Researchers at Stanford University Medical Center have devised a new gene therapy technique that appears to eliminate one of the major health risks linked to gene therapy. The technique, published in the Oct. 15 advanced online edition of the journal Nature Biotechnology, overcomes the need for viral vectors that have plagued gene therapy trials, while retaining the ability to insert therapeutic DNA into specific sites in the chromosomes.

“Our approach provides an alternative that didn&#146

Researchers have discovered how a recently identified family of plant proteins assists in stopping gene function, a finding that may help produce plants resistant to environmental stresses such as saline soil, drought and cold.

The proteins, AtCPLs, apparently play a crucial role in triggering a gene that controls plants’ reactions to stressful conditions, said Purdue University researchers. They, along with collaborators at the University of Arizona, published their findings in two pap

Purdue University researchers have created a software tool that is more than 100 times faster than other programs used by engineers to improve jet engine designs

The software analyzes engine models and quickly extracts information that indicates whether the design is mechanically sound, said Mario Rotea, a professor in Purdue’s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Considering the complex inner workings of a jet engine, software aimed at predicting how well a new desig

One of the most widespread ways to protect wood from organisms’ attacks is to use chemicals. However, due to the risks its usage involves (toxic for the user, pollution of the environment…), the interest to obtain a more effective but non-polluting protector has increased.

Nowadays, the research of active matter with biocide effects has become one of the most interesting research lines to find new pesticides.

Objectives

The aim of the project the Basque Research Ce

Fatty acids from fish oils and fatty fish can destroy the power station – the mitochondria- in certain types of cancer cells, making the cells commit suicide.These are the conclusions in a new thesis that Hilde Heimli at the Institute for Nutrition Research at the University of Oslo, in Norway, presented in October 2002. The study was supported by the Norwegian Cancer Society.

Kreft.no: In her thesis, Hilde Heimli has examined how polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acid is ingested by diff

Balloon Experiments Reveal New Information About Sprites

An atmospheric phenomenon called “sprites” could be pumping 50 times more energy into the upper atmosphere than was previously thought, suggesting our understanding of the global atmosphere is incomplete, according to University of Houston space physicists.

Sprites are large, brief flashes of light that occur very high in the atmosphere above large thunderstorms. Instead of discharging toward the earth like lightning,