Summarize this content to 1000 words NIEHS researchers and colleagues uncovered a previously unknown connection between outdoor air pollution exposure and a breast tissue marker related to increased breast cancer risk. The findings were published Sept. 24 in the journal Breast Cancer Research. White completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the NIEHS Epidemiology Branch and joined the branch as an Earl Stadtman tenure-track investigator in 2019. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw)In
Summarize this content to 1000 words Bebenek said polymerase mu is remarkable because the enzyme seems to have evolved to deal with unstable targets, such as double-strand DNA breaks. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw)Our genomes are constantly bombarded by damage from natural and manmade chemicals, the sun’s ultraviolet rays, and other agents. If the cell’s DNA repair machinery does not fix this damage, our genomes can become dangerously unstable, which
Summarize this content to 1000 words Li is an Intramural Research Training Award fellow in DeMayo’s group. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw)Although the U.S. death rate due to ovarian cancer has steadily declined since 1992, the disease still poses a considerable health risk to women, according to the National Cancer Institute. With that knowledge informing their work, NIEHS researchers may have determined what is driving the development of ovarian cancer
Summarize this content to 1000 words A team of scientists isolated 13 immune system compounds, called nanobodies, which show promise for treating COVID-19. The nanobodies, isolated from a llama’s immune cells, blocked the SARS-CoV-2 virus from entering human cells. Negin Martin, Ph.D., director of the NIEHS Viral Vector Core, contributed to the research. The study was posted Aug. 23 on Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s bioRxiv preprint server.Scientists previously learned that
Summarize this content to 1000 words Participants in the NIEHS Worker Training Program (WTP) fall 2020 workshop on Sept. 23-24 discussed strategies to enhance and unify their efforts. “Regardless of the circumstances we face, the principles of industrial hygiene, exposure, and public health are not going to change,” said WTP Director Joseph “Chip” Hughes. “These are the principles we must hold onto as we consider a vision forward.” Program staff,
Summarize this content to 1000 words More than 300 people registered to attend the Oct. 8 webinar “Self-advocacy Starts With You: Breast Cancer 101,” the first in a new Women’s Health Awareness Virtual Series: “RealTalk with the Experts” (see sidebar). As COVID-19 grew to a global pandemic. NIEHS and its co-sponsors developed alternatives to the successful annual NIEHS Women’s Health Awareness Women’s Wellness Conference(https://tools.niehs.nih.gov/conference/womenshealth_2020/). On April 3, just one day
Summarize this content to 1000 words Woychik was appointed NIEHS director in June. He also leads the National Toxicology Program, housed at the institute’s campus in North Carolina. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw) On Sept. 21, NIEHS stood with government agencies around the country to usher in the 2020 Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), a national charity effort led by federal employees to support Americans in need. “The NIEHS family has
Summarize this content to 1000 words IntramuralBy Nicholas Alagna, Mimi Huang, Sanya Mehta, Arif Rahman, Dahea You New NTP 5-day assay speeds toxicity screening of chemicals NTP scientists evaluated a high-throughput transcriptomics approach using liver and kidney tissue from five-day assays in male rats to estimate the toxicological potency of chemicals. Toxicity and carcinogenicity are typically assessed by the resource intensive two-year cancer bioassay. In the five-day assays, the authors
Summarize this content to 1000 words Mitochondria are typically known as the energy powerhouse of the cell, but a new study by NIEHS researchers suggests these little organelles do more than provide fuel. They can drive alterations in the epigenome, which is the assortment of chemical tags on DNA that affect how genes are turned on or off. Santos, a molecular geneticist by training, is an expert in mitochondria and
Summarize this content to 1000 words Microvi Biotechnologies, Inc. received a new kind of grant from the NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP), to further enhance and commercialize their technology for converting hazardous compounds in water into less harmful substances. The grant is part of the NIEHS Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Commercialization Readiness Pilot Program. Microvi plans to use the funding to improve its manufacturing process. “By enhancing our manufacturing
