over cavities and may be all that’s needed for dental restoration. Most importantly, this breakthrough treatment is pain-free making regular visits to the dentist more attractive to people who fear spending time sitting on dental chairs.