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(Tufts University) For the first time, scientists have altered natural bioelectrical communication among cells to directly specify the type of new organ to be created at a particular location within a vertebrate organism.

Using genetic manipulation of membrane voltage in Xenopus (frog) embryos, biologists at Tufts University's School of Arts and Sciences were able to cause tadpoles to grow eyes outside of the head area.

(Tufts University) Research by Catherine K. Kuo, Ph.D., an assistant professor of biomedical engineering in Tufts University's School of Engineering, could yield insight into factors that contribute to orthopedic birth defects that occur in utero, such as club foot.

Kuo will use living engineered embryonic tendon tissue in her experiments.

(Tufts University, Health Sciences) A study shows promise in slowing age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Tufts researchers demonstrate for the first time that a gene therapy approach to deliver CD59, an inhibitor of complement, can significantly reduce uncontrolled blood vessel growth and cell death that is typical in AMD, the most common cause of blindness in the elderly.

(Tufts University) Colonoscopy is regarded as the most thorough way to screen for colon cancer but it can be a painful procedure.

Tufts researchers have developed a technique that could potentially reduce patient discomfort while also ensuring the accuracy of the exam.

(Tufts University, Health Sciences) The circadian system that controls sleep patterns is regulated by glial brain cells called astrocytes, according to a study published in Current Biology.

Neuroscientists from Tufts found that disruption of astrocyte function in fruit flies led to altered daily rhythms, an indication that these cells contribute to the control of circadian behavior.

These results provide, for the first time, a tractable genetic model to study the role of astrocytes in circadian rhythms and sleep disorders.

(Tufts University, Health Sciences) Tufts University announces the public launch of the Tufts Institute for Biomedical Partnerships website/HUB: www.tuftspharmapartners.org The Institute is university-wide, global pharmaceutical partnering initiative designed to create and manage a diverse portfolio of drug discovery and development partnerships.

(Tufts University, Health Sciences) Breast cancer stem cells, the aggressive cells thought to be resistant to current anti-cancer therapies and which promote metastasis, are stimulated by estrogen via a pathway that mirrors normal stem cell development.

Disrupting the pathway, researchers were able to halt the expansion of breast CSCs, a finding that suggests a new drug therapy target.

The study, done in mice, is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences early edition.

(Tufts University, Health Sciences) A promising new approach to immunization might reduce costs and enable thousands more people around the world to be vaccinated.

A team led by researchers at Tufts University developed a vaccine for rotavirus that can be administered through nasal drops.

The study in mice, published in Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, induced a potent immune response and prevented infection.

(Tufts University) Joshua Kritzer, assistant professor of chemistry at Tufts University, received NIH Director's New Innovator Award for research into developing a rapid drug-screening process that may help scientists identify new drugs to treat diseases.

His method targets the enormous number of human proteins, including many that cause cancer and other diseases.

(Tufts University) Tufts biologists have found that a change in membrane voltage in newly identified "instructor cells" can cause stem cells' descendants to trigger melanoma-like growth in pigment cells a considerable distance away.

This metastatic transformation is due to changes in serotonin transport. Discovery of this novel bioelectric signal and cell type could help prevent and treat diseases like cancer and vitiligo as well as birth defects.