Researchers at Stanford University have made new discoveries that shed light on two inherited neurodegenerative disorders that are caused by inability of the body to transport sialic acid out of cellular compartments. The findings focus on how different mutations in one transporter molecule can cause a wide spectrum of symptoms in Salla Disease and infantile sialic acid storage disease (ISSD).
The research appears as the “Paper of the Week” in the January 14 issue of the Journ
Peter W. Atkinson, a University of California, Riverside professor of entomology and member of the university’s Institute for Integrative Genome Biology, is part of a team that has linked the movement of small pieces of DNA, known as transposable elements, to a process called V(D)J recombination that produces the genetic diversity responsible for the production of antibodies. This will help scientists understand the mixing and matching of DNA in organisms and the role this mixing plays in healthy
University of Florida stem cell scientists reported today (Jan. 3) that they have prevented blindness in mice afflicted with a condition similar to one that robs thousands of diabetic Americans of their eyesight each year.
Writing in the current issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers describe for the first time the link between a protein known as SDF-1 and retinopathy, a complication of diabetes and the leading cause of blindness in working-age Americans.
It is now significantly easier to search long stretches of DNA for genetic changes associated with disease, thanks to scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
The researchers developed a method called direct genomic selection that accelerates the transition between family or population-based studies of disease inheritance patterns and identification of genetic variations that may contribute to disease. That transition normally slows down dramatically wh
To understand our planet’s magnetic field, Wisconsin scientists are studying a ball of molten metal
In an underground bunker that brushes up against a barnyard on one side and a cornfield on the other, scientists from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, are trying to solve an enduring cosmic mystery: how does the Earth generate its magnetic field–the vast, invisible web that shapes the aurora, makes compass needles point north, and shields us from solar storms? And how do simi
Discovery in Texas has medical implications
It was a transforming moment. Researchers could barely believe their eyes. A molecular blob of a protein reshaped itself into a molecular Pacman in order to free new viruses from the inside of a bacterial cell. It’s the sort of thing where your graduate student tells you the results of an experiment and you say, ’You must have made a mistake,’ said Dr. Ryland Young, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station biochemist. But then, a good scie
Sierra Nevada waters usually free of troublesome bacteria except in high use areas
Data collected by experts from the UC Davis School of Medicine have revealed that except for some heavily used areas, streams and lakes in the high country of the Sierra Nevada are generally clean and fresh.
The good news for campers can be found in a pair of studies published in the latest issue of the quarterly medical journal Wilderness and Environmental Medicine. UC Davis physician R
The depth in the ocean where calcium carbonate dissolves at a faster rate than it is deposited is called the calcite compensation depth (CCD). At present this depth is approximately 4,500 meters (14,700 feet) with some variation between and within ocean basins. Because the CCD is linked to ocean acidity, which is, in turn, linked to atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and, hence, to global climate, it is important for scientists to understand the impact of possible changes in its depth.
Adults with pre-diabetes can lose up to 3 percent of their body weight using diet, exercise and behavioral strategies, according to a systematic review of studies that analyzed weight-loss strategies for pre-diabetics.
Weight loss is recognized as one of the better ways to keep pre-diabetes from turning into full-blown diabetes, experts say.
In their examination of nine studies that included a total of 5,168 participants, Susan L. Norris, M.D., M.P.H., of the Centers for
Scientists are taking the first steps to find out how a gene that is mutated in many cancer cells functions in healthy cells.
The researchers hope that learning how this gene, called Rb, operates in health cells will give them a better idea of how cancer develops and progresses. While mutations in Rb, are linked to several types of cancer including the childhood disease retinoblastoma, Rb normally keeps cell division in check. That means Rb is a tumor suppressor gene, which keeps
The explosion of data from microbial genome sequencing has sparked intense new interest in the field of systems microbiology. Systems microbiology treats microorganisms or microbial communities as a whole, integrating fundamental biological knowledge with genomics and other data to create an integrated picture of how a microbial cell or community operates.
According to a new report, “Systems Microbiology: Beyond Microbial Genomics,” released by the American Academy of Microbio
Hubble Space Telescope data, analyzed by a Yale astronomer using gravitational lensing techniques, has generated a spatial map demonstrating the clumped substructure of dark matter inside clusters of galaxies.
Clusters of galaxies (about a million, million times the mass of our sun), are typically made up of hundreds of galaxies bound together by gravity. About 90 percent of their mass is dark matter. The rest is ordinary atoms in the form of hot gas and stars.
Althou
People with more copies of a gene that helps to fight HIV are less likely to become infected with the virus or to develop AIDS than those of the same geographical ancestry, such as European Americans, who have fewer copies of the gene, according to a study funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The findings help to explain why some people are more prone to HIV/AIDS than others.
Scientists beli
Research published in Science sheds light on cancer mechanisms, could lead to potential treatment approach
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have identified how a single aberrant cell can duplicate to form cancerous tumors, suggesting a specific protein mechanism as a target for the treatment of cancer, they report in a paper titled “Spindle Multipolarity Is Prevented by Centrosomal Clustering,” published in the Jan. 7 issue of Science.
The team, led by Wi
Chemical byproducts of dry cleaning and silicon chip production are dechlorinated by the microbe dehalococcoides ethenogenes
Scientists have deciphered the genome sequence of a microbe that can be used to clean up pollution by chlorinated solvents – a major category of groundwater contaminants that are often left as byproducts of dry cleaning or industrial production.
The study of the DNA sequence of Dehalococcoides ethenogenes, which appears in the January 7 issue of Scien
Mums to be have known for some time that what they eat when pregnant affects their unborn child but now scientists believe that the diet of our mothers during pregnancy may even affect our predisposition to illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure in late life.
Studies with animals have shown a link between diet and the life long health of offspring but experiments with pregnant women or unborn children is clearly not possible. Researchers funded by the B
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