Standardized In Vitro Models of Human Adipose Tissue Reveal Metabolic Flexibility in Brown Adipocyte Thermogenesis.

Functional human brown and white adipose tissue (BAT and WAT) are vital for thermoregulation and nutritional homeostasis, while obesity and other stressors lead, respectively, to cold intolerance and metabolic disease. Understanding BAT and WAT physiology and dysfunction necessitates clinical trials complemented by mechanistic experiments at the cellular level. These require standardized in vitro models, currently lacking, that establish references for gene expression and function.

The Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource (MR4) Center--creating African opportunities.

The Malaria Research and Reference Reagent Resource Center (MR4) is a program to support the international malaria research community. The primary goal is to improve access to well-characterized quality-controlled parasite, host and vector reagents for standardization of assays and other general research purposes. MR4 is open to all scientists worldwide, however many of its inaugural activities will have a focus in Africa, where the concept for the MR4 was born.

Managing genetic material to protect intellectual property rights.

One of the most important policy instruments for the promotion of further biotechnology development is intellectual property right (IPR) protection. However, one cannot improve upon a biotechnological invention without physical access to the germplasm, making exchanges of genetic material necessary. A formal transfer agreement, which addresses the key issues of ownership, access, use, and equitable benefit-sharing, is a powerful legal instrument for intellectual property.

Nematospiroides dubius: two H-2-linked genes influence levels of resistance to infection in mice.

Strains of mice sharing common H-2 haplotypes but different genetic backgrounds, and H-2 congenic strains of mice differing only at H-2 genes were studied to assess the role of H-2 and non-H-2 genes in immunity to challenge infections with the nematode parasite Nematospiroides dubius. Strains of mice sharing the H-2k haplotype were uniformly more susceptible to challenge than strains expressing H-2q alleles, regardless of genetic background. However, in some cases strains of mice sharing the k or q haplotypes differed significantly in levels of resistance.