A laboratory method developed for making and analyzing cold, concentrated samples of a mysterious “floppy” molecule thought to be abundant only in outer space has revealed new data that help explain the molecule’s properties.

The advance, described in the Jan. 6 issue of Science,* is a step toward overcoming a decades-old challenge in chemistry–explaining reactions that occur within very cold clouds among the stars, and perhaps for developing new chemical processes. The paper

A protein that seems to be pivotal in lifting depression has been discovered by a Nobel Laureate researcher funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

“Mice deficient in this protein, called p11, display depression-like behaviors, while those with sufficient amounts behave as if they have been treated with antidepressants,” explained Paul Greengard, Ph.D., a Rockefeller University neuroscientist who received the 2000 Nobel Pri

Chemists have calculated the structure of a very unusual molecule, one whose hyperactive atoms have earned it the nickname “the scrambler.”

This highly caustic “protonated methane,” or CH5+, is also called a “super acid,” and it is a short-lived player in the chemical reactions that make petroleum products.

CH5+ should also be present in interstellar clouds where stars and planets form, said Anne B. McCoy, professor of chemistry at Ohio State University. McCoy hopes that th

The caspase-8 gene plays a critical role in suppressing metastasis (spread) of neuroblastoma, and the expression of this gene is frequently absent in cancer cells that are aggressively metastasizing, according to investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the University of California at San Diego (UCSD). Neuroblastoma is a tumor of the nervous system and is the most common tumor in infants younger than 1 year of age; it accounts for 7-10 percent of childhood cancers.

A new group which could help individuals who have medically unexplained conditions to resolve their symptoms will take place at the University of Hertfordshire in March 2006.

The group, which will use the body’s movement expression to help participants to explore their symptoms, has just received ethical approval from Welwyn & Hatfield PCT, making it the first group of its type in the region.

It will form part of a research project run by the University’s School of Social Community

We all wonder what is in the air for 2006 – but for people with asthma and other breathing problems, advance knowledge of air pollution levels is very important. An ESA-backed project is forecasting daily forecasts via text message to selected individuals in parts of London and the London borough of Croydon.

As the video above recounts, the service anticipated especially high levels of air pollution during late June 2005, when a concentrated air pollution mass formed over centra

Researchers at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix have developed a new method that allows technicians to obtain clearer Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans with less sensitivity to patient motion.

PROPELLER is an acronym for “Periodically Rotated Overlapping ParallEL Lines with Enhanced Reconstruction.” This method acquires data in a unique way that allows one to track the motion of the patient during the MRI scan. The motion can then be removed.

“While PR

IRD researchers have succeeded in the first identification of bats as a potential natural reservoir of Ebola virus. Several epidemics of haemorrhagic fever have raged in the Republic of Congo and Gabon since 2001, hitting both humans and primates simultaneously. The virus transmission route from great apes to humans was already known, yet neither the natural reservoir nor the means of prior viral transmission to these primates had hitherto been identified.

Today scientists from

A team of cancer researchers has shown that a gene commonly lost during neuroblastoma tumor formation, one of the most aggressive cancers in babies and children, is in fact a “metastasis suppressor” gene. The researchers, from the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Medical Center and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, also describe how the gene, caspase 8, works.

The findings, published in the January 5 issue of the journal Nature, pr

Victorian Breast Cancer Research Consortium scientists from The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, using a mouse model, have discovered the rare stem cell that drives the formation of all breast tissue. This discovery lays an important foundation for understanding how normal breast tissue develops. The identification of the breast stem cell is also likely to provide clues about how breast cancer develops and how rogue cells evade current therapies.

Under normal circumstances, the newly

A groundbreaking study led by Northwestern University researchers has demonstrated that a protein called alphaB-crystallin, which normally protects cells from stress damage, triggers events that may cause breast cancer when overactive.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and is responsible for over 400,000 deaths annually in women throughout the world. Most of these deaths are the result of aggressive breast tumors that often fail to respond to current treatments.

Scientists at Northwestern University have determined the molecular structure of a viral protein, the parainfluenza virus 5 fusion (F) protein. The parainfluenza virus 5 is part of a family of viruses (paramyxoviruses) that causes everything from pneumonia, croup and bronchiolitis to cold-like illness and is responsible for many hospitalizations and deaths each year. The results will be published Jan. 5 by the journal Nature.

Details of the protein’s structure in its metastable sta

A technique developed at the University of California, San Diego that precisely creates and images blood clots in the brain in real time could make it possible to understand the small strokes implicated in many forms of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.

The study, published this week in the early on-line edition of the journal Public Library of Science Biology, represents a collaboration between the research groups of David Kleinfeld, professor of physics at UCSD, and Pa

High levels of amino acid may be linked to increased AMD risk

People who have elevated homocysteine in their blood, an amino acid that is a known biomarker for cardiovascular disease, may also be at an increased risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to a study in the January issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology. This research was conducted at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Devers Eye Institute in Portland, Ore.

In thi

A research group in Bergen has discovered a new form of diabetes. In addition to high blood sugar levels, the disease is characterised by a decrease in pancreatic functioning and reduced fat absorption in the intestine. The discovery may have an impact on the treatment of more usual forms of diabetes.

Researchers from Haukeland University Hospital and the University of Bergen published an article in Nature Genetics, one of the highest ranked journals in the field of biomedicine. The art

Tekes has allocated three million euros to financing a project by the Tampere-based Regea Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the goal of which is to use stem cells in tissue-related technological applications.

“Stem cell research offers promising opportunities to develop new forms of cellular therapy for diseases formerly difficult to treat. Because of their important potential applications, stem cells have become a key focus of interest in biotechnology,” says Senior Technolog