Unlike their cousins, rods and cones, newly discovered retinal cells don’t aid sight in a traditional sense. Instead, they constrict the eye’s pupil and set the body’s circadian clock. But new research from Brown University – where the photoreceptors were discovered by David Berson and colleagues – shows that these cells are sensitive to lighting conditions in a manner similar to rods and cones. Results appear in Neuron.
A new retinal photoreceptor adjusts its sensitivity in differe
The diversity of marine life in the Gulf of Maine region is much greater than previously thought
The Gulf of Maine Program of the Census of Marine Life, with the Huntsman Marine Science Center of St. Andrews, New Brunswick, announced today the first count of known marine species in the Gulf of Maine region — more than 50% larger than previous estimates. The count is 3,317 species and includes both year-round species and those that migrate to the region seasonally. The Canadian-US p
A laboratory method developed for making and analyzing cold, concentrated samples of a mysterious “floppy” molecule thought to be abundant only in outer space has revealed new data that help explain the molecule’s properties.
The advance, described in the Jan. 6 issue of Science,* is a step toward overcoming a decades-old challenge in chemistry–explaining reactions that occur within very cold clouds among the stars, and perhaps for developing new chemical processes. The paper
A protein that seems to be pivotal in lifting depression has been discovered by a Nobel Laureate researcher funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
“Mice deficient in this protein, called p11, display depression-like behaviors, while those with sufficient amounts behave as if they have been treated with antidepressants,” explained Paul Greengard, Ph.D., a Rockefeller University neuroscientist who received the 2000 Nobel Pri
Chemists have calculated the structure of a very unusual molecule, one whose hyperactive atoms have earned it the nickname “the scrambler.”
This highly caustic “protonated methane,” or CH5+, is also called a “super acid,” and it is a short-lived player in the chemical reactions that make petroleum products.
CH5+ should also be present in interstellar clouds where stars and planets form, said Anne B. McCoy, professor of chemistry at Ohio State University. McCoy hopes that th
The caspase-8 gene plays a critical role in suppressing metastasis (spread) of neuroblastoma, and the expression of this gene is frequently absent in cancer cells that are aggressively metastasizing, according to investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the University of California at San Diego (UCSD). Neuroblastoma is a tumor of the nervous system and is the most common tumor in infants younger than 1 year of age; it accounts for 7-10 percent of childhood cancers.
IRD researchers have succeeded in the first identification of bats as a potential natural reservoir of Ebola virus. Several epidemics of haemorrhagic fever have raged in the Republic of Congo and Gabon since 2001, hitting both humans and primates simultaneously. The virus transmission route from great apes to humans was already known, yet neither the natural reservoir nor the means of prior viral transmission to these primates had hitherto been identified.
Today scientists from
A team of cancer researchers has shown that a gene commonly lost during neuroblastoma tumor formation, one of the most aggressive cancers in babies and children, is in fact a “metastasis suppressor” gene. The researchers, from the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Medical Center and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, also describe how the gene, caspase 8, works.
The findings, published in the January 5 issue of the journal Nature, pr
Victorian Breast Cancer Research Consortium scientists from The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, using a mouse model, have discovered the rare stem cell that drives the formation of all breast tissue. This discovery lays an important foundation for understanding how normal breast tissue develops. The identification of the breast stem cell is also likely to provide clues about how breast cancer develops and how rogue cells evade current therapies.
Under normal circumstances, the newly
A groundbreaking study led by Northwestern University researchers has demonstrated that a protein called alphaB-crystallin, which normally protects cells from stress damage, triggers events that may cause breast cancer when overactive.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and is responsible for over 400,000 deaths annually in women throughout the world. Most of these deaths are the result of aggressive breast tumors that often fail to respond to current treatments.
Scientists at Northwestern University have determined the molecular structure of a viral protein, the parainfluenza virus 5 fusion (F) protein. The parainfluenza virus 5 is part of a family of viruses (paramyxoviruses) that causes everything from pneumonia, croup and bronchiolitis to cold-like illness and is responsible for many hospitalizations and deaths each year. The results will be published Jan. 5 by the journal Nature.
Details of the protein’s structure in its metastable sta
A technique developed at the University of California, San Diego that precisely creates and images blood clots in the brain in real time could make it possible to understand the small strokes implicated in many forms of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.
The study, published this week in the early on-line edition of the journal Public Library of Science Biology, represents a collaboration between the research groups of David Kleinfeld, professor of physics at UCSD, and Pa
High levels of amino acid may be linked to increased AMD risk
People who have elevated homocysteine in their blood, an amino acid that is a known biomarker for cardiovascular disease, may also be at an increased risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to a study in the January issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology. This research was conducted at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Devers Eye Institute in Portland, Ore.
In thi
Tekes has allocated three million euros to financing a project by the Tampere-based Regea Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the goal of which is to use stem cells in tissue-related technological applications.
“Stem cell research offers promising opportunities to develop new forms of cellular therapy for diseases formerly difficult to treat. Because of their important potential applications, stem cells have become a key focus of interest in biotechnology,” says Senior Technolog
Wendy and Jared Kennedy find it hard to take their eyes off their new daughter, Avery Lee, born in the early morning hours of Dec. 31 at the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center. Avery is special to them for many reasons, but she’s also special to the world. The 8 pound, 2 ounce baby girl is apparently the first baby born after being conceived with a frozen donor egg from a commercial egg bank.
Wendy, a 41-year-old nurse at the UK Markey Cancer Center, and Jared found they we
Professor Alan Cowman, Dr Brendan Crabb and their research teams at WEHI have identified how the most lethal malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, is able to disguise itself from the human immune system.
This discovery builds on the work published in the 9 April 2005 issue of the journal Cell, in which Professor Cowman and Dr Crabb reported that to avoid detection and destruction, the parasite controls expression of 60 key virulence genes, effectively disguising itself from th
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