While researchers have long known the genetic defect underlying Fragile X syndrome, they are still tracing how that defect creates the complex mix of mental retardation, hyperactive behavior, attention deficits, and other problems in the disorder. Fragile X is particularly important because it is the most common single-gene cause of mental retardation–affecting about 1 in 4000 males and 1 in 8000 females in the U.S.

In an article in the August 4, 2005, issue of Neuron, researche

As anyone whose nerves have been jangled by a baby’s howl or who have been riveted by the sight of an attractive person knows, nature has evolved sensory systems to be exquisitely tuned to relevant input. A major question in neurobiology is how neurons tune the strength of their interconnections to optimally respond to such inputs.

Neuronal circuitry consists of a web of neurons, each triggering others by launching bursts of neurotransmitters at targets on receiving neurons

Alaska researchers seek clues to bird flu

While Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds” made many of us uneasy at the sight of amassing gulls years ago, today public health officials around the world are beginning to cast an equally uneasy eye toward migratory birds, especially in Alaska, following recent outbreaks of avian influenza in Southeast Asia and, last week, in Siberia.

Alaska is at the intersection of the Asian and North American flyways for migratory birds and sc

In their efforts to understand the complex biology of life, scientists often seek to isolate individual elements of the puzzle for study, to break the problem down to a more manageable size. Single genes and molecules are closely analyzed to better understand their specific interactions with other single entities within larger systems.

Sometimes, however, this approach misses important aspects of biology that depend on higher levels of organization. Sometimes putting a few of the piec

Product is lethal even at lower concentrations; soil does not lessen its effects

As amphibians continue to mysteriously disappear worldwide, a University of Pittsburgh researcher may have found more pieces of the puzzle. Elaborating on his previous research, Pitt assistant professor of biological sciences Rick Relyea has discovered that Roundup(r), the most commonly used herbicide in the world, is deadly to tadpoles at lower concentrations than previously tested; that the presen

Nerve cells need lots of energy to work properly, and the energy needs to be delivered to the right place at the right time. By inducing a mutation in fruit flies, researchers have figured out that a particular gene governs the movement of cells’ energy-producing units, called mitochondria.

Rather than moving to the ends of the cells, or synapses, where cell-to-cell communication takes place, mitochondria in mutant fruit flies just piled up in the center of the cell. Even so,

Scientists at Yale and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory report the first large-scale survey of patterns of gene expression in flowers, using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, to identify the genes most likely to have critical roles in plant reproduction.

The researchers studied 1765 lines and identified 80 genes active in petal and stamen development using “gene trapping.” In this gene discovery technique a reporter tag was inserted into cells so that they stained blue only

Research reported in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine for the first time looks at the role of exercise capacity in predicting a woman’s risk of mortality

Researchers have developed a nomogram (alignment chart) specifically for women that can be used to predict their expected exercise capacity at any given age, as well as demonstrated that the resulting measure is a predictor of the risk of death. Women whose exercise capacity was less than 85 percent the age-predicted va

Helps give mentally disabled children a better lease on life

Reconstructing severe facial deformities in children with mental disabilities can be a hard decision for parents. Insurance companies may consider some operations to be only for cosmetic purposes and refuse to cover them. However, craniofacial plastic surgery, to correct abnormalities of the face, skull and neck, may give these children significant psychological, social and emotional benefits that can help them attain

Prostate cancer, the second leading cause of cancer death for men in the United States, is caused by changes in several tummor suppressor genes including PTEN and p53. Up to 70 percent of men with prostate cancer have lost one copy of the PTEN gene at the time of diagnosis, and p53 is absent in a high number of patients with advanced prostate cancer.

Scientists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center have found an unexpected effect of the interaction of these two genes in early s

A new theory that explains why the language of our genes is more complex than it needs to be also suggests that the primordial soup where life began on earth was hot and not cold, as many scientists believe.

In a paper published in the Journal of Molecular Evolution this week, researchers from the University of Bath describe a new theory which they believe could solve a puzzle that has baffled scientists since they first deciphered the language of DNA almost 40 years ago.

This week scientists of the Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) will once again publish a breakthrough in their research regarding Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers, this time connected to the Catholic University of Leuven, discovered the function of one of the most important proteins related to Alzheimer’s disease. They have indicated that the protein stimulates the growth of nerve paths in the brain, which is essential for recovery after brain damage. The results are p

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and the Ireland Cancer Center of University Hospitals of Cleveland report identifying a new DNA gene marker, vimentin, that was shown in a recent study to be three times more effective in detecting colon cancer than the standard doctor’s office test that detects blood in the stool. The study, appearing in the August 3, 2005 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, was conducted by a team also comprised of research

First treatment for incurable disease comes into focus

University of Florida scientists used a healthy human gene to prevent blindness in mice with a form of an incurable eye disease that strikes boys.

Writing in the August issue of Molecular Therapy, scientists from the UF Genetics Institute describe how they successfully used gene therapy in mice to treat retinoschisis, a rare genetic disorder that is passed from mothers, who retain their sight, to their sons.

In an unusual collaboration among scientists and humanists, a Cornell University team has demonstrated a novel method for recovering faded text on ancient stone by zapping and mapping 2,000-year-old inscriptions using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) imaging.

The research, carried out at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS), applies a nondestructive chemical analysis technique widely used in geology, archaeology and materials science.

“X-ray fluorescence imaging h

California fiddler crabs may be among the world’s pickiest animal when it comes to selecting a mate.

A study conducted by a biologist at the University of California, San Diego that appears in the August issue of the journal Animal Behaviour found that females of the species Uca crenulata may check out 100 or more male fiddler crabs and their burrows before finally deciding on a mate.

“As far as I know, no other species has been observed sampling nearly as many cand