Thanks to new screening tools, and some luck, researchers at the University of Chicago have discovered three unrelated compounds that inhibit the two toxins – edema factor and lethal factor — that have made anthrax one of the most feared of potential bioterror agents.

In the August 2004 issue of the journal Chemistry and Biology, the researchers report that they used a novel screening technique, developed at the University, to find a small molecule that prevents edema factor from

First-ever side-by-side comparison of PCB-laden sediments taken from separate, contaminated rivers

One of Mother Nature’s most promising weapons to break down persistent, toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) is bacteria. Now, a study by Carnegie Mellon University scientists provides convincing evidence that how quickly a PCB gets eaten and what it becomes depends on where it settles. Using DNA fingerprinting, the Carnegie Mellon team discovered distinct bacterial populations in th

Thanks to a productive collaboration between clinical and basic scientists, researchers from the University of Chicago have identified the first genetic cause of one of the most common birth defects of the brain, Dandy-Walker malformation (DWM). Infants with this disorder, about one in 10,000 births, have a small, displaced cerebellum and other brain abnormalities that can reduce coordination, impair mental function and cause hydrocephalus.

In the September, 2004, issue of Nature G

The dendritic cells act as the body’s sentries, standing guard around the clock. As soon as they detect a potential enemy, they alert the T cells, whose role is to defend the body.

At the Institut Curie, CNRS researchers in an Inserm laboratory have filmed the encounter of dendritic cells and T cells. They have shown that this “rendez-vous”, which is indispensable for the activation of the immune system, cannot take place in the absence of the proteins Rac 1 and 2. Published in the

Scientists have determined the precise molecular structure of a potential new target for treating prostate cancer, a disease driven in part by abnormal testosterone activity. The target is part of the androgen receptor, a protein essential for testosterone to function in human cells. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men.

The androgen receptor and testosterone – technically, 5-alpha dihydrotestosterone – each drive prostate cancer at different stages of the disease

People in Georgia’s Dodge and Bleckley counties have for years picked up small pieces of natural glass called “Georgiaites,” which were produced by an unknown asteroid or comet impact millions of years ago. Just where these small, translucent green objects came from, however, was unclear.

Now researchers at the University of Georgia, studying a kaolin mine in Warren County, have found a layer of tiny grains, which indicate that the grains and the Georgiaites were products o

The first 40 million years of Arctic climate history was recovered from beneath the Arctic sea floor on Monday 23 August.

After four days drilling in hazardous conditions the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program’s Arctic Coring Expedition retrieved a 272m core before sea ice forced the work to be abandoned.

The deepest ever Arctic borehole, just 233 kilometres from the North Pole, was interrupted late on Monday when very thick, moving ice floes meant that even the world’s most p

Fifteen years ago, the largest telescopes in the world had yet to locate a planet orbiting another star. Today telescopes no larger than those available in department stores are proving capable of spotting previously unknown worlds. A newfound planet detected by a small, 4-inch-diameter telescope demonstrates that we are at the cusp of a new age of planet discovery. Soon, new worlds may be located at an accelerating pace, bringing the detection of the first Earth-sized world one step closer.

Infinitesimal particles of gold have enabled neurobiologists to track down key molecules in the machinery of “entry points” in neurons — offering clues to the organization of a region that has thus far remained largely unknown neuronal territory.

The researchers — from Duke University Medical Center and the University of North Carolina — used electron microscopy to locate molecules tagged with targeted antibodies attached to gold particles — rendering the molecules’ precise

A landmark program seeking to bring the promise of genetic research into the “real world” is underway with the first DNA samples to be collected next year. The Guilford Genomic Medicine Iniative is a partnership involving Moses Cone Health System, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Duke University.

“This project is an excellent example of solid collaboration in search of a greater good,” Dennis Barry, CEO Emeritus, Moses Cone Health System, says. “After a year of int

University of Chicago scientists have solved a 20-year-old puzzle in particle physics using data from an experiment conducted for an entirely different purpose.

Physicists had long known that something was amiss regarding their understanding of how some quarks interact in the beta decay of particles, a common form of radioactivity. Either dozens of experiments conducted over a period of more than three decades were wrong, or the scientists’ theories were. Now, in a set of four

Nature Immunology commentary highlights promising advances in the field Recent discoveries about the way that HIV infects cells are propelling the development of a broad spectrum of promising new antiviral drugs, according to an invited commentary on the topic in the current issue of Nature Immunology (August 27, 2004).

The assessment is made by Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology (GIVI) Director Warner Greene, MD, PhD, who also serves as professor of medicine, microbiol

ESO HARPS Instrument Discovers Smallest Ever Extra-Solar Planet

A European team of astronomers [1] has discovered the lightest known planet orbiting a star other than the sun (an “exoplanet”).

The new exoplanet orbits the bright star mu Arae located in the southern constellation of the Altar. It is the second planet discovered around this star and completes a full revolution in 9.5 days.

With a mass of only 14 times the mass of the Earth, the new planet lies at th

Space digest: September 2004

This release contains a summary of some significant astronomical and space events that will be taking place during September. It has been written in order to assist the media in planning and researching future stories related to space science and astronomy, particularly those with UK involvement. It is not intended to be fully comprehensive. Dates and times may be subject to change.

3 September: ISS Spacewalk

NASA Flight Engineer a

VeraChem LLC founders Drs. Michael Gilson, Michael Potter, and Hillary Gilson, using UMBI licensed intellectual property, are creating scientific software that provides expert users with tools for computer-aided drug discovery and molecular design. VeraChem’s recent first sale, a pre-release version of Vconf, is followed by the projected launch on September 8 of Vcharge, a new software product for computing molecular properties important in drug design. The official launch of Vconf is expected to f

Ever since Darwin’s day, scientists have been trying to understand how interactions among living creatures—competition and predation, for example—drive evolution.

Recent work by paleontologists Tomasz Baumiller of the University of Michigan and Forest Gahn of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History offers new insights into the process. A report on their research appears in today’s issue of Science.

Biologists long have speculated that preda

IL-7, a hormone-like protein involved in cell-cell interaction, has been associated with increased survival and expansion of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL). Now, in the latest issue of the Journal of Experimental Medicine, a team of scientists, not only confirms the essential role of this protein in the disease but also, for the first time, identifies the biochemical pathway affected by IL-7 in T-ALL cells, a discovery which could lead to the development of potential new treatments

They hadn’t planned it, but Meriwether Lewis and William Clark picked a fine time for a road trip when they set out to find a water route across the American Northwest two centuries ago.

Leading a small group of explorers, known as the Corps of Discovery, Lewis and Clark experienced favorable climatic conditions from 1804 to 1806 in search of an inland “Northwest Passage,” according to a Georgia State University professor.

The timing of the trip was crucial because ha

British astronomers are celebrating a world first that could revolutionise the future of astronomy. They have just begun a project to operate a global network of the world’s biggest robotic telescopes, dubbed ’RoboNet-1.0’ which will be controlled by intelligent software to provide rapid observations of sudden changes in astronomical objects, such as violent Gamma Ray Bursts, or 24-hour surveillance of interesting phenomena. RoboNet is also looking for Earth-like planets, as yet unseen elsewhere

Males pirate and fertilize egg clutches

One of Europe’s most common backyard frogs has been keeping a secret that, despite centuries of study and thousands of published papers, has only now been discovered in ponds in the Pyrenees. The European common frog, Rana temporaria, has long been thought to have a straightforward breeding strategy — one lucky male grabs the female and fertilizes her eggs as soon as she releases them into the water. End of story.

But that&#