Life & Chemistry

Life & Chemistry

New target found for nitric oxide's attack on salmonella bacteria

A new target for nitric oxide has been revealed in studies of how it inhibits the growth of Salmonella. This bacterium is a common cause of food-poisoning. “Nitric oxide is naturally produced in the nose and the gut and other tissues in the body to ward off infection,” explained the senior author of the paper, Dr. Ferric Fang. He is a University of Washington (UW) professor of laboratory medicine, microbiology and medicine. …

Life & Chemistry

New Gene Discovery Illuminates Evolution of Life on Earth

A chance discovery of a genetic mutation in wild barley that grows in Israel's Judean Desert, in the course of a doctoral study at the University of Haifa, has…

Life & Chemistry

Cellular Stress Triggers Yeast to Boost Prion Formation

Essentially clumps of misfolded proteins, prions cause neurodegenerative disorders, such as mad cow/Creutzfeld-Jakob disease, in humans and animals. Prions…

Life & Chemistry

Endangered river turtle's genes reveal ancient influence of Maya Indians

Small tissue samples collected from 238 wild turtles at 15 different locations across their range in Southern Mexico, Belize and Guatemala revealed a…

Life & Chemistry

Smithsonian Study Unveils Eye Gene in Red Butterfly Wings

Now several research teams that include Smithsonian scientists in Panama, have discovered that Heliconius butterflies mimic each other's red wing patterns…

Life & Chemistry

UCLA Scientists Map Key Molecule in Human Stem Cells

The finding by researchers with the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA may prove to be important in…

Life & Chemistry

Myelin’s Role in Brain Signal Transmission Revealed in MS Research

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease characterized by damage to the myelin sheath surrounding nerve fibers. The cause remains unknown, and it is a…

Life & Chemistry

Fungal Insights: High-Temperature Species and Cell Structures

A fungus that lives at extremely high temperatures could help understand structures within our own cells. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology…

Life & Chemistry

Gardening in the brain – Specialist cells prune connections between neurons

The same is true of the developing brain: cells called microglia prune the connections between neurons, shaping how the brain is wired, scientists at the…

Life & Chemistry

South Dakota Research Project Could Help Colonize Space

The South Dakota institutions have won a National Aeronautics and Space Administration grant of $750,000 to study ways to use cyanobacteria to make…

Life & Chemistry

UCI Study Reveals Insights on Convergent Evolution in Butterflies

For 150 years scientists have been trying to explain convergent evolution. One of the best-known examples of this is how poisonous butterflies from different…

Life & Chemistry

Repairing Circadian Rhythms: The Two-Inch Fish Solution

Circadian rhythms — the natural cycle that dictates our biological processes over a 24-hour day — does more than tell us when to sleep or wake. Disruptions in…

Life & Chemistry

Dolphins' 'remarkable' recovery from injury offers important insights for human healing

A Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) scientist who has previously discovered antimicrobial compounds in the skin of frogs and in the dogfish shark has…

Life & Chemistry

It's no sweat for salt marsh sparrows to beat the heat if they have a larger bill

But the bill can play an important role in regulating the bird's body temperature by acting as a radiator for excess heat. A team of scientists have found that…

Life & Chemistry

Scavenger Cells: How Viruses Bypass Our Defenses

However, individual viruses, such as the HI virus, still manage to enter the body via the mucous membrane somehow. Cell biologists from the University of…

Life & Chemistry

Evolution provides clue to blood clotting

The long tube-shaped protein with a vital role in blood clotting is called von Willebrand Factor (VWF). Made in cells that form the inner lining of blood…

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