Bacterial Toxin Surprises Scientists
...in operates. Their work may shed light not only on the deadly power of certain toxins, but on diseases like cystic fibrosis that result from defects in natural membrane channels. "If we could understand how this protein works, we might understand more about how pr...Dangerous Chemical Combination Presents Possible Scenario For Gulf War Illnesses
...toms by investigating all the potentialcauses, not only for their sakes but for the welfare of future sold...rugs or pesticides. This risk factor,which affects only 3 to 4 percent of the population, may boost the toxicityof these chemicals. "Individuals with gene...... knockoutmice, we were astounded to find they make only 5 percent to 10 percent thenormal amount of dopamine, about the same as Parkinson's patients,"said Caron. "Yet we thought the dopamine levels would be much higherthan normal because without the transporter protein, there would be no wayto remove exce...Key to Triplet Repeat Brain Diseases Open Door For New Way To Understand, Treat Genetic Diseases"
...bind to this singleenzyme. Scientists have usually only thought about how a gene mutation producesa change in that protein that results in a disease. This is an observationthat provides a mechanism for a group of diseases." If drugs could block the protein interaction the researchers described,then the ...Researchers Pinpoint Site For Petit Mal Seizures In Brain
..., Hosford plans to look for compounds that inhibit only those GABAb receptors affected in petit mal seizures, which the scientists hope will allow them to develop a treatment that works as well as current drugs, but with fewer side effects....Tumor Suppressor Gene Located In Liver Cancer Cells
...he five-year survival rate in the United States is only 4 percent. A report on this tumor suppressor gene ...r tumor formation than humans. Mice normally have only one active copy of this tumor suppressor gene rather than the two working copies humans possess. Th...Computer Program For Quicker, More Detailed Mapping
...rs, imagine constructinga map of the world knowing only that Palo Alto is close to San Francisco,Paris and...ter a relativelyshort amount of time if processing only 15 or 20 markers. However, eachof the human chromosomes contains 500 to 1,000 of these markers -- fa...Heat-loving Microbe Repairs Its DNA With Light
... Cincinnati biologist has found a microbe whichnot only survives under extremely hot and acidic conditions; itcan repair its damaged DNA using natural light. Sulfolobus acidocaldarius is one of a special group ofmicro-organisms, commonly called "hyperthermophiles." Theseorganisms require extremely high ...Children Become Gorillas In VR Zoo
...making an accurate virtual reality environment was only half thework. The virtual gorillas also have to look and behave like realgorillas. Using videos, anthropomorphic data and behavioral data on movementand interaction, Georgia Tech doctoral student Don Allison createdvirtual gorillas that simulate rea...From Corn Rootworms To Art, Cornell's Reactor Is At The Core
...radiographs are the final work," he said. "X-rays only make visible a very few number of elements. Using neutrons, we can see a broader range of elements. It's extremely useful." Now he is embarking on a new project, in collaboration with the Getty Conservation Institute in California, to try to resur...Duke Researchers Show "Editing" Can Fix Faulty Genes In New Approach To Gene Therapy
...anism Tetrahymena thermophila . This ribozyme not only cuts otherpieces of RNA at specific sites called recognition sequences, but afterit cuts, it splices in a piece of RNA sequence attached to its tail end. To test his idea of repairing faulty genes, Sullenger introduceda defective gene into mouse cel...Freshwater Sponges May Pose Threat To Zebra Mussels
... Their observations indicated the sponges were only an effective competitor with zebra mussels on the ..."We found that the effect of sponge overgrowth was only impressive on vertical surfaces, which could be important for control of zebra mussels in some areas...Duke Researchers Find Second Gene Linked To Blood Vessel Disorder
...in affected people. In some people, the disease is only a cosmeticproblem with tiny red blotches forming o...forminggrowth factor beta (TGF-_). Researchers are only beginning to unravel howTGF-_ works. Receptors for TGF-_ are found on the surface of virtually ever...New Discovery About Genes Has Implications For Genetic Therapy
...ed to produce a protein. Scientists believed that only certain DNA sequences -- called exons -- carried u...m these kinds of introns. "Their (the introns') only function is to replicate themselves, but in that process, they fundamentally influence the nature of...Mutate Or Die: New Polymerase Gives Desperate Yeast An Option
...ts of a previously unknownpolymerase in yeast, but only with recent technology could Nelson, working with ...one of the two genes that code for the enzyme have only about 5 percent as many mutations as "normal"yeast. Mutations are a risk wherever there is dam......ians that ate blister beetles. Cantharidin is not only painful but toxic, and as little as 20 blister beetles' worth can be fatal to humans, Eisner reported in a 1990 article in the journal Chemoecology. Repeated tests in the Cornell laboratories demonstrated that male Neopyrochroa beetles without cantha......re found nowhere else in the world. "Movile is the only cave system known that ischemoautotrophically based, and it contains the only knownchemoautotrophically based terrestrial community," said ThomasKane, professor of biological sci......nzymes away for extreme emergencies,releasing them only when neighboring cells drop out of communication. "Cellularneighborhoods seem to be more conformist than any middle-class suburb,"Raff writes. "As long as the cells reproduce and behave according to localnorms, they are allowed to go on living." One...Cornell Researchers Precisely Date Wood From Ancient Tomb In Turkey
...onology." To visualize such chronologies, one need only visit the Malcolm and Carolyn Wiener Laboratory for Aegean and Near Eastern Dendrochronology, located on the ground floor of Cornell's Goldwin Smith Hall. Pinned on the walls of a narrow lab cluttered with microscopes and maps, books and statues, co...Southern Pine Beetle Reaching Outbreak Levels In North Florida
...ad," Foltz said. Leaving an infested pine in place only gives the beetles a platform forstaging their atta...in fungi. Under normal conditions, thebeetles dine only on stressed or damaged pines, but during outbreaks theyattack healthy trees. Females may live a mont...