Landmark gene agreement announced by Samoan government and UC Berkeley for anti-AIDS drug Prostratin
APIA, SAMOA -- The University of California, Berkeley, has signed an agreement with the Samoan government to isolate from an indigenous tree the gene for a promising anti-AIDS drug and to share any royalties from sale of a gene-derived drug with the people of Samoa....... The agreement, announced today (Thursday, Sept. 30) in Apia, the capital of Samoa, supports Samoa's assertion of national sove...Landmark agreement between Samoa and UC Berkeley could help search for AIDS cure
Apia, Samoa - The University of California, Berkeley, has signed an agreement with the Samoan government to isolate from an indigenous tree the gene for a promising anti-AIDS drug and to share any royalties from sale of a gene-derived drug with the people of Samoa....... The agreement, announced today (Thursday, Sept. 30) in Apia, the capital of Samoa, supports Samoa's assertion of national sover...Berkeley Lab soil scientist Margaret Torn receives Presidential Early Career Award
BERKELEY, CA -- In a White House ceremony held Thursday, September 9, 2004 in the nation's capital, Margaret Torn, a scientist with the Earth Sciences Division of the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers for the year 2003. The awards were presented by John Marburger, director of the Office of Science...MSU group reviews Berkeley venture into brave new science funding world
EAST LANSING, Mich. When a big corporation acquired the research enterprise of an entire California university science department, it hoped it was sowing a bounty of discovery and profit. Instead, a new report indicates, it probably reaped more grief than it was worth. ......That is the greatest legacy of the nation's closely followed and much-debated marriage between University of California-Be...UC Berkeley museum biologists to repeat 85-year-old Yosemite National Park wildlife survey
Berkeley - A party of biologists from the University of California, Berkeley, is camping out around Yosemite National Park this summer, reprising a survey of park wildlife first conducted more than 80 years ago by an earlier generation of UC Berkeley scientists. ... ...The survey by members of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology follows the same transect - from Yosemite Valley to Mono Lake - as Jose...Berkeley scientists create first 3-D map of protein universe
The universe has been mapped! Not the universe of stars, planets, and black holes, but the protein universe, the vast assemblage of biological molecules that are the building blocks of living cells and control the chemical processes which make those cells work. Researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California at Berkeley have created the...UC Berkeley scientists detail neural circuit that lets eye detect directional motion
Berkeley - Nearly 40 years ago scientists were startled to discover that the eye, far from being a still camera, actually has cells that respond to movement. Moreover, these cells are specialized to respond to movement in one direction only, such as left to right or right to left.... ...Now, in a paper in this week's issue of the journal Nature, biologists at the University of California, Berkele...UC Berkeley, Joint Genome Institute target chloroplasts for clues to green plant evolution
Berkeley - As biologists try to tease out the finer details of the green plant family tree, one key may lie in the cellular organelle - the chloroplast - that makes green plants green....... As the photosynthetic factory of the plant cell, the chloroplast contains its own complement of genes distinct from the comparably sized mitochondrial genome in the energy center of the cell or the much large...Your brain is teaching your nose new tricks, say UC Berkeley researchers
Berkeley - Any wine connoisseur knows the nose can learn to recognize subtle new aromas, but where does that learning take place? ...... A new study by a team of neuroscientists at the University of California, Berkeley, has determined that we learn new smells in an area of our brains, not just in our noses, which have neural receptors previously thought to be solely responsible for a person's ab...UC Berkeley researchers are developing a microsized microscope that can peek inside living cells
Berkeley - Imagine a future where doctors can view the DNA of tumor cells inside a patient as cancer drugs are delivered, or where anti-terrorism units can identify single molecules of a biowarfare agent on site with a portable detector. With a significant development in miniaturized microscopes at the University of California, Berkeley, scientists are inching closer to such possibilities. ... .....Berkeley - Two dietary supplements straight off the health food store shelf put the spark back into aging rats, and might do the same for aging baby boomers, according to a study at the University of California, Berkeley, and Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute.... ...A team of researchers led by Bruce N. Ames, professor of molecular and cell biology at UC Berkeley, fed older rats two...The 500-million-year history of life on Earth is a series of booms and busts. But while the busts, or extinctions, can be either sudden or gradual, the booms of diversification of new organisms rarely happen quickly, according to a new study by a University of California, Berkeley, scientist.... ...A statistical analysis of the rates of extinction and origination in the fossil record shows that l...UC Berkeley expert on insect flight receives prestigious MacArthur 'genius' award
Berkeley - A University of California, Berkeley, professor whose e-mail moniker is "flyman" and who has become one of the world's experts on the aerodynamics of flying insects was named a MacArthur "genius" Fellow today (Oct. 24).... ...Michael H. Dickinson, 38, professor of integrative biology in UC Berkeley's College of Letters & Science, was among 23 new fellows announced today by The John D....Soy protein prevents skin tumors from developing in mice, UC Berkeley researchers find
Berkeley - New research at the University of California, Berkeley, may add yet another boost to the healthy reputation of the humble soybean. A study published Oct. 15 in the journal Cancer Research shows that mice with the soy protein lunasin applied to their skin had significantly lower rates of skin cancer than mice without the lunasin treatment.... ...More than two years ago, the same UC Berk...Berkeley - Insertion of a single gene into several different tumors enabled mice to reject them all, leading scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, to hope that the gene might form the basis for a vaccine effective against a range of cancers....... This simple gene therapy also protected the mice against subsequent injection of tumor cells that had not been altered, meaning their...Berkeley chemist wins national award for work with new polymers
Chemist Jean M.J. Frechet of Oakland, Calif., will be honored August 28 by the worlds largest scientific society for the remarkable breadth of his chemical inventions, including new molecules that can turn light into other forms of energy or deliver anti-cancer drugs directly to tumors. He will receive the 2001 Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society at its national meeti...DNA analysis of salamanders turns up new species under almost every log, UC Berkeley zoologists find
...Berkeley -- A new species of salamander discovered in an isolated range of hills in southeastern Mexico highlights the agile inventiveness of evolution as well as the many species still waiting to be discovered in out of the way spots and even under our noses....... The soil dwelling salamander looks identical to a salamander living in mountain foothills several hundred miles away, but DNA an...AIDS in Africa has potential to affect human evolution, UC Berkeley scientists report
...Berkeley - If anyone doubts that epidemics can affect the course of human evolution, take a look at AIDS. ...Three biologists from the University of California, Berkeley, show in this week's issue of Nature (May 31, 2001) that over a period of several generations, AIDS could alter the frequency of specific genetic mutations in African populations, delaying the average time between HIV infecti......For a brief time last February, Diana Chai was her own guinea pig. Strapped to a treadmill in a NASA research plane, she calmly jogged in place as the KC-135 executed a series of zero-G dives 50,000 feet over central Texas.... ..."It was amazing, the best experience ever," said Chai, a junior majoring in bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley. "And I didn't even throw up."........Simulating a high-velocity comet collision with Earth, a team of scientists has shown that organic molecules hitchhiking aboard a comet could have survived such an impact and seeded life on this planet. ... ...The results give credence to the theory that the raw materials for life came from space and were assembled on Earth into the ancestors of proteins and DNA. ... ..."Our results suggest t......A discovery by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, could lead the way to a vaccine against prostate cancer. ... ...The researchers, led by immunologist James P. Allison, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and professor of molecular and cell biology at UC Berkeley, found a protein on prostate cancer cells that tips off the immune system to the tumor's presence and......The eye as a camera has been a powerful metaphor for poets and scientists alike, implying that the eye provides the brain with detailed snapshots that form the basis for our rich experience of the world.... ...Recent studies at the University of California, Berkeley, however, show that the metaphor is more poetic than real. What the eye sends to the brain are mere outlines of the visual world...Berkeley chemical engineer wins national award for catalysis research
. Chemical engineer Alexis T. Bell of Oakland, Calif., will be honored April 3 by the world's largest scientific society for his fundamental contributions to developing more efficient catalysts, such as those that extract pollutants from vehicle and power-plant emissions. He will receive the 2001 Award for Creative Research in Heterogeneous Catalysis from the American Chemical Society at its 221......Water is indispensable to the chemistry of life, and scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have made a significant step toward understanding why.... ...With the help of a novel mathematical technique they developed, a team of UC Berkeley chemists has discovered the source of water's unique ability to ionize weak acids and bases and set the stage for more complex reactions........A heretical theory about the origins of cancer could explain a long-standing medical mystery - why cancers often become resistant to the drugs used to treat them.. .The controversial theory, if correct, also suggests a possible way to treat cancer to restore its sensitivity to drugs.. .The theory, espoused by Peter Duesberg, professor of molecular and cell biology in the College of Letters & Sc.... . . .Penguins are notoriously inefficient walkers, expending twice as much energy in walking a given distance as any other animal of the same weight.. .But don't blame it on their funny, waddling gait.. .A new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, shows that waddling actually helps penguins conserve energy. The real problem is their short legs.. ."Our findings indicat.... Next time you feel a little under the weather, try a novel way to boost your immune system - play contract bridge.. . In a presentation at this week's meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, University of California, Berkeley, biologist Marian Cleeves Diamond will describe an experiment showing that contract bridge players have increased numbers of immune cells after a game of bridge.. . Base....Many deadly microbes have learned that the key to launching an infection is not to kill your host - at least not too quickly.. .Now, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have discovered how one microbe, Listeria monocytogenes, is able to manage this.. .In a paper in this week's issue of Science, Daniel A. Portnoy, professor of molecular and cell biology in the campus's College...UC Berkeley demographer finds first evidence that maximum age at death in humans is rising
.Berkeley - The oldest age at death for humans has been rising for more than a century and shows no signs of leveling off, according to a demographer at the University of California, Berkeley.. .This new finding, based on Swedish national death records for each year since 1861, calls into question the belief by many scientists that the human life span has a set end-point of 120 years.. .In resea...UC Berkeley study shows gecko foot hairs are amazing dry adhesives
.Geckos are able to scurry up walls and across ceilings thanks to two million microscopic hairs on their toes that glom onto surfaces in a way that has given engineers an idea for a novel synthetic adhesive that is both dry and self-cleaning.. .In a paper in this week's issue of Nature, University of California, Berkeley, biologist Robert J. Full, Lewis and Clark College biologist Kellar Autumn.... . . . . . A clever experiment conducted along the Eel River in northern California sheds new light on a seeming contradiction in the field of ecology about whether a diverse ecosystem is inherently more resistant to invasion by alien species.. . The question has become more important in recent years as scientists campaign to preserve the planet's biodiversity, focusing on areas wit....At San Diego's Sea World, Rodger Kram videotapes penguins waddling across a force-measuring platform to rate the energy efficiency of their distinctive gait. Meanwhile, at the University of California, Berkeley, Claire Farley tapes bright dots to the legs of students and videotapes them running across a similar platform to determine the relationship between muscle stiffness and springy legs.. ....UC Berkeley biologist disputes current dogma that genetic mutation is the cause of cancer
.Berkeley -- A University of California, Berkeley, scientist is challenging one of the central tenets of cancer research, that cancer results from a chance series of genetic mutations that drive a cell into wild, uncontrolled growth.. .Molecular biologist Peter Duesberg, better known for his claim that the human immunodeficiency virus is not the cause of AIDS, contends that mutation is not the c...UC Berkeley psychologist finds evdence that male hormones in the womb affect sexual orientation
.Berkeley - The level of male hormones in the womb can influence an unborn child's future sexual orientation, according to new research from a University of California, Berkeley, professor who used an unusual technique measuring finger length - to gather evidence.. .Marc Breedlove, professor of psychology, found that higher levels of these male hormones, or androgens, can create a greater than...Howard Hughes Medical Institute funds biomedical facilities at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), a philanthropy that is one of the world's leading.biomedical research organizations, will spend $8.05 million for the construction and operation of two.new "superbend" beamlines at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) of the U.S. Department of Energy's.Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). The beamlines will generate the high-energy or."h...Asthma-linked genes discovered at Berkeley lab
.BERKELEY, CA - Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley.National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have announced the discovery of two genes.that contribute to the development of asthma. The finding suggests that.decreasing the activity of these two genes could help reduce susceptibility to.asthma attacks. . .A team led by Dr. Edward Rubin and Derek Symula of Berkeley Lab's Lif...UC Berkeley Conference On Population Growth And The Environment
.BERKELEY -- Which poses a greater threat to the environment: human population.growth or mismanagement of natural resources? What are the real causes of the.environmental degradation now threatening the Earth's ecosystems?. .These daunting questions will be explored at a conference titled "Population and.the Environment: Too Many People and/or Poor Management of Resources?" at the.University o...University Of Hawaii, Berkeley Launch Marine Bioproduct Initiative
.The University of Hawaii is the lead university and the University of.California, Berkeley, its partner in a new National Science Foundation (NSF).Engineering Research Center dedicated to marine bioproducts destined for the.chemical, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and life sciences industries. The UH.Marine Bioproducts Engineering Center (MarBEC) was selected from more than 160.initial proposals....Denver -- While there are many known cases of exotic creatures invading the country's rivers and estuaries, scientists have for the first time documented the invasion into U. S. coastal waters of a type of marine microorganism.. .In a talk to be given on Thursday, Oct. 31, at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Denver, Doris Sloan and Andrew N. Cohen of the University of...