Scouring the genome of a wild Mexican potato, scientists have discovered a gene that protects potatoes against late blight, the devastating disease that caused the Irish potato famine.
The discovery of the gene and its cloning by scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was reported today (July 14) in online editions of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The identification of the gene, found in a species of wild potato known as ´ Solanum bulboca
’The brain’s Timex’
Getting over jet lag may be as simple as changing the temperature –your brain temperature, that is.
That’s a theory proposed by Erik Herzog, Ph.D. assistant professor of biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. Herzog has found that the biological clocks of rats and mice respond directly to temperature changes.
Biological clocks, which drive circadian rhythms, are found in almost every living organis
’Lizards gone wild’
Despite social notions of race, human populations around the world are genetically so similar that geneticists find no different sub-species among them. The genetic continuity of human populations is the exception rather than the rule for most animal species, however.
Richard Glor, graduate evolutionary biology student in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has found extensive genetic differentiation among populations of numero
Over half of solid tumour patients analysed tested positive for cancer cell death
Cyclacel Limited, the UK-based biopharmaceutical company, reported today that it demonstrated through state-of-the-art biomarker technology that CYC202 (R-roscovitine), its lead CDK inhibitor drug candidate, appears to induce cancer cell suicide or apoptosis in patients receiving the drug. Details of the biomarker data obtained with CYC202 were reported today at an oral presentation at the American Asso
UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas researchers have taken the first step in defining the sites in human genes most prone to mutation, which eventually could lead to discovery of the genetic bases of many human diseases.
Their work will appear in an upcoming issue of the journal Gene and is currently available online.
Dr. Harold “Skip” Garner, professor of biochemistry and internal medicine, and his colleagues made their discovery while mining databases of coding single nucle
Scientists have used a technique called RNA interference to impair cancer cells’ ability to produce a key enzyme called telomerase. The enzyme, present in most major types of cancer cells, gives cells the lethal ability to divide rampantly without dying. The laboratory experiments create an opportunity for researchers who are focusing on telomerase in a bid to develop a drug like none ever developed – one capable of killing 85 percent of cancers
The research, led by Peter T. Rowley, M.
Remain a hematopoetic stem cell or become a specialized blood cell?
Hematopoietic stem cells, the mother of all blood cells, face a fundamental dilemma in their lives.
Each must either remain a hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) by renewing itself or it must transform into one of eight specialized types of blood cells, such as a red blood cell, a white blood cell or a platelet.
Until recently, scientists didn’t know how the essential cells, which exist in limited a
Aging has long been recognized as the worst risk factor for chronic ailments like atherosclerosis, which clogs arteries and leads to heart attacks and stroke. Yet, the mechanism by which aging promotes the clogging of arteries has remained an enigma.
Scientists at Duke University Medical Center have discovered that a major problem with aging is an unexpected failure of the bone marrow to produce progenitor cells that are needed to repair and rejuvenate arteries exposed to such environmental
Australian windpower technology is reaching out to a global market, as science, technology and industry come together in a new wind energy consulting company based in Canberra.
Former CSIRO scientists, Dr Keith Ayotte and Dr Nathan Steggel developed what is seen to be world’s best available wind resource technology, WindScape and Raptor NL.
Windscape is believed to be the leading wind mapping tool and enables power prospectors to find the windiest spots down to property boundaries
Thirty three marine species are poised to invade Australian waters, and could seriously alter the balance of marine life or even pose a risk to human health if they reach our coasts.
In an international response to the threat, researchers from CSIRO and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Maryland, have joined forces to develop a rapid response strategy to combat invasion.
CSIRO risk assessment scientists have identified the most damaging marine species from around the
During summertime ozone near the Earth’s surface forms in most major U.S. cities when sunlight and heat mix with car exhaust and other pollution, causing health officials to issue “ozone alerts.” But in other parts of the world, such as the tropical Atlantic, this low level ozone appears to originate naturally in ways that have left scientists puzzled. Now, NASA-funded scientists using four satellites can tell where low level ozone pollution comes from and whether it was manmade or natural.
Using XMM-Newton, astronomers have obtained the world’s deepest ‘wide screen’ X-ray image of the cosmos to date. Their observations show newly discovered clusters of galaxies and provide insights into the structure of the distant Universe…
Unlike grains of sand on a beach, matter is not uniformly spread throughout the Universe. Instead, it is concentrated into galaxies like our own which themselves congregate into clusters. These clusters are ‘strung’ throughout the Universe in a web-like st
Almost half the chance of developing acid reflux, which doctors refer to as GORD, may be down to our genes, and not just what we eat and drink, a twin study in Gut suggests.
Acid reflux (gastro-oesophageal reflux disease) is one of the most common digestive disorders in the developed world. It is thought that up to one in five people suffers from the characteristic heart burn and/or acid regurgitation every week. Regular sufferers are at increased risk of cancer of the gullet (oesophagus), n
People are becoming more tolerant of the use of cannabis, but there are still clear limits to what is acceptable in the area of illegal drug-taking, according to new research funded by the ESRC.
Views about cannabis have shifted considerably over the past two decades, with 41 per cent of Britons now supporting its legalisation – up from just 12 per cent in 1983. However, very few (eight per cent) endorse the view that adults should be free to take any drugs they wish, says the report into
Researchers at the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center have demonstrated a new way to target and choke off the blood supply to cancerous liver tumors in mice. The new method inhibited liver tumor growth and extended survival in mice by blocking a receptor on blood vessel endothelial cells that triggers blood vessel growth. Blocking this “Tie2” receptor worked as well as or better than naturally occurring proteins that inhibit blood vessel growth in tumors, the study showed.
The new study comes
Findings could improve retinal and other nervous system transplants
For the first time scientists have shown that brain stem cells are immune privileged, which means that they are invisible to a transplant recipient’s immune system and do not trigger the immune system to reject them. These results, published in the July issue of Stem Cells, indicate that using central nervous system stem cells in transplants for diseases of the eye (which is part of the brain), brain, and spinal
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