Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco and Georgia Institute of Technology have found a new way to kill cancer cells. Building on their previous work that used gold nanoparticles to detect cancer, they now are heating the particles and using them as agents to destroy malignant cells.
The researchers are a father and son, working together on opposite coasts. Their study findings are reported in the on-line edition of the journal Cancer Letters, found at Sci
Just how much data can we cram onto a hard disk? In a paper appearing online today in Physical Review Letters, EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne) Professor Harald Brune and his colleagues report what they believe to be the ultimate density limit of magnetic recording.
His group created a self-assembled lattice of non-interacting two-atoms-high islands of cobalt on a single-crystal gold substrate. The islands’ density — 26 trillion islands per square inch — is
’Osmolytes’ critical to survival of kidney cells and organisms in extreme environments
Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) have developed a new way to predict the ability of certain small molecules to protect proteins in the cells of a wide variety of organisms living in extreme environments. The technique, described in a paper published online Oct. 7 in the Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences (PNAS), is a method of calcu
Researchers from the University of Maryland (UMD) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new and improved technique for the simultaneous measurement of sulfur isotopic ratios and concentrations of atmospheric sulfate using snow samples from Greenland and Kyrgyzstan.
Sulfur plays an important role in the Earth’s climate. Sulfate particles in the atmosphere scatter and absorb sunlight, provide “seeds” for cloud formation, and affect the r
The average user may not notice, but the Global Positioning System (GPS) is more reliable today than it was several years ago.
Widely used by the military, first responders, surveyors and even consumers, GPS is a navigation and positioning system consisting of ground-based monitors and a constellation of satellites that rely on atomic clocks. A statistical method, developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and tested and implemented with the help of
Scientists from nine nations have set sail for the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Tahiti Sea Level Expedition, a research expedition initiated to investigate global sea level rise since the last glacial maximum, approximately 23,000 years ago. For six weeks, aboard the DP HUNTER, the expedition science party will work on the most extensive geological research investigation ever undertaken in a coral reef area. Off the coast of Tahiti, IODP scientists will take samples of fossil cora
Ensemble of usual sugars offers clues to controlling inflammation
A collaboration led by the Burnham Institute for Medical Research has found that an antibody which binds to an unusual sugar molecule residing in the gut halts the inflammation seen in Crohn’s disease and other intestinal inflammations. The antibody could prove to be a promising drug target for these common chronic intestinal disorders.
Professor Hudson Freeze, Ph.D., director of Burnham’s glycobio
Researchers know that the many different roads to cell suicide all run through mitochondria, but do not know which roads are the ones most traveled by the signals that signify death
The story of how mitochondria are recruited during times of stress to choreograph apoptosis–the cell’s dance of death–is a story that fails to tell which particular set of steps the cells use most often, according to investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the La Jolla In
A University of Colorado at Boulder team has developed the first computer-generated model of a tiny, waterwheel-like molecular rotor that has been harnessed to rotate in one direction at different speeds in response to changes in the strength of an electrical field applied from the outside.
The synthetic molecule features a chemical axle with two attached “paddles” carrying opposite electrical charges, which is mounted parallel to a gold substrate surface, said Professor Josef M
Production of p53 in response to DNA damage depends on proteins that bind to a control region of the messenger RNA that codes for this protein, according to St. Jude researchers
Investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have discovered a previously unrecognized mechanism that controls a key protein linked to the cell’s response to stress – a finding that holds promise for new ways to enhance cancer therapies or protect cells from dying after exposure to dam
Alzheimer’s disease, a complex neurological disorder, has as one of its hallmarks the presence of senile plaques in the brains of affected individuals. These senile plaques are rich in a toxic amyloid peptide termed Aâ. The mechanisms underlying the production of Aâ are complex, but it is known that this peptide is derived from a larger precursor known as the amyloid precursor protein (AâPP). Interestingly, and of potential therapeutic significance, AâPP can be processed within the cell
New research shows that a small gene variation that increases the risk of inherited cancer can also arise during the development of spontaneous, or non-inherited, tumors.
The findings, published in the Oct. 5 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggest that the variation might play a fundamental role in the development and spread of cancer in the body, and that the variant could be an important target for anticancer drugs.
The research focused on the
Two New Jersey research teams are reporting discoveries about the biological nature of psychiatric disorders that may bring them closer to the ultimate goal of finding cures for complex diseases, such as autism and schizophrenia.
Scientists at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) have unveiled new information regarding the genetic, cellular and neurological bases of suscep
U.S. commercial building owners could save substantially on annual heating and cooling energy costs by improving airtightness of their buildings’ envelope, according to a recent National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) study. The research used simulation software to evaluate the energy impact of improved air barriers in three typical non-residential buildings in five cities, each in a different climate zone. The results predicted potential annual heating and cooling energy c
Scientists have genetically modified male mosquitoes to express a glowing protein in their gonads, in an advance that allows them to separate the different sexes quickly.
By providing a way to quickly sex mosquitoes, the advance paves the way for pooling large numbers of sterile males which could be used to control the mosquito population.
Research published online today in Nature Biotechnology, shows how a team from Imperial College London have altered male mosquit
Hurricane Erin raced across the North Atlantic and along the eastern seaboard in September 2001. She was used as an experiment for a study to improve hurricane tracking and intensity predictions, allowing meteorologists to provide more accurate and timely warnings to the public. Studies show that temperatures measured at an extremely high altitude collected from a hurricane’s center or eye can provide improved understanding of how hurricanes change intensity.
Hurricane Eri
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