Researchers discover gene in cancer-causing “STAT” family encodes two -not one-functional proteins
When the Human Genome Project first revealed last year that humans possess only an estimated 30,000 genes – fives times more than a mustard weed plant – the fact that many genes code for more than just one protein assumed greater importance. Such protein variations, researchers reasoned, must play an even larger role in contributing to the remarkable complexity of human beings.
A pediatrician at Brenner Children’s Hospital has developed an efficient way to help educate health care professionals on herbal and dietary supplements via the Internet, according to a study published in the September issue of Academic Medicine.
Kathi Kemper, M.D., a pediatrician at Brenner Children’s Hospital, worked with physicians from the Longwood Herbal Task Force to develop a series of e-mails containing information and questions about various herbal and dietary supplements.
Scientists in the Center for Human Genomics at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions have discovered a gene that “may play an important role in prostate cancer susceptibility in both African-American men and men of European descent.”
The 31-member team reports in the October issue of Nature Genetics that mutations in the MSR1 (for Macrophage Scavenger Receptor 1) gene were found in 4.4 percent of Caucasians who had prostate cancer, compared to 0.8 p
Discovery could lead to the identification of other cancer-preventing compounds
Using gene chip technology, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have identified the blueprint of genes and enzymes in the body that enable sulforaphane, a compound found in broccoli and other vegetables, to prevent cancer and remove toxins from cells. The discovery was made using a “gene chip” that allows researchers to monitor the complex interactions of thousands of protein
Researchers at Stanford University Medical Center have devised a way to sneak DNA into skin cells taken from people with a potentially deadly genetic skin disorder. These modified cells later formed normal, healthy skin when transplanted onto the skin of mice. The technique, published in the advance online publication of the October issue of the journal Nature Medicine, marks the first time researchers have stably replaced the mutated gene in this disease and introduces a new gene therapy technique t
Scientists may soon have a better idea of the potential effects of global warming thanks to the work of Tony O’Hagan, Professor of Statistics at the University of Sheffield.
Scientists already know that global warming will have consequences for the earth but are unsure how mild or severe these effects may be, due to the inaccuracies in their prediction models. Professor O’Hagan’s method will allow scientists to better determine these inaccuracies and has major significance in the world of
Cancer develops from a single damaged cell subsequent to an accumulation of genetic errors in a number of its genes. The nature of these alterations and the order in which they occur differ from one cancer to another : hence, the “pathways” that may lead to cancer are numerous.
CNRS and INSERM researchers at the Institut Curie have just discovered a new tumor development pathway in colon cancer, one of the most common forms of cancer (35,000 new cases every year in France).
This
A study by the coordinator of the Research Group on Climate at the Barcelona Science Park, University of Barcelona, Dr Xavier Rodó, and other researchers at the University of Michigan and the International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Bangladesh, provides evidence not only that climatic variation associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) affects the appearance of cholera epidemics, as shown by a previous publication in Science by the same group, but also that the relationsh
The use of drugs/pharmaceuticals in cattle rearing is the object of a recent study, carried out by two researchers from the Centro de Estudos Farmacêuticos, Laboratório de Bromatologia, Hidrologia e Nutrição (Pharmaceutical Study Centre, Bromatology, Hydrology and Nutrition Laboratory) at the Pharmacy Faculty of Coimbra University. The consequences for consumers are, from a public health standpoint, the most significant conclusions to take from an exhaustive work of literary revision in these matters
While the spread of imported fire ants has received much public attention, another invader has been quietly sucking the juices from plants in our lawns and fields: a legless mealybug. In a recent study published in the September issue of the peer-reviewed journal Ecology, scientists have discovered that these bugs may be a possible key to the success of the infamous invasive fire ants.
“Widespread association of the invasive ant Solenopsis invicta with an invasive mealybug,” a study by Ken
Researchers confirm that waters migrating from the surface can take many tens of thousands of years to reach the water table
A team of researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California has confirmed that in drier regions, waters migrating from the surface can take many tens of thousands of years to reach the water table. Since such waters began their underground migration at the time of the last ice age, they hold a scientific and historical record of global climate
The same sanitizing agent used to rid federal office buildings of anthrax – chlorine dioxide gas – can effectively eliminate deadly bacteria from apples and other fruits and vegetables, according to Purdue University researchers.
Scientists at Purdue began experiments using the gas to kill pathogens found on food long before anthrax was detected in mail sent to offices in New York and Washington, D.C., shortly after the terrorist attacks one year ago. The latest university test measured how
The National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research has recommended adding the cow, the dog and the ciliate Oxytricha to the high-priority list of model organisms that should be considered for genome sequencing as capacity becomes available. Cow and dog join a growing group of high priority animals that includes chimpanzee, chicken and honeybee. Sequencing projects on the human, mouse and rat genomes are progressing rapidly, making sequencing capability supported by the National Human Genome Rese
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have successfully immobilized enzymes while simultaneously enhancing their activity and stability, opening up new possibilities for using tailored nanoporous materials. The findings, reported in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society (available online Aug. 28), could enable the development of novel sensor and decontamination systems for homeland security, environmental protection and energy
Structural studies of the protein produced by the BRCA2 gene, which is implicated in the development of hereditary breast and ovarian cancers, reveal that the protein is intimately involved in repairing damaged DNA.
DNA-repair proteins perform a vital function and protect against potentially catastrophic events such as cancer-causing mutations or chromosome rearrangements, which are hallmarks of tumor cells.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Nikola P. Pavletich and his co
Analysis uncovers unusual earthquake-related deformation, paves the way for methods to identify new active faults
On Oct. 16, 1999, approximately 37 miles from Palm Springs, Calif., a magnitude 7.1 earthquake ripped through 28 miles of faults in the Mojave Desert. Because of the area’s sparse population and development, the massive quake caused virtually no major measurable injuries or destruction.
Yet the “Hector Mine” event, named after a long-abandoned mine in the area, ha
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