Japanese researchers develop novel method of introducing transgenes into animals
Reproductive biologists at Kyoto University have succeeded in producing the first animal offspring with transgenic material carried directly from sperm stem cells "infected" by a retrovirus. Some of the resulting transgenic mice reproduced and passed on the new genetic material to their offspring....... The team of researchers, headed by Dr. Takashi Shinohara, injected the retrovirus into the sem...Lung cancer patients in Japan, United States react differently to the same chemotherapy regimen
(NEW ORLEANS) -- A chemotherapy regimen commonly used to treat non-small cell lung cancer is both more effective and more toxic in Japanese patients than in American patients, researchers reported Saturday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncologists. The first of its kind, this analysis underscores the importance of genetic variations in medicine and points to a need for...2nd Annual CDB Symposium: Developmental Remodeling (March 29 - 31, 2004; Kobe, Japan)
The RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology (CDB) was established in April 2000 in Kobe, Japan to promote research into the fundamental mechanisms of animal development and regeneration. To keep up with advances and identify future directions in these rapidly evolving fields, the CDB inaugurated a program of annual symposia covering diverse aspects of developmental biology and regeneration and aim...Mercury in packaged whale meat across Japan may be a major health problem
Dangerous levels of mercury appear to be present in whale, dolphin and porpoise meat sold widely as food in Japan, according to a study by Japanese scientists. One U.S. researcher says the findings point to a "major health problem" in Japan. ...... The Japanese scientists bought samples from across the country, and found that every single slice of toothed whale red meat Japan's most popular whal...Researchers in Japan and UCSD discover novel role for pseudogenes
The mantra of molecular biology DNA makes RNA, which makes protein* has pretty much ignored pseudogenes. Considered defective copies of DNA segments, the 20,000 pseudogenes in the human genome are thought to be non-participants in the protein-production assembly line.... ...Now, scientists in Japan and at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have discovered a nov...Heart disease among some Japanese may be due to sequencing variation inside a gene
April 9, 2003 (San Diego, CA) -- Previously published epidemiological studies have shown that there are ethnic differences in the prevalence of certain arrhythmogenic (heart-related) diseases. More recent reports indicate that mutations of the human gene SCN5A are linked to heart diseases, such as long QT syndrome type 3 (LQT3) and Brugada syndrome (BS). In a new study being presented today, rese...Masatoshi Nei of Penn State honored in Japan with International Prize for Biology
Masatoshi Nei, Evan Pugh Professor of Biology and director of the Center for Molecular Evolutionary Genetics, has been honored by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) with its International Prize for Biology. The award, which consists of a medal and a monetary grant, was presented to Nei in the presence of the Emperor and Empress of Japan during a formal ceremony in Tokyo during...Japanese shore crabs invade Penobscot Bay, Maine
... ITHACA, N.Y. -- They're here.... Japanese shore crabs, a square-shaped crustacean that poses a direct threat to soft-shell (steamer) clams, mussels and lobsters, were discovered July 13 by Cornell University marine biologists in Owl's Head, Maine, on the shores of Penobscot Bay. The detection of this crab, which has the potential to hurt Maine's seafood industry, means that Penobscot Bay bec...UT Southwestern researcher receives $15 million grant from Japan Science and Technology Corp.
DALLAS - April 23, 2002 - UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas researcher Dr. Masashi Yanagisawa has received a five-year, $15 million grant from Japan Science and Technology Corp. to expand his research on receptor genes and the roles they play in the body....... Japan Science and Technology, administered by the Japanese prime minister's office, conducts and promotes basic research, technol...A popular Japanese plum, now available in the US, may help prevent the onset of cardiac disease
New Orleans, LA Americans believe that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. In Japan, a similar saying holds true for the umeboshi, the Japanese plum. Recently, umeboshi plums started to become widely available in specialty stores throughout the United States. Could the Japanese plum replace the benefits of the all-American apple someday? Perhaps.... ...Background ...The pickled plum has been...Global warming more common than thought, deep-sea drilling off Japan now demonstrates
CHAPEL HILL Core samples from a deep-sea drilling expedition in the western Pacific clearly show multiple episodes of warming that date back as far as 135 million years, according to one of the projects lead scientists. Analysis of the samples indicates warming events on Earth were more common than researchers previously believed.... ...The expedition aboard the scientific drill ship JOIDES Res....Scientists at the centre of developments in genomics, electronic patient.care and other emerging medical technologies will gather at Imperial College.next week to discuss the direction and consequences of their work with over.a hundred selected delegates from industry, government and education in.Japan, UK, the USA and other countries.. .This third conference, held for the first time in Britain...Scholar finds parallels between U.S./Japanese attitudes toward wolves
.The Japanese once saw wolves as benign creatures that guarded their crops. Farmers went to shrines to buy wolf talismans they could place around their grain fields for protection. In some places, the kindly Canis lupus was even honored with stone sculptures.. . "It was almost the exact opposite of our 18th and 19th centuries in the American West," says Brett Walker, assistant professor of histo...US and Japanese scientists develop new test for male infertility
.A team of US and Japanese experts in reproductive medicine has made a major advance in testing for male infertility that could prevent women seeking fertility treatment from taking unnecessary tests or having unnecessary treatments.. .The scientists have developed a method that could make diagnosis more accurate and lead to a correct diagnosis in cases where doctors can find no apparent cause f...Oliver Smithies wins major award from Japanese research foundation
. Dr. Oliver Smithies of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has received the 15th International Okamoto Award from the Japan Vascular Disease Research Foundation for contributions to medical research.. . The award, one of the most prestigious given in Japan, consists of 1 million yen -- about $10,000 -- a gold medallion and a certificate. Dr. Hiroo Imura, chairman of the foundation...Where does Japan's whale meat come from?
. JAPAN'S annual scientific catch of whales is disguising an undocumented trade in meat from accidentally caught and possibly poached whales, claim researchers. According to a new analysis of whale meat in the country, if the trade continues it could drive a unique subgroup of minke whales in the Sea of Japan to extinction. . Sale of whale meat is legal in Japan if it comes from frozen stockpi.... Chromosome 21 is one of the smallest among the 23 different human chromosomes. It is associated with Trisomy 21, one of the most common genetic diseases (also known as Down syndrome). An extra copy of chromosome 21 results in severely aberrant physical and mental development in children, leading to mental retardation. The disease affects up to 1 in 700 live births. An international collaborati...INEEL microbiologist joins Japanese on expedition to tap marine-methane deposits
.After fourteen grueling days on a drilling rig off the coast of Japan, INEEL microbiologist Mark Delwiche brought home his prize -- two coolers full of frozen logs of mud. These core samples harbor stubbornly hardy methane-producing microorganisms that may eventually provide answers to the world's future energy worries. . .Mark Delwiche is part of a team of microbiologists at the Department o...ASU Professor Helps In Fight To Protect Japanese Pika Habitat
Because of an old saying, most people may never suspect that rabbits could.ever end up on the endangered species list, but an Arizona State University.professor says, guess again.. .Lagomorphs -- rabbits, and their cousins, hares and pikas-- are being.threatened worldwide. "Twenty-five percent of lagomorph species are.endangered and some are among the worlds rarest mammals," says Dr. Andrew.Smith...