Working with blue crabs, biologists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered what may turn out to be a previously unrecognized, fundamental and widespread support mechanism in crabs, lobsters, insects and other arthropods that periodically shed their hard external skeletons.
Doctoral student Jennifer R.A. Taylor and William M. Kier, professor of biology, have found that rather than being flaccid and mostly immobile after molting, crabs switch to what’s called
Researchers at the University of Virginia Health System have defined a molecular mechanism by which the activity of low-voltage-activated calcium channels can be decreased. Low-voltage-activated, T-type calcium channels are found in many types of tissue and alterations in their activity can contribute to several pathological conditions, including congestive heart failure, hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, epilepsy and neuropathic pain. The findings will be published in the July 10 edition of Nature.
As the old Hawaiian love song says, tiny bubbles really do make some people feel fine. Chemists, that is. But there is no wine involved this time, just water.
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) chemists reported in the June 24 online edition of Langmuir that a process called microboiling shows promise for quick, simple and inexpensive chemical sensing. The process involves the formation of tiny vapor bubbles on a 200-nanometer-thick film of precious metal immersed in wat
New study discovers unusual structural features implicated in disease
A detailed analysis of the reference sequence of chromosome 7 has uncovered structural features that appear to promote genetic changes that can cause disease, researchers from the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium said today.
In a study published in the July 10 issue of the journal Nature, a multi-institution team, led by the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, reported it
Scientists have long thought gene exchange between individuals of unrelated species to be an extremely rare event among eukaryotes — the massive group of organisms that counts among its members humans, oak trees, kelp and mushrooms — throughout the group’s 2 billion year history.
But a new Indiana University Bloomington study in this week’s Nature suggests that such genetic events, called horizontal gene transfers, have happened more often than previously thought during the evol
Researchers from Cornell University have developed a miniaturized DNA-based biological testing system that fits on a silicon chip and can be customized to detect a wide variety of microorganisms. They present their research today at the American Society for Microbiology’s (ASM) Conference on Bio- Micro- Nano-systems.
The chip consists of two areas. The first area captures the DNA from the sample and purifies it. The second is a reaction chamber where a process called polymerase chain react
Today the Commission adopted a proposal for guidelines on EU-funded human embryonic stem cell research. The EU 6th Research Framework Programme (FP6 2003-2006), as adopted by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament in 2002, allows for the funding of human embryonic stem cell research in relation to the fight against major diseases.
Such research, in particular when it involves the derivation of stem cells from human supernumerary embryos, can only take place within a fra
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers have discovered a prime regulator of the mechanism by which human cells migrate in health and in illness, a process crucial to sustaining life.
Their work helps explain how cells can stick to a surface long enough to pull themselves and move forward and then release that grip so that they can continue and not be anchored to one spot.
Cai Huang, a graduate student about to complete his doctorate in cell and developmental biolo
Independent research groups have uncovered a new class of proteins, called the chaplins, that function like amyloid fibrils to allow reproductive growth in the bacterium Streptomyces coelicolor. Amyloid proteins are most commonly recognized for their role in Alzheimer’s disease, where they aggregate into insoluble, mesh-like plaques in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. This finding reveals an unprecedented role for amyloid-like proteins in Gram-positive bacteria.
S. coelicolor i
Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have found new support for the age-old advice to “sleep on it.” Mice allowed to sleep after being trained remembered what they had learned far better than those deprived of sleep for several hours afterward.
The researchers also determined that the five hours following learning are crucial for memory consolidation; mice deprived of sleep five to 10 hours after learning a task showed no memory impairment. The results are reported in the May/June i
A pickle-shaped root is revealing how plants develop from embryos to adults and also may hold answers about cancer cell growth.
Purdue University researchers have uncovered nine specific genes that are shut off before plants make the developmental transition from the embryonic stage to adulthood. Results of the latest study are published in the July issue of The Plant Journal.
“We now have data supporting the hypothesis that the gene PKL is a master regulator of genes that pr
Scientists from Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a strategy that could one day be used to create functional human organs such as kidneys and livers. They present their research today at the American Society for Microbiology’s conference on Bio- Micro- Nano-systems.
The technique involves creating a network of microscopic tubes that branch out in a pattern, similar to that seen in the circulatory system, to provide oxygen and nutrients
Scientists have discovered a single gene that gives the vinegar fly resistance to a range of pesticides, including DDT, but warn it could spell disaster if found in pest insect species.
The geneticists from the University of Melbourne fear that should this mutation arise in pest insects, the world will need to rethink its overall control strategies.
The researchers are part of the Centre for Environmental Stress and Adaptation Research (CESAR) a special research centre that includ
A University of Melbourne research team has overturned 30 years of dogma on how a cell transports calcium, revealing potential insights into cancer and neuro-degenerative diseases.
Professor Mike Hubbard, Department of Paediatrics and School of Dental Science, will reveal his research in this area at the International Congress of Genetics, Melbourne on Thursday 10 July. He will also discuss the latest on their recent discovery of a new class of protein that they have linked to breast cancer
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have discovered a gene critical to the development of the human heart and that mutations in the gene lead to congenital heart defects – the leading noninfectious cause of death in newborns.
GATA4 is only the second gene to have been identified as a cause of isolated congenital heart disease not associated with medically identified syndromes.
The findings will be published in a future edition of the journal Nature and appear o
Birds modify digestive physiology during migration
When birds migrate over long distances to and from their breeding grounds, it takes more than strong flight muscles and an innate knowledge of where they’re going. According to a University of Rhode Island researcher, migration also takes guts.
Several studies conducted by URI physiological ecologist Scott McWilliams have shown that birds have a flexible digestive system that they modify to meet the changing energy dema
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