Breaking news on Biology and Biochemistry
Multicellular Response Is 'All For One' published
Fri, 09 May 2008 04:00:00 PDT
Real or perceived threats can trigger the well-known "fight or flight response" in humans and other animals. Adrenaline flows, and the stressed individual's heart pumps faster, the muscles work harder, the brain sharpens and non-essential systems shut down. The whole organism responds in concert in order to survive.
Computer Game Could Benefit World Health published
Fri, 09 May 2008 03:00:00 PDT
Gamers have devoted countless years of collective brainpower to rescuing princesses or protecting the planet against alien invasions. This week researchers at the University of Washington will try to harness those finely honed skills to make medical discoveries, perhaps even finding a cure for HIV.A new game, named Foldit, turns protein folding into a competitive sport.
New Link To Schizophrenia Discovered By Hopkins Researchers published
Fri, 09 May 2008 03:00:00 PDT
Neuroscientists at Johns Hopkins have discovered that mice lacking an enzyme that contributes to Alzheimer disease exhibit a number of schizophrenia-like behaviors. The finding raises the possibility that this enzyme may participate in the development of schizophrenia and related psychiatric disorders and therefore may provide a new target for developing therapies.
New Cost-Effective Means To Reconstruct Virus Populations published
Fri, 09 May 2008 03:00:00 PDT
 Researchers from the United States and Switzerland have developed mathematical and statistical tools for reconstructing viral populations using pyrosequencing, a novel and effective technique for sequencing DNA. They describe their findings in an article published May 9th in the open-access journal PLoS Computational Biology .
Eliminating Disease-Causing Genes With Bread Mold? published
Fri, 09 May 2008 03:00:00 PDT
When most people discover mold on their bread, they immediately throw it out. Others see a world of possibilities in the tiny fungus. A University of Missouri scientist, along with a collaborative research team, has examined a new mechanism in the reproductive cycle of a certain species of mold. This mechanism protects the organism from genetic abnormalities by "silencing" unmatched genes during meiosis (sexual reproduction).
Magnet Lab Researchers Make Observing Cell Functions Easier published
Fri, 09 May 2008 02:00:00 PDT
Now that the genome (DNA) of humans and many other organisms have been sequenced, biologists are turning their attention to discovering how the many thousands of structural and control genes -- the "worker bees" of living cells that can turn genes on and off -- function.To do that, they need to develop new techniques and tools.
Fungus Resistance At Molecular Level Keeps Tomatoes From Wilting published
Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 PDT
According to a study published in the open-access journal PLoSPathogens, researchers at the University of Amsterdam havediscovered how to conquer the wilting tomato. Dr. Martijn Repand colleagues reached their conclusions by studying the molecularlevel of the tomato.Plants pathogens are remarkably talented when it comes to evolvingalong with the immune systems of their hosts, farmers andagriculturalists have to constantly adapt to this evolutionary ability.
Molecules In Plants May Have Beneficial Effect On Alzheimer's Disease published
Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 PDT
A set of molecules found in certain plants appears to have a beneficial effect in brain tissue associated with Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study conducted in mice. The study was led by researchers at the University of South Florida and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. An article in the Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine is available online.Terrence Town, Ph.D., one of the senior authors of the study, is available to provide more information about this study.
Artificial Golgi Created By Undergrad published
Thu, 08 May 2008 05:00:00 PDT
An undergraduate student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has learned very quickly that a spoonful of sugar really does help the medicine go down. In fact, with his invention, the sugar may actually be the medicine.Among the most important and complex molecules in the human body, sugars control not just metabolism but also how cells communicate with one another.
$3.2 Million Stem Cell Grant Awarded To UCSB From State published
Thu, 08 May 2008 04:00:00 PDT
The University of California, Santa Barbara will receive $3.2 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) in support of the development of a state-of-the-art facility in the newly established Center for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering at UCSB, according to an announcement by CIRM. The renovation project has a total budget of $6.3 million. A website about the center is located at: http://www.
Genetic 'Tag Team' Keeps Cells On Cycle published
Thu, 08 May 2008 03:00:00 PDT
By surveying the activity of thousands of genes at several different time points, researchers at the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy have uncovered new evidence that a network of influential genes act as a kind of genetic tag team to orchestrate one of the most fundamental aspects of all life: the cell cycle.
The Up Side Of Prions published
Thu, 08 May 2008 02:00:00 PDT
Prions, the infamous agents behind mad cow disease and its human variation, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, also have a helpful side. According to new findings from Gerald Zamponi and colleagues, normally functioning prions prevent neurons from working themselves to death. The findings appear in the Journal of Cell Biology.Diseases such as mad cow result when the prion protein adopts an abnormal conformation.
A Short Guide To The Human Genome, Book published
Thu, 08 May 2008 02:00:00 PDT
How many genes are in the human genome? Which genes are commonly associated with genetic diseases? How many mobile elements, simple sequence repeats, or protein kinases are encoded by the genome? What are the largest genes and proteins? How similar are human proteins to those of mouse, yeast, or bacteria? A new handbook, A Short Guide to the Human Genome, answers these and other commonly asked questions.
St. Jude Finds 'Dancing' Hair Cells Are Key To Humans' Acute Hearing published
Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 PDT
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators have found that an electrically powered amplification mechanism in the cochlea of the ear is critical to the acute hearing of humans and other mammals. The findings will enable better understanding of how hearing loss can result from malfunction of this amplification machinery due to genetic mutation or overdose of drugs such as aspirin.
Hospitals In Cities Most At Risk Of Terrorist Attack Do Not Have Capacity To Treat Injured, Report Finds published
Wed, 07 May 2008 12:00:00 PDT
Emergency departments in seven U.S. cities would be "overwhelmed" if a terrorist attack occurred, and their ability to handle such an event would be further affected if proposed Medicaid changes are implemented, according to a report presented Monday by Democrats on the
Sniffing Out Danger Like Bloodhounds: New Cell-Based Sensors published
Wed, 07 May 2008 04:00:00 PDT
A small, unmanned vehicle makes its way down the road ahead of a military convoy. Suddenly it stops and relays a warning to the convoy commander. The presence of a deadly improvised explosive device, or IED, has been detected by sophisticated new sensor technology incorporating living olfactory cells on microchips mounted on the unmanned vehicle. The IED is safely dismantled and lives are saved.
Insulin-Regulated Molecular Pathway Maintains Energy Balance When Starved Of Food published
Wed, 07 May 2008 04:00:00 PDT
Humans and fruitflies - those pesky little creatures that are irresistibly attracted to overripe fruit - share more than a sweet tooth. Both rely on the same insulin-regulated molecular pathway to maintain their energy balance when starved for food, reports a team of researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.
UC San Diego Researchers Target Tumors With Tiny 'Nanoworms' published
Wed, 07 May 2008 04:00:00 PDT
Scientists at UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara and MIT have developed nanometer-sized "nanoworms" that can cruise through the bloodstream without significant interference from the body's immune defense system and-like tiny anti-cancer missiles-home in on tumors.
Miniature Smart Pump published
Wed, 07 May 2008 04:00:00 PDT
An innovative micro-pump makes it possible for tiny quantities of liquid - such as medicines - to be dosed accurately and flexibly. Active composites and an electronic control mechanism ensure that the low-maintenance pump works accurately - both forwards and backwards.Medicines sometimes have to be administered in extremely small quantities. Just a few tenths of a milliliter may be sufficient to give the patient the ideal treatment.
News From The Journal Of Neuroscience published
Wed, 07 May 2008 03:00:00 PDT
1. Disrupting Astrocyte Calcium Transients Does Not Affect NeuronsJeremy Petravicz, Todd A. Fiacco, and Ken D. McCarthyRecent reports have suggested that astrocytes regulate neuronal activity by releasing gliotransmitters (e.g., glutamate and ATP) when intracellular calcium is elevated via release from internal stores. Because calcium release is triggered by activation of an IP3 receptor, Petravicz et al.
Metabolic Benefits From Fat Transplantation published
Wed, 07 May 2008 03:00:00 PDT
When transplanted deep into the abdomen, fat taken from just under the skin comes with metabolic benefits, or at least it does in mice, reveals a new study in the May issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication."We started out thinking we would find that any fat inside the abdomen is bad," said C. Ronald Kahn of Harvard Medical School. "What we found was really not what we expected. It appears that visceral fat is not as bad as subcutaneous fat is good.
Appetite Decreased And Weight Loss Promoted By Blocking Brain Enzyme published
Wed, 07 May 2008 03:00:00 PDT
Imagine being able to tone down appetite and promote weight loss, while improving the body's ability to handle blood sugar levels.That's just what Tony Means, PhD, and his team at the Duke University Medical Center were able to do when they blocked a brain enzyme, CaMKK2, in mice.
Medical Research Is Essential To Improving The Economy And Bettering Lives published
Wed, 07 May 2008 03:00:00 PDT
Health care in the United States is expensive, but its funding is crucial because it also is a major contributor to the economy and can better lives, according to an essay appearing in the June 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). Because of the cost of health care, this is not time to shrink the budget at the National Institutes of Health, which funds medical research that leads to potentially curative therapy.
Extreme Lab-On-A-Chip: Pocket-Sized PCR Rapid Test Including Sample Preparation published
Wed, 07 May 2008 02:00:00 PDT
Analysis and diagnosis in a chip format are coming of age, but their practical application has been limited because until now, the sample usually had to be prepared separately and on a nonminiaturized scale. Jurgen Pipper and his team at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in Singapore want to change this. They have now developed a rapid test for genetic diagnosis that combines the preparation of biological samples with a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on one chip.
Applied DNA Sciences And Smiths Detection Sign Memorandum Of Understanding To Provide Rapid Portable Forensic Testing For SigNature(TM) DNA published
Wed, 07 May 2008 01:00:00 PDT
Applied DNA Sciences (OTCBB: APDN) announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Smiths Detection (Smiths), part of the global technology business of Smiths Group. Under the terms of the MOU, Smiths will provide APDN with exclusive use of the Bio-seeq™PLUS platform, centered upon a portable, DNA-verifying device for authentication, anti-counterfeiting and anti-diversion.
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