The phoenix is a bird in Egyptian mythology that lived in the desert for 500 years. Like the phoenix, hibernating animals have a mechanism for hindering the aging process, which can be transferred to other animal species. This discovery is made by biophysicists from Moscow Region supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research.
The research team from the Institute of Cell Biophysics and Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics of Russian Academy of Sciences has
A team of University of Glasgow scientists have received a grant of £800,000 from the Wellcome Trust to research a mechanism that blocks a critical step in the replication cycle of retroviruses. In the long term, the research could lead to the design of new therapeutic strategies or drugs against retroviruses, which cause diseases such as AIDS and certain leukemias.
Mammals have evolved several mechanisms to fight viral infections, and insight into how humans and animals successfu
Aiming to thwart persistent bacterial infections and better control group behaviors of certain microorganisms, scientists are creating artificial chemicals that infiltrate and sabotage bacterial “mobs.”
Reporting the work here today (March 13) at the 229th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, University of Wisconsin-Madison chemistry professor Helen Blackwell described the ongoing construction of a new class of molecules that conduct such chemical warfare.
T
Temple University researchers have developed a new drug that halts cancer cell division, instigating tumor death. The drug works by interfering with the activity of a gene called Plk1 and is now in phase I clinical trials for human cancer therapy. Their research is published in the March issue of Cancer Cell.
Plk1 is one of several molecules that play a critical role in the spread of cancer. Previous studies have found higher levels of Plk1 in cancer tumors and in patients with poo
Possible applications for solar cells and other small-scale circuits
Learning how to control the movement of electrons on the molecular and nanometer scales could help scientists devise small-scale circuits for a wide variety of applications, including more efficient ways of storing and using solar energy. Marshall Newton, a theoretical chemist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, will present at talk at the 229th National Meeting of the American
Deliberately spreading disease among the enemy has been occasionally practiced over hundreds of years. But modern bioterrorism is more chilling than ever because of rapidly expanding knowledge about infectious diseases and biotoxins and their potential to wreak havoc in complex, interdependent societies. The nation is in the process of developing a strong microbial forensic program to attribute and prosecute such attacks, and perhaps deter them.
The opportunities and challenges f
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California are reporting today at the 229th national meeting of the American Chemical Society progress toward the creation of a system for replicating a modified form of DNA containing an unnatural base pair.
According to the Scripps Research scientists, this finding is a significant step towards expanding the genetic code and the ability of DNA to act as an information storage and retrieval system in the test tube and in
Rhesus monkeys consider whether someone can or cannot see them when trying to steal food, indicating they have the ability to reason about the mental states of others, according to a study published this month in Current Biology.
In each of six experiments, two people stood in front of a platform, each with a grape attached to the platform. The experiments created competitive conditions, the monkeys were competing with the humans for the grapes.
The 115 monkeys tested only
Pancreatic cancer kills 30,000 Americans every year. Not only is there no cure, but there are no effective treatments. That may change if a new finding by Mayo Clinic researchers continues to show promise. In the March 15 issue of the journal Cancer Research, (http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/future/65.6.shtml) investigators describe discovering a key molecule that controls the growth, spread and survival of pancreatic cancer cells. This is a critical first step toward developing new and better
What makes a man behave like a man and a woman a woman? The answer may be partly in your genes. Researchers at the University of Virginia Health System have discovered a new twist on the role that estrogens play in the development of behavioral differences between males and females.
In laboratory tests on mice, the researchers found evidence that an estrogen receptor in the hypothalamus called ERb regulates defeminization, a process by which males lose the ability to display femal
A group of plants that uses metal to defend against infection may do so because the normal defense mechanism used by most other plants is blocked.
Purdue University researchers found that this group of plants produces, but does not respond to, the molecule that triggers the infection response used by nearly all other plants. The molecule does, however, allow this group of plants, called metal hyperaccumulators, to store high levels of metal in their tissues, rendering them pat
Researchers in Sweden have discovered that growth hormone (GH) treatment may result in the reduction of multiple metabolic disorders associated with abdominal obesity in postmenopausal women. Published in today in the March issue of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, these findings demonstrate the important role growth hormone treatment may play in reducing serious metabolic conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease.
Typically, GH is known for its importa
Data may help develop strategies for mining natural gas locked up in seafloor sediments
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have recreated the high-pressure, low-temperature conditions of the seafloor in a tabletop apparatus for the study of methane-hydrates, an abundant but currently out-of-reach source of natural gas trapped within sediments below the ocean floor. Michael Eaton, a Stony Brook University graduate student working for Brook
Ask Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering Camilla Kao to describe a bacterium, and she’ll compare it to a factory capable of producing antibiotics, immunosuppressants and anti-cancer drugs that no chemist can synthesize. Bacteria normally produce antibiotics to inhibit other bacterial strains competing for resources. Pharmaceutical companies exploit this property to manufacture drugs, but the process of cultivating bacteria is slow and costly. By hijacking molecular synthesis with the
If you have ever covered a flashlight with your hand and seen the red light that still comes through, then you have seen light in the therapeutic window – that magic wavelength that is not absorbed or reflected away by tissue. Scientists believe that they can use light at that wavelength to signal manmade molecules to release drugs at disease sites in the body.
Such possibilities will be discussed in a poster and a talk by Virginia Tech researchers presenting at the 229th Americ
As tattoos have grown in popularity, so have complaints of adverse side effects associated with both their application and removal. A new study, done by chemistry students at Northern Arizona University, looked at the chemical composition of a variety of tattoo inks to better understand their potential health risks.
The findings, presented today at the 229th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society, suggest that closer regulat
Feedback
