Compounds that occur naturally in cranberries may be good for the heart, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found.
Early results from studies indicate that feeding cranberry juice powder seems to relax and open blood vessels in pigs that are genetically susceptible to developing atherosclerosis, or clogged arteries. Kris Kruse-Elliott, a veterinary anesthesiologist at the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, presented her results at the American Physiolog
A powerful laboratory technique used by fruit fly geneticists for more than a decade is now available to scientists studying genes and diseases in mice.
Writing in the May 6 edition of the journal Cell, researchers from Stanford University describe a streamlined method for creating a “genetic mosaic mouse”–a rodent whose body is genetically engineered to produce small clusters of cells with mutated genes.
The new technique, called Mosaic Analysis with Double Markers (M
By designing a molecular bridge, scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have forged a successful pathway through a complex ocean of barriers: They’ve changed the function of a protein using a co-evolution approach.
In a study to be published in the Journal of Molecular Biology, doctoral student Zhilei Chen and Huimin Zhao, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, describe what they call a “simple and efficient method for creation of novel
Compared with a long-used linear model, a correlation-based statistical method is a more reliable way to map complex gene interactions and pinpoint genes that may be potential cancer treatment targets, according to new Brown University research.
The research is important because it describes a promising new tool for tracing human gene connections, a task critical for understanding and treating cancer and other diseases. Results appeared this week in the online edition of the P
By designing a molecular bridge, scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have forged a successful pathway through a complex ocean of barriers: They’ve changed the function of a protein using a co-evolution approach.
In a study to be published in the Journal of Molecular Biology, doctoral student Zhilei Chen and Huimin Zhao, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, describe what they call a “simple and efficient method for creation of novel prote
The humble snail is helping scientists at the University of Sussex to explore ways of treating memory loss in humans.
Drug manufacturers are looking at ways to create a “Viagra for the brain”, which could alleviate memory loss, one of the distressing symptoms of diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Work carried out by Dr George Kemenes, Senior Fellow in the Department of Biology and Environmental Science at the University of Sussex, will hopefully help to show how such drugs could
In their extraordinary annual migration from North America to Mexico, monarch butterflies are known to use the angle of polarized sunlight as a celestial guide to help them keep to a straight and true path southward. But details of their navigational machinery have remained a mystery.
Now, researchers, led by Steven Reppert of University of Massachusetts Medical School, Ivo Sauman of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Adriana Briscoe of the University of California at Irvine, have
’LPA receptors’ affect implantation of embryos in womb
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute are reporting that mice created to lack a certain type of molecule known as an LPA receptor have fertility problems, which suggests that these receptors play a major role in conception.
In the latest issue of the journal Nature, the scientists detail how mice that lack LPA receptors, which normally appear on the surface of cells in a mouse’s womb, have fe
Two infant boys whose bodies were overloaded with excess fluid have led UCSF pediatricians to the discovery of a new genetic disease. In the process, they have discovered a rare type of mutation where different substitutions in a single amino acid cause two different, opposite genetic disorders.
The new disorder, called Nephrogenic Syndrome of Inappropriate Antidiuresis (NSIAD), is described in the May 5 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. “This discovery gives bett
UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute study reveals new approach
Scientific theory holds that Huntington’s disease (HD) is caused by a mutant protein that arises within brain cells and kills them, triggering the genetic neurological disorder. Now a new UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute study reveals the first strong evidence that the mutant protein also elicits toxic interactions from neighboring cells to provoke the fatal brain disorder. The May 5 edition of Neuron reports the fi
Imagine discovering pandas in California or kangaroos in Argentina.
For David Wake, one of the world’s leading experts on amphibians and a professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley, an equivalent surprise was the recent discovery in Korea of a type of salamander that comprises the majority of species in the world, but is totally unknown in Asia and rare outside the Americas.
“I’ve discovered and named nearly 50 species of sa
Research has shown for the first time that human eggs may develop directly from cultured ovarian surface epithelium (OSE) cells derived from adult human ovaries. Oocytes derived from the culture of OSE cells developed in vitro into mature eggs suitable for fertilization and development into an embryo. These findings, published today in the Open Access journal Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology, offer important new strategies for use in in vitro fertilization and stem cell research, and cast
Penn researchers demonstrate that a metabolic enzyme works through the tumor-suppressor protein p53 to control cellular replication
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have identified in normal cells that a common metabolic enzyme, which acts as a rheostat of cellular conditions, also controls cell replication. This control is managed through p53, the much-studied protein implicated in many types of cancer. The discovery of the interaction between th
Duke University Medical Center researchers have discovered a gene responsible for one form of chronic kidney disease. The disease, called familial focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), can lead to complete kidney failure and affects 20 percent of patients on dialysis. The finding could lead to more effective treatments, according to the researchers.
By examining the genetic makeup of one large, multi-generational family with a dominant form of FSGS, the researchers linked
By deciphering the ingenious mechanism used by a particular enzyme to modify bacterial chromosome chemistry, scientists have come a step closer to designing a new kind of drug that could stop virulent bacterial infections in their tracks. Their research will be published in the May 6 issue of the journal Cell.
Scientists have known for many years that an enzyme called Dam (DNA adenine methyltransferase) plays a role in regulating gene expression in many bacteria. Each time t
While the field of human embryonic stem cell research receives a tremendous amount of public attention, many scientists are also exploring the potential of adult stem cells for possible therapies. But this field raises other difficulties. Although adult stem cell research isn’t fraught with the controversies that surround embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells are extremely difficult to isolate and then to multiply in a lab dish. Now, as reported in the May 6 issue of the journal Cell, resea
Feedback
