In a step toward making living cells function as if they were tiny computers, engineers at Princeton have programmed bacteria to communicate with each other and produce color-coded patterns.
The feat, accomplished in a biology lab within the Department of Electrical Engineering, represents an important proof-of-principle in an emerging field known as “synthetic biology,” which aims to harness living cells as workhorses that detect hazards, build structures or repair tissues a
Early results of the largest and most diverse screening study of a genetic condition that causes too much iron to build up in the body show that Asians and Pacific Islanders have the highest mean levels of iron in their blood of all ethnic groups involved, including African Americans, Caucasians, Hispanics, and Native Americans.
Hemochromatosis, one of the most common inherited disorders among Caucasians, can lead to iron overload, or a buildup of iron in the body’s organs
Scientists at Melbourne’s Howard Florey Institute have uncovered a clue about the causes of dementia in Huntington’s disease, one of the disease’s symptoms, by showing that mice susceptible to Huntington’s disease have problems with learning and memory before the diseases’ typical movement problems appear.
The Florey scientists also discovered that in Huntington’s diseased brains, information processing between neurons is disrupted, but the neurons d
A simple DNA test that is available commercially to help people establish their ancestry could in fact disclose male infertility claims a new study from the University of Leicester.
The world renowned Department of Genetics – the UK’s top rated research Genetics department where DNA genetic fingerprinting was discovered – has published a paper, Inadvertent diagnosis of male infertility through genealogical DNA testing, in the Journal of Medical Genetics.
Report author
Emissions from cars have to be reduced further in order to meet today’s environmental demands. A new and robust exhaust sensor developed by researchers at Linköping University in Sweden has proven to meter the consistency of exhaust gases extremely well and is now on its way to the market.
It’s a tiny electronic component, no larger than the head of a pin. It has been tested both at LiU and in cars at its collaborating auto-makers, Volvo Cars in Gothenburg, Sweden, and Ford Motor
Two Scandinavian studies have provided further evidence that environmental factors could be affecting men’s reproductive health.
The studies, published online today (Thursday 28 April) in Europe’s leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction, suggest that environmental pollutants could be changing the ratio of sperm carrying the X or Y (sex determining) chromosomes and that they could be contributing towards male reproductive disorders.
A study by Swedish
A study at the University of Sheffield, and published in Nature on Thursday 28 April 2005, has found that long-tailed tits rely on a family support network to bring up their offspring, and that they recognise family members through an individual family call that they learn in the nest.
Long-tailed tits breed co-operatively, with ‘helpers’ working together with breeding pairs to increase the chance that young are reared successfully to adulthood. These helpers choose to help chi
The discovery of a ‘molecular switch’ could lead to new ways of treating infections such as MRSA, and inflammatory diseases like arthritis.
According to research published today in Nature, the team from Imperial College London and the University of California, San Diego, have identified an enzyme called IKKa, which can act as a ‘brake’ on an immune cell pathway responsible for regulating the body’s response to infection and inflammation.
By inhibiting IKKa activity t
The ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) has just passed an impressive milestone with the publication of the 1,000th peer-reviewed scientific article based on data from the world’s largest and most advanced optical and near-infrared telescope.
“This remarkable landmark, reached in only six years of operations is another clear demonstration of the unique capabilities of this telescope, a true flagship in European research that is continuously opening new horizons in astrophysics”, s
A 15-year search for fossils in Africa has led to the discovery of eight fish specimens that are 450 million years old – 50 million years older than any previous fish fossil on the continent and amongst the oldest in the world.
Professor Richard Aldridge, of the Department of Geology at the University of Leicester, who co-led the scientific expedition, says the fossil discovery is among the most remarkable and exciting ever to be found on the continent. He said:
‘These
Black cohosh, an herb widely used by breast cancer patients to alleviate hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms, may alter the way that cells respond to drugs commonly used to treat breast cancer, according to a Yale School of Medicine study in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.
Recent studies have shown that many patients receiving cancer therapy are also self-medicating with complementary and alternative medicines, often without telling their physicians, said the lead resea
Breastfeeding causes nearly 40 percent of all pediatric HIV infections, yet also prevents millions of child deaths every year by protecting infants from diarrhea and other infections. Finding ways to make breastfeeding safer for infants of HIV-infected mothers has been an urgent research priority. A study conducted by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the University of Zimbabwe and Harare (Zimbabwe) City Health Department found that exclusive breastfeeding substantially reduces
The European Union, with the aim of conserving resources, protecting the environment and overseeing the health and welfare of their citizens, has been opting for some years now for sustainable development as one of its top priorities. The reduction of energy consumption has been identified as one of the aspects that can contribute most in this respect. This is why the EU has financed the Vacuum Insulating Panels (VIP) project, one in which GAIKER has participated in and the object of which is
Narrowing down recipes
The scientific analysis of biological evidence isn’t just determining what something is – it’s also learning how and where it was developed.
Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory want to determine how a biological sample was made. To do this, researchers are seeking clues, or markers, such as changes in the sample’s metal and proteins.
As markers are identified and boundaries of each piece of information are
Thirty years after scientists at the University of Missouri-Rolla and Grambling College discovered “strange” Xenon in meteorites, scientists from Japan and France are reporting the discovery of other strange elements left over from the birth of the solar system.
A 1976 study published in the journal Nature showed that strange Xenon, which is made in supernova explosions, is present within the composition of the Sun. Those findings by the UMR and Grambling team were largely dismiss
MIT researchers have announced an innovation that could greatly improve explosives detection for military and civilian security applications.
Scientists have developed a new polymer that greatly increases the sensitivity of chemical detection systems for explosives such as TNT (trinitrotoluene). In the April 14 issue of Nature, they describe a polymer that undergoes lasing action at lower operating powers than previously observed, and they demonstrate that the stimulated light emiss
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