Duke University Medical Center researchers have developed a combination immune suppression and thymus transplantation technique to save infants born with complete DiGeorge Syndrome, a fatal genetic disorder.
Babies with complete DiGeorge Syndrome have no thymus, a gland important in the maturation of T cells — specialized immune cells that help protect the body against viruses, bacteria and other pathogens. The thymus teaches T cells to fight infection while not attacking the infant
Everyone knows not to get between a mother and her offspring. What makes these females unafraid when it comes to protecting their young may be low levels of a peptide, or small piece of protein, released in the brain that normally activates fear and anxiety, according to new research published in the August issue of Behavioral Neuroscience.
“We see this fierce protection of offspring is so many animals,” says Stephen Gammie, a University of Wisconsin-Madison assistant professor of zo
Virginia Tech has a second Amorphophallus titanum, or “corpse plant,” ready to bloom and emit its intensely powerful stench. People are invited to tie bandanas over their noses and come see the rare and unusual plant.
The horticulture greenhouse containing the plant is open to visitors Monday through Friday, July 26-30, and August 2-6, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The likely date for the plant to bloom is Wednesday, Aug. 4, said Scott Rapier, greenhouse manager in the Department of Horticul
Scientists have developed a new screening technique to help them look for genes that change patients’ responses to cancer drugs and other medications.
Researchers looking for such connections confront an enormous hunting ground of approximately 33,000 human genes. Normally their only options for mounting a search in such a vast field are either to rely on anecdotal reports of dramatically altered patient reactions, or to conduct extensive surveys of the genes for all the proteins kn
Nature can reset the clock in certain types of cancer and reverse many of the elements responsible for causing malignancy, reports a research team led by Whitehead Institute Member Rudolf Jaenisch, in collaboration with Lynda Chin from Dana Farber Cancer Institute. The team demonstrated this by successfully cloning mice from an advanced melanoma cell.
“This settles a principal biological question,” says Jaenisch, who also is a professor of biology at MIT. “The epigenetic elements of cancer
Much like moving furniture around to create more space, cells dramatically rearrange their entire genome in order to allow the right genes to be turned on at the right time, new research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows.
This extensive chromosomal “remodeling” is accomplished by moving DNA packaging structures called nucleosomes to different spots in the genome. Once a nucleosome is moved from a site, the appropriate gene then can be expressed much more effici
When molecules in cells are stimulated by light, they respond by becoming excited and re-emitting light of varying colors (fluorescence) that can be captured and measured by highly sensitive optical equipment.
Now, researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the University of Southern California are developing miniaturized spectroscopic instruments and computer software to take a real-time look at biochemical, functional and structural changes occurring within the cells and tissu
The fact that each white whale has individual voice is established by Russian scientists conducting research in the White Sea. Differences between white whales’ voices can be used in estimating their number.
“White whale individuals can be distinguished by the sound of voice practically like humans,” – tell V.M. Bel’kovich and S.A. Kreichi from the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology. The scientists observe the animals every year in the White Sea by the Bolshoi Solovetskii Isl
Isolated soy protein added to the diets of 14 men, all military veterans under treatment for advanced stages of type 2 diabetes, significantly lowered unwanted proteins in their urine and slightly raised desired HDL cholesterol levels in their blood, researchers say.
The two improved areas are linked to kidney disease and coronary heart disease, respectively, in patients with type 2 diabetes. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that 18 million Americans have diabetes, with more than 9
Hotspots in two areas of a gene that encodes a specific signaling enzyme, or kinase, are vulnerable to a variety of mutations found in five types of brain cancers, according to a report published in the August 1 issue of the journal Cancer Research.
Mutations in the gene PIK3CA occur spontaneously as part of the brain tumor development rather than being passed genetically between generations, said Hai Yan, M.D., Ph.D., the senior scientist of the studies conducted by a collaborativ
Scientists at The Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids), Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) have made the unexpected discovery that significant differences can exist in the overall content of DNA and genes contained in individual genomes. These findings, which point to possible new explanations for individual uniqueness as well as why disease develops, are published in the September 2004 issue of the scientific journal Nature Genetics (available online August 1
Independent research groups have discovered novel therapeutic targets in the battle of the bulge
Independent research groups have discovered novel therapeutic targets in the battle of the bulge. By altering the expression of a single — albeit different – gene, Drs. Roger Davis (UMASS Medical School, USA) and Ying-Hue Lee (Academia Sinica, Taiwan) have succeeded in creating two different strains of transgenic mice that don’t gain weight, even when fed fat-laden, high calorie die
Herbivores’ fear of predators influences vegetation growth, ecologists state
The 1995 reintroduction of wolves in the northern range of Yellowstone National Park has led to increased growth of willow and cottonwood in the park by causing fear responses in elk and other ungulates, according to William J. Ripple and Robert L. Beschta of Oregon State University in Corvallis. Ripple and Beschta, writing in the August 2004 issue of BioScience, argue that fear of predation when wolves are present
Scientists have rendered the first gene and protein networks of human aging, an important step in understanding the genetic mechanisms of aging. The work led by Joao Pedro de Magalhaes from Harvard Medical School is detailed in the July 30 issue of FEBS Letters.
The work involved the integration of all genes, in both humans and animal models, previously shown to influence aging. By using a combination of bibliographic information and modern high-throughput genomics, employing softwa
Scientists studying a whale carcass in Monterey Canyon recently announced the discovery of two new species of unique worms that feed on the bones of dead whales. In the July 30 issue of Science, the researchers describe these worms, whose bodies and feeding strategies differ from those of any other known animal. The worms have no eyes, legs, mouths, or stomachs, but they do have colorful feathery plumes and green “roots.” They use the roots to infiltrate the bones of dead whales, digesting the fats
UCSF scientists are reporting what they say is compelling evidence that the infectious agent known as prion is composed solely of protein. Their findings promise to create new tools for early diagnosis of prions causing bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or “mad cow” disease, in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in people, they say. The researchers believe that their work may also help advance investigations of more common neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’
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