Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech, Colorado State University, and Duke University Medical Center have developed a new method to determine gene function on a genome-wide scale in the fungal pathogen Alternaria brassicicola. This destructive fungus causes black spot disease, leading to considerable leaf loss in such economically important crops as canola, cabbage, and broccoli.
Genomic methods that allow the disruption of several thousand gene
Researchers at Johns Hopkins and the University of Minnesota have discovered a gene mutation in the descendants of Abraham Lincoln’s grandparents that suggests the Civil War president himself might have also suffered from a disease that destroys nerve cells in the cerebellum– the part of the brain that controls movement. A report on this discovery will appear in the February print issue of Nature Genetics.
The joint finding of the SCA5 mutation comes over a decade after initial
Consumers who go to multiple search engines looking for the best prices or products may be spending more time than needed, says a Penn State researcher.
In a recent study, Dr. Jim Jansen discovered no significant difference in the effectiveness of five popular search engines in helping consumers find what they were looking for.
“What we learned is that there is little benefit for consumers who occasionally shop online to visit various search engines for product compa
Robots can do in days what humans take years to accomplish at archaeological sites
After lying hidden for centuries off the coast of Greece, a sunken 4th century B.C. merchant ship and its cargo have been surveyed by an international team using a robotic underwater vehicle. The team accomplished in two days what it would take divers years to do. The project, the first in a new collaboration between U.S. and Greek researchers, demonstrates the potential of new technology and
Extrahepatic sites may account for some viral replication
When a diseased liver is removed from a patient with Hepatitis C (HCV), serum viral levels plummet. However, after receiving a healthy liver transplant, virus levels rebound and can surpass pre-transplant levels within a few days, according to a new study published in the February 2006 issue of Liver Transplantation, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and the Internationa
Comet Tempel 1, target of last year’s July 4 cosmic collision, contains small amounts of surface water ice. Reported in Science by members of NASA’s Deep Impact mission, this finding marks the first evidence of surface ice on any comet.
Comet Tempel 1, which created a flamboyant Fourth of July fireworks display in space last year, is covered with a small amount of water ice. These results, reported by members of NASA’s Deep Impact team in an advanced online edition of Science,
By profiling specific proteins in amniotic fluid for inflammation, researchers at Yale School of Medicine can quickly and accurately detect potentially dangerous infections in pregnant women, and also predict the possibility of premature birth.
The work will be presented at the 26th Annual Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) meeting on February 2 by Catalin S. Buhimschi, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences. Bu
Sit up and smell the roses better
Before giving flowers or scattering rose petals on Valentine’s Day, make sure your significant other has already gotten out of bed. In a study published recently in the journal Chemical Senses, researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) at McGill University discovered that sensitivity to rose odour is greater in subjects that are sitting than in those lying down.
This research, conducted in the laboratory of Dr. Marily
As many as 8-10 million Americans have Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), by age 70, roughly 20 percent of the population has it, and people with PAD face a six-to-seven times higher risk of heart attack or stroke.
PAD, commonly seen in patients with a history of smoking, diabetes, and/or coronary artery disease, is the build up of fatty deposits in the inner linings of the artery walls of the heart and brain. These blockages restrict blood circulation, mainly in arteries leading t
A new study suggests that the hormone estrogen works in partnership with other proteins to activate or suppress gene activity in breast cancer cells.
Surprisingly, one of the partner proteins is known as c-MYC, a gene activator that has long been associated with cancer development but was not known to interact with estrogen during tumor progression.
The study, by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and R
When cells age and stop dividing, how much do they contribute to whole-body aging? Brown University research strengthens the case for a strong connection by providing evidence that non-dividing or “replicatively senescent” cells can be found in large numbers in old animals. The research, led by John Sedivy, is the first to quantify the presence of these cells in any species. Results are published by Science.
Brown University biologists have uncovered intriguing evidence to suppor
UCLA researcher developing lab to help manufacturer testing
Shades of science fiction surround the potential of the booming nanotechnology industry – like Michael Crichton’s novel “Prey”, which features tiny nano-robots threatening to take over the world. Fiction of course, but nanotechnology is rapidly expanding and promises to exceed the impact of the Industrial Revolution, projecting to become a $1 trillion market by 2015.
UCLA has developed a new testing met
Work could help definitively determine whether fish populations are shrinking
Researchers at MIT have found a new way of looking beneath the ocean surface that could help definitively determine whether fish populations are shrinking.
A remote sensor system developed by Associate Professor Nicholas Makris of mechanical engineering, along with others at MIT, Northeastern University and the Naval Research Laboratory, allows scientists to track enormous fish populatio
Study suggests steps a planet must go through for complex animal life to arise
Clay made animal life possible on Earth, a UC Riverside-led study finds. A sudden increase in oxygen in the Earth’s recent geological history, widely considered necessary for the expansion of animal life, occurred just as the rate of clay formation on the Earth’s surface also increased, the researchers report.
“Our study shows for the first time that the initial soils covering the te
Duke University biologists have evolved a complex trait in the laboratory — using the pressure of selection to induce tobacco hornworms to evolve the dual trait of turning black or green depending on the temperature during their development. The biologists have also demonstrated the basic hormonal mechanism underlying the evolution of such dual traits.
Their experiments, they said, offer important insight into how complex traits involving many genes can abruptly “blossom” in
The two ends of human DNA have different structures that are treated differently as a cell divides, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found in a study that could help lead to cancer therapies.
The study — published in the Feb. 3 issue of the journal Molecular Cell — focuses on the ends of DNA, which are capped by segments called telomeres. Each time the cell divides, the telomeres shorten. When they become too short, the aging cell can no longer divide. But in most
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