Ramosa2 determines cell fate in branch meristems of maize

Scientists are interested in understanding genetic control of grass inflorescence architecture because seeds of cereal grasses (e.g. rice, wheat, maize) provide most of the world’s food. Grass seeds are borne on axillary branches, whose branching patterns dictate most of the variation in form seen in the grasses. Maize produces two types of inflorescence; the tassel (male pollen-bearing flowers) and the ear (female fl

Drug discovery researchers at Northwestern University have developed a novel orally administered compound specifically targeted to suppress brain cell inflammation and neuron loss associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

The compound is also rapidly absorbed by the brain and is non-toxic – important considerations for a central nervous system drug that might need to be taken for extended periods.

As described in the Jan. 11 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, the compou

Magnetotactic bacteria contain chains of magnetic iron minerals that allow them to orient in the earth’s magnetic field much like living compass needles. These bacteria have long been observed to respond to high oxygen levels in the lab by swimming towards geomagnetic north in the Northern Hemisphere and geomagnetic south in the Southern Hemisphere. In either hemisphere, this behavior would also lead them downward in the water column into areas with their preferred oxygen level. But an unusua

Discovery offers potential to determine if President Lincoln would have developed the disease

Researchers at the University of Minnesota Medical School have discovered the gene responsible for a type of ataxia, an incurable degenerative brain disease affecting movement and coordination.

This is the first neurodegenerative disease shown to be caused by mutations in the protein â-III spectrin which plays an important role in the maintaining the health of nerve cells. The sc

Adult stem cells may be free of the ethical concerns that hamper embryonic stem cell research, but they still pose formidable scientific challenges. Chief among these is the doggedness with which adult stem cells differentiate into mature tissue the moment they’re isolated from the body. This makes it nearly impossible for researchers to multiply them in the laboratory. And because adult stem cells are so rare, that makes it difficult to use them for treating disease.

Now

Investigators at Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering, the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and the biotechnology firm GlycoFi, Inc., report a breakthrough in using yeast to produce antibodies with human sugar structures.

Antibodies are proteins with sugars attached to them, and they are emerging as a major class of drugs in the treatment of cancer. In the global effort to increase the potency of antibodies, the interdisciplinary work by the Dartmouth/GlycoFi team,

U-M researchers report dramatic benefits from a single amino acid substitution in troponin I cardiac muscle protein

It’s just one little amino acid, but it makes all the difference in protecting the heart from the harmful effects of heart attack and cardiac failure. Researchers from the University of Michigan Medical School suggest this amino acid, called histidine, could be the key to a new therapy for cardiovascular disease.

In a study to be published Jan. 22 in

The first genome-wide screen for protein complexes is completed

Today researchers in Germany announce they have finished the first complete analysis of the “molecular machines” in one of biology’s most important model organisms: S. cerevisiae (baker’s yeast). The study from the biotechnology company Cellzome, in collaboration with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), appears in this week’s online edition of Nature.

“To carry out their tasks,

In an Australian-first, a UNSW researcher based at the Diabetes Transplant Unit at the Prince of Wales Hospital has produced a human embryonic stem cell (hESC) line without the use of any animal products. The breakthrough eliminates the risk of animal-to-human contamination in potential stem cell therapy treatments.

In another first, the Prince of Wales Hospital is the first public institution in the country to extract stem cells from human embryos produced using IVF in inferti

Metal atom dictates the structure: new concept for the construction of enzyme inhibitors

Complex natural products usually adopt precisely defined spatial structures that are of critical importance to their biological function. A substrate must fit precisely into the “pocket” of an enzyme in order to be converted. The same is true of drugs meant to influence the function of enzymes. The biggest challenge in this is to develop effective methods for the synthesis of agents with tai

In a multifaceted study involving the Kuna Indians of Panama, an international team of scientists has pinpointed a chemical compound that is, in part, responsible, for the heart-healthy benefits of certain cocoas and some chocolate products.

The researchers, who are from the University of California, Davis; the Heinrich-Heine University of Duesseldorf, Germany; and Harvard Medical School, hope the findings will lead to new dietary or medicinal methods for improving and maintaining

The use of continuous low-level heat wrap therapy (CLHT) significantly reduces acute low back pain and related disability and improves occupational performance of employees in physically demanding jobs suffering from acute low back pain, according to a Johns Hopkins study published in the December 2005 issue of The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

“With recent concerns around the safety of oral pain medications, both patients and physicians are considering alter

A three-year multi-center study of kidney-pancreas transplant recipients has identified a new risk factor for impaired kidney function, which may help physicians refine their treatment strategies.

Researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues reported their findings today at the 6th Annual American Society of Transplant Surgeons State of the Art Winter Symposium in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The researchers found that metabolic syndrome, a clus

Minimizing trauma to the body’s largest artery – the aorta – during heart bypass surgery can significantly reduce cognitive loss that often follows the operation, a team from Wake Forest University School of Medicine reported today (Jan. 21) in the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.

“A surgical strategy designed to minimize aortic manipulations can significantly reduce the incidence of cognitive deficits in coronary artery bypass graft patients compared with trad

About one in a hundred patients with apparently incurable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) survive five or more years after being given relatively small doses of radiation therapy (RT) meant to ease symptoms, according to a new study. Published in the March 1, 2006 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study says a new subset of patients with NSCLC appears to have disease that is curable with minimal therapy, and may explain occasional cures attributed t

Inbred strains of rats differ in how aggressively they seek cocaine after a few weeks of use, researchers say.

The finding, posted online Jan. 18 by Psychopharmacology, is another piece of evidence that genetics plays a role in the relapse of drug-seeking behavior in humans, says Dr. Paul J. Kruzich, behavioral neuroscientist at the Medical College of Georgia and lead study author.

It also fingers glutamate, a neurotransmitter involved in learning and memory, as an accom