Genomes of multicellular organisms are one of the greatest mysteries of biology. The more is discovered about them, the more questions are to be answered. One of such questions is connected with the size of a genome. As is known since the middle of the 20th century, the level of organization of an organism does not depend on the genome size, i.e., on the amount of DNA in the nucleus of a cell. Sometimes, a primitive organism contains much more DNA than a mammal. For example, the genome of certain amo
A research team at two Midwest universities has developed a new way to genetically alter cells in living mice, offering new possibilities in the war against cancer and other diseases.
Using a modified virus as a Trojan horse, a team led by Purdue University’s David Sanders has found a promising system to deliver genes to diseased liver and brain cells. By placing helpful genetic material within the outer protein shell of Ross River Virus (RRV), Sanders’ team was able to alter the
A team led by Terumi Kohwi-Shigematsu of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Life Sciences Division has demonstrated that SATB1, a protein crucial to the development of the immune system, works by forming a network in the cell nucleus, attaching chromatin to the network structure at specific sites, and orchestrating remodeling of the chromatin over long distances to regulate gene expression.
“SATB1 determines when and how the genes are read — when they are activated and when they are
Using an optical fluorescence microscope to monitor enzyme activity, researchers at three universities have solved a long-running mystery. It takes at least two proteins, working in an unstable tandem, to unzip two strands of DNA.
Their newly designed approach, which focuses on the activity of single molecules, also showed — for the first time — that if one protein falls away, the process stops. Unless another climbs aboard, DNA reverts to its zipped state.
The technique, which o
Ribosome Recycling Factor Mimics Shape, But Not The Functions of Transfer RNA
RRF Protein Offers Potential Target for New Antibiotics
The fact that ribosome recycling factor (RRF) looks a lot like transfer RNA (tRNA) has not been lost on scientists. After all, both molecules are an important part of a bacteria’s ability to create new proteins. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the University of Southern California, Santa Cruz, however, hav
When animals metabolize food or when plants photosynthesize it, electrons are moved across cell membranes. The “extension cords” of this bioelectrical circuit are mostly iron-containing proteins called cytochromes.
Chemist Kenneth S. Suslick and colleagues at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have created synthetic cytochromes by making a small cyclic peptide that binds to the iron millions of times more strongly than without the peptide. The scientists report their discovery i
Shewanella bacterium can remove toxic metals from environment
Rockville, MD. – Scientists at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) and collaborators elsewhere have deciphered the genome of a metal ion-reducing bacterium, Shewanella oneidensis, that has great potential as a bioremediation agent to remove toxic metals from the environment.
The genome sequence sheds new light on the biochemical pathways by which the bacterium “reduces” and precipitates chromium, uranium and
But new study sheds light on what makes leaves turn red
Groundhog behavior is supposedly a harbinger of spring.
Wooly Bear Caterpillars are a possible portent of the severity of winter.
But who knows when the Vermont forests will blaze with autumnal gold, orange and scarlet?
Not the weather forecasters, not the almanacs, not some octogenarian recluse Vermonter. Leave that to the scientists.
Here in Vermont where one out of four of the forests’
New gene therapy procedures, DNA-based sensors, and other medical applications may be possible using a new method to initiate and control chemical reactions on DNA strands, developed by a team of chemists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory. The new technology uses specially designed nanometer-sized semiconductors–less than a billionth of an inch in size.
The technology is based on the group’s discovery of “conductive linkers”–small organic molecules th
New research into how biodiversity is generated and maintained in the seas surrounding hostile Polar Regions is reported in this month`s Proceedings of the Royal Society (Biological Sciences).
British Antarctic Survey biologist David Barnes studied `battles` between rock-dwelling marine organisms in shallow seas from the Poles to tropics to come up with a `league table` and a `polar pecking order` that lead to a greater understanding of extreme environments and how marine organisms may reac
Two scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) led a collaborative effort involving 18 researchers at half a dozen laboratories in the United States and Great Britain to determine the “proteome” of the most deadly form of the malaria pathogen – Plasmodium falciparum .
This study, in the current issue of the journal Nature, accompanies an article detailing the completion of a major six-year $17.9-million genome-sequencing effort involving 185 researchers from the United Kingd
Researchers use flowing fluids to create mechanical stress needed for bone formation
A new study by Rice University researchers indicates that bioengineers growing bone in the laboratory may be able to create the mechanical stimulation needed to grow bone outside the body.
One of the greatest challenges tissue engineers face in growing bone in the laboratory is recreating the conditions that occur inside the body. The recipe for growing healthy bones includes not only a prec
Nanotubes, stringy supermolecules already used to create fuel cell batteries and tiny computer circuits, could find myriad new applications ranging from disease treatment to plastics manufacturing to information storage, reports a Purdue University research team.
Scientists led by Purdue chemist Hicham Fenniri have learned to create multiple species of nanotubes that possess unprecedented physical and chemical properties, each of which could lead to a different industrial application. Also
Two independent research groups, led by Drs. Haruhiko Siomi (Institute for Genome Research, University of Tokushima, Japan) and Gregory Hannon (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, USA) have discovered that the Drosophila version of the human fragile X mental retardation protein associates with components of the RNAi pathway, suggesting that the molecular mechanism underlying fragile X syndrome may involve an RNAi-related process.
“It has been our feeling since we became involved in the field sev
The c-myc gene is commonly activated in a variety of human tumors. As a new report in the October 1 issue of Genes & Development shows, scientists are gaining a better understanding as to why.
Dr. John Cleveland and colleagues at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have discovered that c-Myc is essential for tumor development, as it regulates factors necessary for the growth of blood vessels into tumors – lending a new potential target to anti-angiogenic cancer therapies.
T
Speaking at BioArrays Europe (Cambridge, UK, 30 Sept-1 Oct), Dr Tony Smith, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Solexa, presented data on the progress of the Company`s proprietary Single Molecule Array™ technology for human genetic variation applications, highlighting significant progress in the massively parallel detection of single molecules using fluorescence.
Solexa’s Single Molecule Array technology is being applied to the measurement of individual genetic variation to develop a method f
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