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Three federal grants totaling $7.65 million have been awarded to Rutgers University to fund graduate research in clean and sustainable energy and continue other research projects previously funded the National Science Foundation.

Scientists in the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering Laboratory of Bioengineering and Physical Science have developed a new technique that allows researchers to visualize fine details of cell structure three-dimensionally in thick sections, thus providing greater insight into how cells are organized and how they function.

Image: USDA Researchers have discovered that blueberry juice altered with the help of certain bacteria may prove beneficial in the fight against obesity and diabetes. It seems that this biotransformed juice reduces high blood sugar and inhibits the development of diabetes and obesity in mice. Blueberries contain high levels of naturally occurring antioxidants that protect the body against cell damaging free radicals. The blueberry juice used in the study was not typical juice that can be bought in stores, but was fermented using a strain of bacteria, Serratia vaccinii, found in blueberry skins. The results of the study showed that these bacteria generate an increase in the antioxidant capacity of the blueberry juice. When consumed, the juice significantly reduces high blood sugar levels, as well as lowers food intake and body weight in obesity and diabetes prone mice. Learn more about this report: Biotransformed Blueberry Juice Fights Fat And Diabetes Science Daily

The Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has selected the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the authors of the groundbreaking report, Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century: A Vision and a Strategy, to receive the CAAT Recognition Award for 2009. The award was presented on September 3 at the 7th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences in Rome.

Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine researchers have discovered a new role for the bioactive lipid messenger, sphingosine-1-phosphate, or S1P, that is abundant in our blood a finding that could lead to a new generation of drugs to fight cancer and inflammatory disease. In the Sept. 4 issue of the journal Science, a team led by Sarah Spiegel, Ph.D.

Paul Flecknell, PhD, widely recognized for his expertise in the identification and management of pain in laboratory animals, is the 2009 recipient of the Charles River Laboratories' Excellence in Refinement Award. This award was presented on September 3 at the 7th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences in Rome.

Scientists in the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) Laboratory of Bioengineering and Physical Science have developed a new technique that allows researchers to visualize fine details of cell structure three-dimensionally in thick sections, thus providing greater insight into how cells are organized and how they function. The work is described in a report published online this week in Nature Methods.

Rewards go further than punishment in building human cooperation and benefiting the common good, according to research published this week in the journal Science by researchers at Harvard University and the Stockholm School of Economics. While previous studies have focused almost exclusively on punishment for promoting public cooperation, here rewards are shown to be much more successful.