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...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...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...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....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.... 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...