New method can identify what genes do, test drugs’ safety
Utah and Texas researchers combined miniature medical CT scans with high-tech computer methods to produce detailed three-dimensional images of mouse embryos – an efficient new method to test the safety of medicines and learn how mutant genes cause birth defects or cancer.
“Our method provides a fast, high-quality and inexpensive way to visually explore the 3-D internal structure of mouse embryos so scientists
Scientists have determined that decay-accelerating factor (DAF), a protein found in epithelial cells in the stomach, acts as a receptor for the bacteria Helicobacter pylori. Blocking this interaction could lead to new drugs that reduce the risk of peptic ulcer disease or gastric cancer. The research appears as the “Paper of the Week” in the May 12 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, an American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology journal.
Helicobacter pylori are sp
Researchers have isolated two Chinese soybean lines that grow without the primary protein linked to soy allergies in children and adults. The two lines already are adapted to Illinois-like conditions and will be given away to breeders seeking to produce new varieties of allergy-free soybeans without genetic engineering.
Crop scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the USDA-Agricultural Research Service’s Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis s
By studying microscopic hairs called cilia on algae, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found that an internal structure that helps build cilia is also responsible for a cell’s response to external signals.
Cilia perform many functions on human cells; they propel egg and sperm cells to make fertilization possible, line the nose to pick up odors, and purify the blood, among other tasks.
With such a range of abilities, cilia serve as both motors and “cel
The narrow search for water may miss important clues, say USC geobiologists
The great search for extraterrestrial life has focused on water at the expense of a crucial element, say geobiologists at the University of Southern California.
Writing in the Perspectives section of the May 5 issue of Science, four USC researchers propose searching for organic nitrogen as a direct indicator of the presence of life. Nitrogen is essential to the chemistry of living organisms.
Engineers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science are announcing a critical new breakthrough in semiconductor spin-wave research.
UCLA Engineering adjunct professor Mary Mehrnoosh Eshaghian-Wilner, researcher Alexander Khitun and professor Kang Wang have created three novel nanoscale computational architectures using a technology they pioneered called “spin-wave buses” as the mechanism for interconnection. The three nanoscale architectures are not only power
With ESO’s VLT, astronomers find molecular hydrogen at edge of Universe
Using a quasar located 12.3 billion light-years away as a beacon, a team of astronomers detected the presence of molecular hydrogen in the farthest system ever, an otherwise invisible galaxy that we observe when the Universe was less than 1.5 billion years old, that is, about 10% of its present age. The astronomers find that there is about one hydrogen molecule for 250 hydrogen atoms. A similar set of
A pet dog sits on command, but nobody expects an insect to follow human instructions. So it may come as a surprise to learn that researchers recently succeeded in controlling cockroaches with tiny mobile robots. The results hint at a future where we can interact and communicate with many different kinds of animal.
Little larger than a thumbnail, the cubic insect-like robots or ‘insbots’ are technological marvels. Developed under the European Commission’s Future and Emerging Technologies (
A major review published today in The Lancet has revealed the enormous burden of road traffic injuries in countries that can least afford to meet the health and economic costs.
The authors of the review, from The George Institute for International Health in Sydney, the University of Auckland, New Zealand and the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico, believe that while motorisation has enhanced the lives of many individuals and societies, the benefits have come with
A team of researchers from the University of Seville (US) participate in the setting up of a technical and professional Euro-Mediterranean network for the protection, promotion and territorial development of artisanal Mediterranean cheeses. The network, named MIREDAF, is part of the INTERREG III B MEDOCC European Programme. Andalusia, through the University of Seville, participates in this project together with four French regions (Provence, Alps, Côte d’Azur, and Corsica), and three Italia
Researchers from the universities of Cadiz, Seville and Cordoba are working on a study to shorten the traditional biological ageing process of sherry wines, brandies and wine vinegars in oak butts and casks (the soleras and criaderas system) in Andalusia without losing quality in the final product.
The project is funded by the Andalusian Ministry of Innovation, Science and Enterprise (148,200 Euros), and is aimed at obtaining detailed information about the key parameters in the ageing proce
Without the enzyme that “regenerates” telomeres (the ends of DNA), stem cells lose functionality and the organism rapidly ages, while it acquires cancer resistance. The finding, which has significant implications in cancer and aging research, was presented yesterday at the 2nd IFOM-IEO Campus Meeting on Cancer (May 5th – 8th, IFOM-IEO Campus, Milan, Italy) by Marìa A. Blasco, of the Spanish National Cancer Center (CNIO) in Madrid (Spain).
Our cells’ DNA has a sort of “tail”: the t
Experts have uncovered a secret Ministry of Defence (MoD) report asserting that UFOs exist, explaining the phenomena and assessing the security threat they may pose to the UK. The report was unearthed by academics at Sheffield Hallam University using the Freedom of Information Act.
The four year study, codenamed Project Condign, says that unexplained UFO sightings are caused by ’plasmas’, which create false memories of alien experiences and burn the skin. The report says these
Scientists have seen for the first time a key step in the complex molecular processes whereby pancreas cells release insulin into the bloodstream.
The breakthrough, which builds on earlier Nobel-Prize winning research, could have implications for the treatment of diabetes which is caused when not enough insulin is released by the pancreas to meet the body’s demands.
The team of scientists from the University of Manchester, Charite University in Berlin, and the University
A team of young explorers from the Climate Change College are on a ten day field trip, participating in ESA’s CryoSat validation experiment on the Greenland Ice Sheet. To stay in touch, the team is using Inmarsat’s Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN), a technology development supported by ESA.
Led by Dutch polar explorer Marc Cornelissen, the students have set up camp on the ice and are assisting with experiments which will be used to validate results from the CryoSat mission. Ground
New approaches to genetic disease, based on cells’ own ability to correct themselves, will be outlined today (Monday 8 May 2006) at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Instead of replacing a faulty gene (commonly referred to as gene therapy) these new ‘smart’ approaches make use of the therapeutic potential that already exists in human biology.
Professor Brunhilde Wirth, from the Institute of Human Genetics, University of Cologne
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