Usually when you give up something, there’s a price to pay. Not so in the case of the Australian Bynoe’s gecko. This line of all-female geckos doesn’t need sex or a male to reproduce and, contrary to expectations, these “Wonder Woman” geckos can run farther and faster than their sexually reproducing relatives. The research findings are published in the journal Physiological and Biochemical Zoology (Vol. 78, 3, May/June 2005) by Michael Kearney, Rebecca Wahl and Kellar Autumn.
“This is
Like a siren song, breast cancer secretes growth factors to attract stem cells then uses those cells – which normally promote healing – to help it survive, researchers have found.
In the laboratory, the researchers have documented secretion of growth factors FGF2 and VEGF by breast cancer cells, seen these factors bind to receptors on stem cells then watched stem cells migrate toward the cancer. When they took the growth factors away, the deadly migration decreased.
“These
Goddard Technologist Proposes Sensitive Skin Covering for Robots
A ballerina gracefully dances on a small stage. She is followed not by a male partner, but by a robotic arm manipulator that seems to sense her every move. For NASA Goddard technologist Vladimir Lumelsky, the performance shows the future of robotics.
It also demonstrates an advanced technology that Lumelsky hopes to develop as part of the push from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. t
Just as the printing press revolutionized the creation of reading matter, a “nano-printing” technique developed at MIT could enable the mass production of nano-devices currently built one at a time.
The most immediate candidate for this innovation is the DNA microarray, a nano-device used to diagnose and understand genetic illnesses such as Alzheimer’s, viral illnesses such as AIDS, and certain types of cancer. The ability to mass produce these complex devices would make D
Clearstream’s core business areas saw further growth during May 2005 with the number of international transactions processed by Clearstream rising to 1.52 million for the month representing a rise of 14.4 percent compared to the same month last year (May 2004: 1.33 million). Of these transactions, 14 percent are registered as stock exchange transactions, 86 percent are Over the Counter (OTC) transactions.
Additionally, the value of assets held in custody on behalf of customers rose to EUR
The sequencing of the human genome was only the beginning of a much more complex task – deciphering the secrets of cellular chemistry and the mechanisms of disease. While the genome serves as a blueprint to understanding the body, proteins represent the materials that carry out these plans.
There are about 2 million distinct proteins in the human body. That’s a lot of proteins – and the future of personalized medicine depends on a better understanding of proteins, including their
Compounds found in raisins fight bacteria in the mouth that cause cavities and gum disease, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
“Our laboratory analyses showed that phytochemicals in this popular snack food suppressed the growth of oral bacteria associated with caries and gum disease,” said Christine Wu, professor and associate dean for research at the UIC College of Dentistry and lead author of the study. Phytochemicals are compounds found in high
USDA Forest Service (FS) research suggests that a decline in the abundance of freshwater mussels about 1000 years ago may have been caused by the large-scale cultivation of maize by Native Americans.
In the April 2005 issue of Conservation Biology, Wendell Haag and Mel Warren, researchers with the FS Southern Research Station (SRS) unit in Oxford , MS, report results from a study of archaeological data from 27 prehistoric sites in the southeastern United States.
Worldwid
In a head-to-head matchup between a new blood-based tuberculosis (TB) test and the traditional tuberculin skin test, researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, and the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences in India found that the two methods of detecting latent TB infection are equally good.
The results of the study, to be published in a special June 8 theme issue on tuberculosis in the Journal of the American Medical Association, mean that switching to the m
Actual 13 percent risk causes relief for women asked to estimate risk
While breast cancer is a significant health threat – striking 211,000 American women each year – a new study finds most women have a distorted view of their risk. When asked to estimate the lifetime risk of breast cancer, 89 percent of women overestimated their risk, with an average estimate of 46 percent – more than three times the actual risk of 13 percent, according to a study by University of Michigan Heal
Researchers have produced the strongest evidence yet that mitochondria — the organelles that generate energy to power the cell — also monitor oxygen concentration in the cell. If oxygen slips below a critical threshold, the mitochondrial “sensor” triggers protective responses to promote survival.
Understanding how the cell senses and protects itself against hypoxia (low oxygen) has both important basic and clinical implications for biology and medicine, said one of the study’s
Researchers at the University of Barcelona, Spain, show for the first time that bacteria, in addition to yeast, are involved in the secondary fermentation of the sparkling wine known as Cava. They report their findings today at the 105th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.
“Bacteria found in Cava samples could have a distinctive impact upon sparkling wine quality in terms of aroma, flavor, bubble size and bubble persistence, especially for premium quality wi
Confirming findings in a previous study, Yale researchers observed an altered availability of the dopamine transporter in healthy persons with a genetic variation linked to substance abuse and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
“Healthy people who carry a particular variant of the dopamine transporter gene, the nine repeat allele, have significantly higher levels of dopamine transporter in the brain,” said the lead author, Christopher van Dyck, M.D., associate professor of psych
Research helps explain the accumulation of ’central body fat’ in middle-aged women and a method for counteracting the obesity problem
Oregon Health & Science University researchers will unveil research results that help explain why middle-aged women develop central body fat. The announcement will take place during the 2005 Society for Endocrinology annual meeting today in San Diego. The OHSU research team has also conducted initial testing of estrogen replacement therap
Many of Britain’s traditional fishing communities are turning to tourism in an attempt to offset economic decline and to preserve links with their heritage, a study has found.
Researchers from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne surveyed North Sea fishing towns and witnessed the emergence of a ‘virtual’ fishing industry where new developments and events branded with a fishing ‘icon’ may offer a greater source of income than fishing itself.
But the team also warns tha
More effective and safer medicines will be possible if we understand how the body detoxifies itself. The cytochrome P450 enzymes are the molecular machines responsible for the disposal by the human body of 80% of all medicines. These enzymes are also needed for the body to remove poisons and to manufacture many important molecules such as the sex hormones progesterone and testosterone. Understanding how the cytochromes P450 function is of great importance for human health.
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