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Protecting Long Beans From Aphids and Nematodes

10/15/2025 by Stacy W. Kish

Hyun Park Kang, co-author of a recent article in the Journal of Plant Registrations, punching leaf samples for DNA marker genotyping. Photo by Bao-Lam Huynh.

Commercial markets are embracing traditionally ethnic vegetable crops, adding diversity to the food system. Long beans (Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis), which originated in Africa and have been refined through domestication in Southeast Asia, have an export value of $80 million. The edible pods are a symbol of luck and longevity, but more importantly, they pack a nutritious punch, offering a new food option, enriched in protein, vitamins, and minerals.

Despite these benefits, long beans have not broken into larger commercial markets because the current varieties require frequent applications of synthetic chemicals to manage aphids and root‐knot nematodes, limiting marketability and opening the potential of pest resistance. Concerns with pesticide applications have affected consumer demand, and the acreage of long bean has been in decline.

A recent article in the Journal of Plant Registrations (https://doi.org/10.1002/plr2.20361) details the development by researchers at the University of California–Riverside of new long bean germplasm lines that resist aphids and nematodes.

“We are confident that once consumers become familiar with the new resistant varieties, the crop will gain momentum,” says Bao‐Lam Huynh, assistant professor in the Department of Nematology at the University of California–Riverside and first author on the paper.

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Posted in Food, Genetics, Nutrition and Health |

The Rules of Immunity: What Decides T Cell Fate

02/27/2025 by Stacy W. Kish

T cells are positioned at the frontline of the body’s immune system to fight infection, cancer, and autoimmune disease. While different subtypes of T cells exist, how these cells take their different forms has remained elusive. 

Now, a multi-institutional team of researchers led by Yale School of Medicine (YSM) has added clarity to the complex, dynamic molecular interactions that occur in the human immune system. In a new study, the researchers have identified one of the levers that controls the fate of T cells and what subtype they transform into. Their findings were published recently in the journal Science.

“Researchers often think of T cells as falling into different buckets—T cells for infection or T cells for cancer or autoimmunity,” said Nikhil Joshi, PhD, associate professor of immunology at YSM and senior author of the study. “We want to have a more holistic view of this process. T cells all start at the same place, and we wanted to understand the rules that control how T cells change in response to the molecular signals they see as they mount a defense.”

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Posted in Blinding People with Science, Medicine, Nutrition and Health | Tagged , , |

How fungi elude antifungal treatments

08/13/2024 by Stacy W. Kish

With biochemical analysis, state-of-the-art imaging technology and computer simulations, research led by scientists at Michigan State University has shown how fungi remodel their cell walls to thwart antifungal drugs. Credit: Figure adapted from Dickwella Widange et al. Nat. Commun.(2024).

Every year, life-threating invasive fungal infections afflict more than 2 million individuals globally. Mortality rates for these infections are high, even when patients receive treatment.

Aspergillus fumigatus, the most frequent cause of invasive fungal infection in people with suppressed immune systems, is responsible for approximately 100,000 deaths annually around the world. Poor treatment outcomes result from therapeutic failures and the fungi’s resistance to existing drugs.

A new multi-institutional study led by researchers at Michigan State University has characterized how fungi adapt to restructure their cell walls, effectively thwarting current antifungal medications. This new information opens opportunities to devise more effective use of antifungal drugs. The results were published July 31 in the journal Nature Communications.

“In order to improve the use of and develop new antifungal drugs, we need to understand the target,” said Tuo Wang, the inaugural Carl H. Brubaker Jr. Endowed Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Michigan State University and lead author on the study. “This is not done easily, because the cell wall is very complex.”

The study was also selected to be featured among the journal’s Editors’ Highlights as one of the 50 best papers Nature Communications has published recently in the area of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

With this work, Wang and his team believe they have laid the foundation for pharmaceutical companies to adapt or combine existing antifungal drugs to help overcome their previous limitations.

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Posted in Medicine |

Inova Schar Cancer named top recruiter to innovative ER+ HER2- breast cancer clinical trial

04/13/2024 by Stacy W. Kish

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

Inova Schar Cancer is one of the top recruiting locations for the EMBER-4 clinical trial, a global study to evaluate a new treatment for ER+ HER2- breast cancer survivors

EMBER-4 is a Phase 3 clinical trial comparing a new drug therapy, imlunestrant, to the standard drug therapy to treat women with ER+ HER2- breast cancer. The trial is being conducted at multiple locations around the world, with Inova Schar Cancer named as one of the top recruiting centers in the United States.

“This pill is the first therapy in 30 years that could potentially replace endocrine therapy,” said study Kathleen Harnden, MD, Medical Director of Breast Oncology at Inova Schar Cancer and the principal investigator for the EMBER-4 clinical trial at Inova Schar Cancer. “This study is a bit of a unicorn. It is extremely patient centered and provides a rare opportunity to evaluate a treatment that may be better, with a higher cure rate, a lower risk of spread of breast cancer and fewer side effects.”

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Posted in Medicine |

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