A pickle-shaped root is revealing how plants develop from embryos to adults and also may hold answers about cancer cell growth.
Purdue University researchers have uncovered nine specific genes that are shut off before plants make the developmental transition from the embryonic stage to adulthood. Results of the latest study are published in the July issue of The Plant Journal.
“We now have data supporting the hypothesis that the gene PKL is a master regulator of genes that pr
Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have found new support for the age-old advice to “sleep on it.” Mice allowed to sleep after being trained remembered what they had learned far better than those deprived of sleep for several hours afterward.
The researchers also determined that the five hours following learning are crucial for memory consolidation; mice deprived of sleep five to 10 hours after learning a task showed no memory impairment. The results are reported in the May/June i
Independent research groups have uncovered a new class of proteins, called the chaplins, that function like amyloid fibrils to allow reproductive growth in the bacterium Streptomyces coelicolor. Amyloid proteins are most commonly recognized for their role in Alzheimer’s disease, where they aggregate into insoluble, mesh-like plaques in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. This finding reveals an unprecedented role for amyloid-like proteins in Gram-positive bacteria.
S. coelicolor i
Working from their university labs in two different corners of the world, U.S. and Australian researchers have created what they call a new class of creative beings, “the semi-living artist” – a picture-drawing robot in Perth, Australia whose movements are controlled by the brain signals of cultured rat cells in Atlanta.
Gripping three colored markers positioned above a white canvas, the robotic drawing arm operates based on the neural activity of a few thousand rat neurons placed in a spec
Researchers have developed a promising new approach for gene therapy of inherited blood disorders that may help overcome therapeutically limiting human stem cell gene transfer efficiency. This method would be applicable to patients with beta-thalassemia, a potentially life-threatening blood disease, as well as other genetic blood disorders, according to a study published in the July 15th issue of Blood. By transplanting beta-thalassemic mice with stem cells treated with MGMT (methylguanine methyltran
The problem is, pigs and other animals do fly
A consortium of scientists from the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society announced this week that one way to reduce the risks of future SARS-like diseases is to control wildlife markets. Specifically, markets selling wild animals for their meat not only threaten wildlife populations, but also present a grave threat to humans. A recent example of the problem is the suspected link between wildlife markets in China and the outbreak of
A non-invasive test which allows faster, cheaper, and less risky prenatal genetic screening was announced by Australian researchers at the International Genetics Congress in Melbourne today.
The new test can also be performed much earlier in pregnancy, say its developers Dr Ian Findlay and Mr Darryl Irwin of the Australian Genome Research Facility in Brisbane. It should open the opportunity of prenatal genetic testing to a wider group of women. “This test will focus conventional prenatal te
A better life is in reach for children with a rare genetic disorder that puts their lives at risk when exposed to the Sun. But a new protection suit derived from ESA space technology promises to let them play safely in daylight.
About 300 people – mostly children – across Europe have been diagnosed with the genetic disorder xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), causing extreme sensitivity to the Sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays. Patients cannot go outside in daylight, except with special protection – all U
NASA launched its second Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, late Monday night aboard a Delta II launch vehicle whose bright glare briefly illuminated Florida Space Coast beaches.
Opportunity’s dash to Mars began with liftoff at 11:18:15 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (8:18:15 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
The spacecraft separated successfully from the Delta’s third stage 83 minutes later, after it had been boosted out of Earth orbit
First evidence of neurochemical basis for obstructive sleep apnea and REM behavior disorder found
The first tantalizing clues that chemical imbalances in the brain may be partly to blame for certain life-disrupting sleep disorders are being reported in two new studies by University of Michigan Health System researchers.
In two papers in the July 8 issue of the journal Neurology, the team reports apparent links between deficits in brain chemistry and obstructive sleep apnea (
HIV inactivates the body’s cellular smart bomb
HIV eludes one of the body’s key smart bomb defenses against infection, and this finding may lay the groundwork for new drugs to treat AIDS, according to a new Salk Institute study.
Nathaniel Landau, a Salk Institute associate professor, and his team have pinpointed how the body battles HIV, a tremendously complex and relentless virus. Their findings appear in the online issue of Cell and will be published in the July
When you nod your head to signal approval or shake your head to show disapproval, it’s not just sending a message to others – you may also be influencing yourself.
A new study showed that these simple movements influenced people’s agreement with an editorial they heard while nodding or shaking their head. Researchers found that other body movements – such as writing with a non-dominant hand – can also influence attitudes, even about important issues such as self-esteem.
And
Researchers have new answers as to why some HIV-infected individuals don’t progress to full-blown AIDS as rapidly as other HIV-positive people.
Northwestern University scientist Steven M. Wolinsky, M.D., and colleagues found that individuals with certain rare variations, or alleles, of two immune system genes — human leukocyte antigens A and B (HLA-A and HLA-B) — are better equipped to stave off HIV than people with more common sets of HLA alleles.
This finding indic
Warming resulted in part fromfrom human activity
A group of leading climate scientists has reaffirmed the “robust consensus view” emerging from the peer reviewed literature that the warmth experienced on at least a hemispheric scale in the late 20th century was an anomaly in the previous millennium and that human activity likely played an important role in causing it. In so doing, they refuted recent claims that the warmth of recent decades was not unprecedented in the context of the
Technical insights’ advanced coatings and surface technology alert
The recently developed method of crystal ion slicing (CIS) is rapidly gathering interest and attention as a novel way of successfully obtaining single-crystal thin films.
The excellent opto-electrical properties of barium titanate, BaTiO3, make this ferroelectric crystal eminently suitable for applications such as capacitors, pyroelectric detectors, and nonlinear optics. These films possess high dielectric c
Not looks or money but rather life-long fidelity is what most people seek in an ideal mate, according to a Cornell University behavioral study that also confirmed the “likes-attract” theory: We tend to look for the same characteristics in others that we see in ourselves.
The study began when Cornell University students in an animal-behavior class conducted a scientific survey of 978 heterosexual residents of Ithaca, N.Y., ages 18-24. Hoping to learn whether likes attract, students asked the
Feedback
