Bacterial Toxin Surprises Scientists
...eneral Physiology , the researchers mapped out a rough structure of two conformations of colicin ...cations. Instead, they're trying to figure out exactly how the channel forms and what regulates it. For example, althoug......f pumping dopamineinto the cell, it pumps dopamine out of the cell, Caron said. In the knockout mice wit...However, without transporters, dopamine cannot get out of the cell intothe synapse. "Our results show the transporter is absolutely essential for amphetam...Enzyme's "Magic" May Hold Key to Anticancer and Antimicrobial Drugs
...r their ability to kill cells, have turned out to target topoisomerases, Dr. Wang said. Among these are doxorubicin (Adriamycin), etoposide, and mitoxantrone. Because topoisomerase II is required during cell division, cancer cells, which divide wildly, are more ...New Cancer Switch Discovered By Duke Medical Center Pharmacologists
...in turns itself on, sending the cell proliferating out of control. In earlier work, Pendergast and her colleagues found that the outlaw BCR-ABL protein plugs into an adaptor protein called GRB-2 to switch on a chain of other enzymes that eventually activates the cancer gene, or oncogene, called ras, whic...Key to Triplet Repeat Brain Diseases Open Door For New Way To Understand, Treat Genetic Diseases"
...h increasing repeat size." The researchers point out that their theory of triplet repeat diseases wouldnot apply to those that contain stuttering sequences in the "junk"area of the genome, since those areas do not encode for protein production.The genetic disease called myotonic dystrophy is an example...Tumor Suppressor Gene Located In Liver Cancer Cells
...ity investigating this gene. "Instead of carrying out its normal regulatory functions, this shortened protein leaves the cell. Once outside, it can no longer regulate cell growth." The gene is also interesting to researchers because it could help to explain why mice appear to be more prone to liver tum...New 'Twist' In Proteins Offers Possible Route To Improved Antibiotics
... Biochemists using X-ray crystallography to figure out thestructure of an enzyme critical to the growth of many bacteria have discoveredan extremely unusual "left-handed" spiral structure in the molecule. The finding suggests the possibility of a new kind of antibiotic that couldrecognize the unu...... is evidence that radioisotopes can migrate in and out of bone during the fossilization process, affecting the accuracy of dating. To double-check his data, Ku compared his mass spectrographic age determinations with results obtained from an alternate method - one using the isotopes Proactinium-231/Urani...Computer Program For Quicker, More Detailed Mapping
...tions for each set of these DNA signposts tofigure out which one was correct. This method takes a large c...re they were not sacrificingaccuracy. "We started out using the off-the-shelf thing, then tried to scaleit up. We found that we were bumping up against it...Duke Researchers Discover Candidate Susceptibility Gene For Autoimmune Disease
...TP is involved in insulin's actions. This may turn out to be a genewith many different functions." David Lee, Wi Lai, and Michael Thompson of Duke and Hal Broxmeyer of IndianaUniversity School of Medicine also contributed to the research....Children Become Gorillas In VR Zoo
...exhibit. Local schoolchildren were on hand to try out the virtual realitysystem, which puts them into a real gorilla habitat as a member of agorilla family. The demonstrations were in the Ford African RainForest's Gorillas of the Cameroon Interpretive Center, against thebackdrop of the home of Zoo Atlan...Duke Researchers Show "Editing" Can Fix Faulty Genes In New Approach To Gene Therapy
...ll of superfluousinformation that has to be edited out before the mRNA is decoded into thefinal protein p...em that usesRNA enzymes or "ribozymes" to cut junk out of mRNA and paste itback together again. Sullenger reasoned that ribozymes could be adapted as atoo...Race Plus Roaches: A Breathtaking Link
...ppings and saliva. And poor children or those from out of cities were 11.9 times more likely to be affected by roach infestation than those from middle or high income families. The study in the June issue of The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology is also the first to report that children in the ...International Research Team Clones New Skin Cancer Gene
...monitoring and preventive measures such as staying out of the sun and using sunscreen can be applied.2 Collaborating scientists included Michael Dean, Ph.D. from the National Cancer Institute in Frederick, Maryland, Brandon Wainwright, Ph.D. and Georgia Chenevix-Trench, Ph.D. from the University of Queen......es,releasing them only when neighboring cells drop out of communication. "Cellularneighborhoods seem to ...norms, they are allowed to go on living." One foot out of step, and thecell is history. The interesting thing about Raff's research is that it sug...Southern Pine Beetle Reaching Outbreak Levels In North Florida
...ogether.Across Florida, people need to keep an eye out for this beetle andunderstand the need to act quickly." Foltz points to an example in Texas, in which 9,000 acres of a 10,000-acrerecreation area was stripped of its pines over a two-year period because ofa delay in recognizing the infestation and th...Nutrition Study Reshapes Strategies For Athletes
...doxies. Some athletes feel that if food is cleared out of theirsystems, they will be lighter and perform better. Not so, said Houtkooper.During high-intensity exercises, most athletes feel uncomfortable withanything in their stomachs. Blood is diverted away from the digestive systemand to the muscles. ...Honeybees In The Wild Nearly Gone In North America
...the wild in North Americahave been virtually wiped out by an unusually harsh winter, asoggy spring and two blood-sucking mites, an Ohio State Universitybee expert says. "Honeybees in the wild are decimated," said James E.Tew, an associate professor of entomology at Ohio State and honeybeeresearcher with ...Water Recycling Project Tested in Turkey Plant
...n contact with poultry products. The system strips out any residual ozonein the water prior to returning it to the chiller. The system also preventsozone from leaking into the atmosphere. Residual ozone is captured and runthrough a catalytic destruction unit and turned back into oxygen. Waldroup said th......Abouta billion amps of current is flowing into and out of the innercore, across the boundary between the inner and outer cores. Thiscurrent, in the presence of a magnetic field, results in forcesbeing applied to the inner core, which then rotates. Essentially,the inner core rotates because it is part of ...