UH Research Aims to Understand How Mistakes In DNA Replication Lead To Disease
Studies at the University of Houston are shedding light on the mechanisms our bodies use to recognize and repair mistakes in our genetic code, mistakes that, left unchecked, could lead to cancer.
DNA is the body’s blueprint found in every cell, and it carries all our genetic information. Every time a living cell divides to make new cells, it must first make a copy of its DNA, or transcribe it, si
An international research team led by Drs. Berge Minassian and Stephen Scherer of The Hospital for Sick Children (HSC) and the University of Toronto (U of T) has identified a gene responsible for the most severe form of teenage-onset epilepsy, known as Lafora disease (LD). The discovery is reported in the September issue of the scientific journal Nature Genetics.
“Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders affecting over 40 million people worldwide,” said Dr. Berge Minassian,
St. Petersburg researchers have designed an original thermometer for fast-moving electrons in thermonuclear reactors. The laser beam in this device is used to instantly determine the temperature of burning hot plasma, at frequencies required for precise diagnostics.
This device is a further step forward to controlled nuclear fusion. The device will help researchers to get precise information about energy distribution of hot plasma electrons inside the tokamac – the most promising current pro
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the heart and lungs is a valuable diagnostic tool in the medical industry, but the detailed images it produces are often marred by artefacts (unwanted signals) created by the motion of cardiac and respiratory cycles.
A team of inventors at Oxford University has now developed a method of suppressing MRI artefacts to a negligible level. This has potential to allow more precise conclusions to be made from a small number of experimental trials, with obvious po
Inventors at Oxford University have developed a new method to indirectly measure the surface tension of liquid by tracking reflected light intensity to assess the surface configuration. The procedure is reliable, repeatable, quick to set-up and use, contact-less and non-destructive.
Surface tension measurement is an important tool in the characterisation of surface-active liquids and mixtures. Although precise, traditional measuring methods suffer from several problems. With well-established
Millions of dollars are being spent unnecessarily each year on treatments for high blood pressure says research published this week in BMC Health Services Research. Vast amounts could be saved if doctors prescribed thiazides, the recommended and cheapest drugs, rather than expensive alternatives.
Atle Fretheim and his colleagues from the Norwegian Directorate for Health and Social Affairs estimated the potential annual savings for six countries if thiazides were prescribed whenever there was
Scientists from the Institute for Animal Health announced progress towards controlling the deadly E. coli bacterium that causes food poisoning and kidney failure, today, Monday 8 September 2003, at the Society for General Microbiology’s meeting at UMIST in Manchester.
“This bacterium, E. coli O157, is passed on by eating meat and dairy products or through contact with dung from infected animals. It is the leading cause of acute kidney failure in children in the UK,” says Dr Mark Stevens fro
Stuffing yourself with good bacteria could prevent repeat attacks from bugs responsible for ulcers and stomach upsets, according to scientists from the University of Reading. Food scientist Belinda O’’Grady is presenting the research today, Monday 8 September 2003, at the Society for General Microbiology’s meeting at UMIST in Manchester.
“We wondered whether prevention really is better than cure,” says Ms O’’Grady, of the University of Reading, “There is a school of thoug
Knowing how bacteria of different types swap genes is vitally important to regulators trying to decide how safe genetically modified organisms are, but so far the way genes are transferred naturally is poorly understood. Research presented today, Monday 8 September 2003, by scientists from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology at the Society for General Microbiology’s meeting at UMIST provides some of the missing information.
“We all know that bacteria have an incr
A study conducted by University of Utah genetics researchers shows that the steroid hormone ecdysone controls an important phase in the embryonic development of insects, providing an unexpected parallel with the role of the hormone in controlling metamorphosis. The study’s findings also give scientists new insights into how steroids control maturation in higher organisms.
Carl S. Thummel, Ph.D., a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and professor of human genetics at the Unive
A team of scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has identified more than 50 previously unknown proteins and associates several of them with rare human muscle and nerve degeneration diseases. The team is publishing their findings this week in the journal Science.
Led by TSRI Professors Larry Gerace and John R. Yates III, the team used a technique called subtractive proteomics to identify 62 new proteins in the inner nuclear membrane of the human cell. The team demonstrated that
Drugs that contain antibodies are a standard part of therapy for many cancers, but these antibodies do not always work. A finding by researchers with the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Iowa may help make the antibodies more effective by boosting the power of white blood cells, which play a role in fighting cancer.
One way that antibodies ideally function is to stick to cancer cells and signal various types of white blood cells to kill the cancer cells. The UI Holden
An unusual collaboration between a University of Iowa cardiologist and cancer biologists at the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the UI, the Scripps Research Institute in California and Kanagawa Cancer Center Hospital and Research Center in Japan utilized a multidisciplinary approach to learn more about how aggressive cancer cells function and how they differ from poorly aggressive cancer cells. The study, which appears in the Sept. 1 issue of Cancer Research, may also suggest potential new ther
Findings could influence design of anticancer and antimicrobial drugs
Chemists and biologists at Northwestern University have acquired new insight into how a specialized sensor protein, which acts as an early warning system, detects dangerous amounts of the “coinage metals” — silver, gold and copper — inside cells. For the first time, researchers can explain this important mechanism at the atomic level.
The findings, to be published Sept. 5 in the journal Science and rece
An IBM study released today reveals that companies in the electronics industry who adopt a flexible, adaptive, on-demand business model can produce up to twice the revenue per employee and more than twice the operating income per employee than less mature companies.
According to the study, The On Demand Outlook for the Electronics Industry, average revenue per employee for electronics companies surveyed for the period 1998-2002 was about US$300,000 for companies implementing on-deman
To do their jobs, water resource managers in the Columbia River Basin have mostly relied on data from sparsely located ground stations among the Cascade Mountains in the Pacific Northwest. But now, NASA and partnering agencies are going to provide United States Bureau of Reclamation water resource managers with high resolution satellite data, allowing them to analyze up-to-date water-related information over large areas all at once.
The pilot program is now underway with the Rio Grande and
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