Arf gene became more effective in stemming cell growth when it joined forces with p53
Researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have looked back in evolutionary time and identified what may be a gene that was once only moderately effective in slowing down cellular reproduction, until it linked up with a more efficient set of genes to create a powerful anti-cancer response.
The gene, called Arf, was already known to have cancer-suppressing activity. Arf respon
Some of the most important compounds are the shortest lived — transient molecules that exist for only thousandths of a second or less during chemical reactions. Characterization of such “reaction intermediates” can play a key role in understanding the mechanisms by which molecules change, shedding light on processes ranging from basic chemical reactions to complex diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Yet by their very nature, reaction intermediates exist for brief periods too short to be seen by most
Genomic rearrangements discovered using DNA microarrays are expected to reveal genetic regions important to human health
Mountain View, CA ¾ March 3, 2003 ¾ Perlegen Sciences, Inc. today announced the publication of a scientific paper in the latest issue of the peer-reviewed journal Genome Research. The paper, “Genomic DNA insertions and deletions occur frequently between humans and nonhuman primates,” describes novel findings suggesting that genomic rearrangements, not single base pa
In order for the body to grow, reproduce and remain cancer free, the cells of the body must have a mechanism for both detecting DNA damage and a feedback mechanism for telling the rest of the cell’s machinery to stop what it’s doing until the damage may be fixed. This feedback mechanism relies on checkpoints during different stages of the cell’s division cycle. Eric Brown and David Baltimore at the California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, CA) have now further defined how the ATR k
In what is a first for biology, a team of investigators at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) is reporting that the human body makes ozone.
Led by TSRI President Richard Lerner, Ph.D. and Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry Paul Wentworth, Jr, Ph.D., who made the original discovery, the team has been slowly gathering evidence over the last few years that the human body produces the reactive gas—most famous as the ultraviolet ray-absorbing component of the ozone layer—as p
Research is key step in detoxifying endosulfan toward improving soil and water quality
Scientists at the University of California, Riverside report in the Journal of Environmental Quality (JEQ) that they have isolated microorganisms capable of degrading endosulfan, a chlorinated insecticide widely used all over the world and which is currently registered to control insects and mites on 60 U.S. crops. JEQ, established in 1972, is published jointly by the American Society of Agronomy,
Dartmouth Medical School geneticists studying the biological clock have opened yet another window into the role of an unusual form of RNA known as antisense that blocks the messages of protein-encoding genes.
They found that antisense RNA appears to regulate core timing genes in the circadaian clock that drives the 24-hour light-dark cycle of Neurospora, a model organism better known as bread mold.
The results are reported in the February 27 Nature by Drs. Jennifer Loros and Jay C.
Scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a powerful new technique for deciphering biological information encoded in the human genome. Called “phylogenetic shadowing,” this technique enables scientists to make meaningful comparisons between DNA sequences in the human genome and sequences in the genomes of apes, monkeys, and other non-human primates. With phylogenetic shadowing, scientists c
It is not known what genes turn leaves yellow in the fall. However, scientists at Umeå Plant Science Center, Umeå University, and the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm (KTH) have managed to identify more than 2,400 genes that take part in the process.
One of the most magnificent pageants of nature every year is when trees take on their autumn colors. Scientists have long known that these colors appear when the green pigment chlorophyll is broken down at the same time as the yellow c
Of the five basic senses, the sense of smell is the least understood. Now, scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have sniffed out potential clues to how olfactory receptors in the nose detect odors. Those clues may also explain why dietary zinc deficiencies lead to a loss of smell.
Olfactory receptors are proteins that bridge through the cell membrane. Professor Kenneth S. Suslick and co-workers have found that the structure of the protein changes dramatically when a
A recently discovered enzyme called endothelial lipase regulates the structure, metabolism and blood concentration of high density lipoprotein (HDL), the so-called “good cholesterol,” said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in a report in the online version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In a series of studies in mice, Dr. Lawrence Chan, chief of the section of endocrinology and metabolism at Baylor, his co-workers and colleagues from the section of cardiol
Darwin in his time wondered about the existence of ants – how can natural selection as a process based on individual reproductive success give rise to sterile individuals such as ant workers? The solution comes from kin selection theory, which holds that an individual’s reproductive success can also be measured in the number of collateral kin produced. This is how the ants have solved the problem. In an ant colony with only one queen all the workers are her offspring and will in practice help to
May revolutionize medical research and transplantation
The particularly powerful – and very scarce – flexible forms of stem cells needed for medical research and treatment may now be both plentiful and simple to produce, with a new technology developed at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory – and the source is as close as your own bloodstream.
These flexible stem cells, able to morph into a variety of cell types, are called “pluripotent,” and before th
A new liquid crystal lattice created by scientists at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Sheffield may be invisible to the naked eye, but it’s a giant in its own way.
Uniting hundreds of thousands of atoms, this supramolecular structure is one of the most complex ever made via self-assembly, where molecules organize themselves into larger structures. What’s more, it’s the first organic compound to assume an intricate structure previously seen only in metals such
In an unexpected discovery, a team led by Northwestern University scientists has become the first to show that progesterone, a hormone usually associated with female reproduction and maternal behavior, plays a key role in regulating male aggression toward infants in mice. Testosterone, not progesterone, had been thought to be responsible.
The researchers found that the absence of progesterone’s actions reduced aggression while promoting positive paternal behavior. The findings, to be p
The first laboratory population study of genetically modified mosquitoes identifies issues that need to be faced in the task of turning mosquitoes from disease carriers into disease fighters.
Scientists from Imperial College London report in Science today that populations including genetically modified mosquitoes quickly lose their test marker gene when they are bred with unmodified mosquitoes.
The scientists say their results have several lessons for further work on developing GM m
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