Genomics is being used for the first time to investigate the mystery of the ‘living fossil’ fish coelacanth, first dragged up along the coast of South Africa in 1938, having been considered extinct for 65 million years. Because of its close resemblance to land animals, it has attracted attention to the subject of a ‘missing link’ between tetrapods and humans. Dr. Chris Amemiya will be presenting his work on the generation and utilization of genomic resources for the Indonesian coelacanth on W
Biologists at Purdue University have determined the combined structure of a common-cold virus attached to a molecule that enables the virus to infect its host, information that ultimately may help researchers develop methods for treating certain viral infections.
Coxsackievirus A21 infects host cells first by recognizing a “receptor molecule” called ICAM-1, which is located on the cell’s surface, and then by anchoring itself to the molecule. ICAM-1 stands for intracellular adhes
Weizmann Institute scientists uncover a strategy that helps a plant-like, microscopic alga to happily proliferate in such inhospitable surroundings; their findings have unexpectedly shed light on the working of our own kidneys
Over the years, a number of Weizmann Institute scientists have addressed the question of how molecules essential to life, such as proteins, have adapted to function in extreme environments. The proteins they investigated were isolated from halophilic (salt-lo
Scientists in the Organic Chemistry Department of the Weizmann Institute of Science have caught a glimpse of platinum-based complexes ’walking’ a path to their destinations
Do metal complexes casually stroll around certain molecules prior to chemical reactions? Scientists in the Organic Chemistry Department of the Weizmann Institute of Science have caught a glimpse of platinum-based complexes “walking” a path to their destinations.
Many types of chemical reactions an
Weizmann Institute scientist develops a process that one day may yield a solution to the global wastepaper glut
One wouldn’t expect paper to be a major source of pollution: after all, it’s made from wood, which in nature breaks down into tiny components that re-enter the plant growth cycle. Yet without proper dampness and other conditions that are often missing in garbage dumps, paper fails to decompose for dozens of years. As a result, billions of tons of wastepaper cram the plan
A modification to an “ace” gene prediction program now enables scientists to predict the very beginnings of gene transcription start sites and where the first splice occurs thereby defining the first exon of the gene.
The modification to the gene prediction software TWINSCAN is called N-SCAN. Michael Brent, Ph.D. professor of computer science at Washington University in St. Louis, together with Samuel S. Gross, then an undergraduate at Washington University, and Randall H. Br
Ainara Lecumberri Munárriz recently defended her PhD thesis at the Public University of Navarre, in which the applicability of new inductors derived from camphor in asymmetric alkylation and Diels-Alder reactions was studied.
Spatially selective synthesis
Assymetric synthesis is the process by which the molecule is made to react solely on one side. This is of interest because carbons are tetrahedral and the properties of the molecules depend on how their atoms are sit
Is your cup of coffee suffering from fertility problems? If you’re drinking the instant variety it may very well be! The Robusta crop (Coffea canephora), which is the main variety for producing instant coffee, suffers from ’self-incompatibility’ so can’t pollinate itself. This presents a dilemma for coffee farmers who have to grow it in mixed plantings so that cross-pollination takes place – but which varieties to cross with which?
Sylvester Tumusiime (Unive
Researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health, have discovered a genetically controlled brain mechanism responsible for social behavior in humans–one of the most important but least understood aspects of human nature. The findings are reported in Nature Neuroscience, published online on July 10, 2005.
The study compared the brains of healthy volunteers to those with a genetic abnormality, Williams Syndrome, a rare diso
Finding may yield a new test to explain recurring infections
A newly discovered gene mutation may account for many cases of immune deficiency, in particular two syndromes known as immunoglobulin A (IgA) deficiency and Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVID), report researchers in the July issue of Nature Genetics. The discovery may lead to a new diagnostic test for these conditions, which make people highly susceptible to infections and often go unrecognized because of a lack
A team of University of Minnesota researchers has discovered how a gene that suppresses the development of melanoma and other human cancers works. The study points the way to treatments based on the function of the gene. The researchers, led by Zigang Dong, director of the university’s Hormel Institute in Austin, Minn., have applied for a patent on one such treatment. The work will be published online July 10 in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.
A critical event in th
Curcumin, the yellow pigment found in the spice turmeric and a key ingredient in yellow curry inhibits melanoma cell growth and stimulates tumor cell death, according to a new study. Published in the August 15, 2005 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study also elucidates curcumin’s intracellular mechanisms of action in this type of tumor.
As well as showing antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, curcumin has been shown to
Fakery is seen throughout the animal kingdom and is especially evident in the realm of mate selection and mating behavior. A puzzling behavior frequently observed in many species is copulation between males and females without the delivery of semen. In a world where reproduction is key to a species, survival, such behavior poses a real mystery. In a study that sheds new light on the evolution of sexual behavior, researchers have utilized a novel technique to reveal that in feral chickens, the s
A new study in the July 18 issue of The Journal of Experimental Medicine shows that gold-colored bacteria are more harmful than their unpigmented relatives. A group of scientists led by Victor Nizet (UCSD, San Diego, CA) have discovered that the molecules that give certain bugs their color also help them resist attack by immune cells called neutrophils.
Scientists and clinicians have known for many years that gold-colored strains of a bacterium called Staphylococcus aureus tend to be
UCSD scientist’s discovery suggest new way to fight antibiotic-resistant staphylococcus infections
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital and Health Center, San Diego have discovered that “Staph” bacteria use a protective golden armor to ward off the immune system, a finding with the potential to lead to new treatments for serious infections now increasingly resistant to standard antibiotics.
The resea
A molecule that helps the body’s motor nerve cells grow along proper paths during embryonic development also plays a major role in inhibiting spinal-cord neurons from regenerating after injury, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found. In cultured cells, the researchers found that a component of myelin – a substance that normally insulates and stabilizes long nerve fibers in adult vertebrates – chemically blocks the ability of nerve cells to grow through myelin that is releas
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