Purdue study finds antioxidant protects metal-eating plants
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - An antioxidant, a type of compound that prevents certain types of damage to living cells, appears to allow some kinds of plants to thrive on metal-enriched soils that typically kill other plants, says a Purdue University scientist.... ...This finding, published in the current issue of The Plant Cell, provides an important new insight for the development of plants that could...Bright idea could doom cancer and viruses, say Purdue scientists
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Cancer and viruses may someday find themselves blinded by the light of therapies based on recent Purdue University chemistry research. ......A team of scientists including Harry Morrison has developed a group of rhodium-based compounds that, when exposed to light, can kill tumor cells and deactivate a virus closely related to the West Nile and yellow fever viruses. Unlike t...Fat cells fight disease, Purdue University researchers find
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Fat cells, commonly blamed for a number of diseases, also may aid in the body's defense against illnesses such as diabetes and cancer, according to Purdue University researchers.... ...Rather than contributing to disease, fat cells, or adipocytes (pronounced ah-dip-poe-sights), normally function as part of the immune system and help control lipid accumulation, so they actua...Purdue yeast makes ethanol from agricultural waste more effectively
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A strain of yeast developed at Purdue University more effectively makes ethanol from agricultural residues that would otherwise be discarded or used as animal feed, and the first license for the yeast has been issued to the biotechnology company Iogen Corp.... ...Purdue's genetically altered yeast allows about 40 percent more ethanol to be made from sugars derived from agri...IU and Purdue scientists to answer questions about Brood X periodical cicadas
Indiana University and Purdue University scientists will discuss the economic impact, biology, geographical distribution and control of Brood X periodical cicadas, which are scheduled to emerge from the ground in May (2004). These large, winged insects appear in Indiana, and elsewhere, every 17 years. ... ...Brood X cicadas, expected to emerge in the region between mid- to late-May, have develo...Purdue scientists finding ways to outsmart crop-damaging bugs
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A new screening method aimed at boosting pesticide effectiveness may be commercially viable, according to Purdue University researchers. ......The process is designed to identify chemical compounds that could be added to current pesticides to overcome resistance insects have developed to them. In a recent issue of the journal Pesticide Biochemistry & Physiology, the scienti...Chestnut trees to spread across landscape again, says Purdue scientist
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A Purdue University researcher is working to restore the American chestnut, an important wildlife tree and timber resource that dominated the landscape from Maine to Mississippi before it was driven to near-extinction by a fungal disease introduced about 100 years ago.......Doug Jacobs, assistant professor of forestry in the Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center...Purdue scientists: To stop cancer, keep your Icmt away from your Ras
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Halting the development of certain pancreatic, ovarian, colon and lung cancers may be possible with therapy based on recent Purdue University research.... ...By investigating a single molecule that influences cell growth, a research group in the Purdue Cancer Center, including Brian S. Henriksen, has gained new insight into the chain of events that make some cancer cell...Purdue chemists 'put the twist' on protein building block
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue scientists have made an important biological molecule "swing," in work that might clarify the process by which proteins fold as well as lead to new approaches to drug development and computer memory.... ...Using lasers to initiate and probe the folding process, a group including chemist Timothy Zwier have precisely determined the energies needed to twist tryptam...Purdue scientists: Genetically modified fish could damage ecology
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The genetic modifications that improve animals for human consumption also could doom populations if released into the wild, according to a Purdue University research team. ......Biologist Rick Howard and his colleagues have discovered a paradox that crops up when new genes are deliberately inserted into a fish's chromosomes to make the animal grow larger. While the genetica...Purdue chemist 'mussels' in on secrets of natural adhesives
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University scientists have found the glue that saltwater mussels use to affix themselves to rocks is a subject worth sticking to, both for its pure scientific interest and for its potential applications in medicine and industry.... ...Jonathan Wilker and his research group have discovered that the formation of mussel adhesive requires iron, a metal that has never bef...Purdue engineers develop quick, inexpensive method to prototype microchips
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University researchers have developed a new method to quickly and inexpensively create microfluidic chips, analytic devices with potential applications in food safety, biosecurity, clinical diagnostics, pharmaceuticals and other industries.... ..."This development democratizes the preparation of microfluidic biochips," said Michael Ladisch, Distinguished Professor of...Purdue research suggests 'nanotubes' could make better brain probes
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University researchers have shown that extremely thin carbon fibers called "nanotubes" might be used to create brain probes and implants to study and treat neurological damage and disorders.... ...Probes made of silicon currently are used to study brain function and disease but may one day be used to apply electrical signals that restore damaged areas of the brain....Purdue biologists expose the inner workings of viral machine
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University scientists have peered inside a virus and visualized for the first time how it produces and exports genetic materials into a host cell, an advance in fundamental research that also could have implications for the development of antiviral agents. ......Using improved microscope technology, a team including Purdue's Timothy S. Baker and a colleague at Harvar...Purdue researchers create templates on retinal tissues
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers at Purdue University have created scaffold-like patterns on the surface of a pig's retina, making templates out of molecular compounds called peptides that could promote the growth of transplanted healthy cells to treat age-related macular degeneration.... ...Macular degeneration destroys light-sensing cells in the retina. Researchers at other institutions hav...Protein-hungry cells 'go fishing,' report Purdue biologists
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - When a cell needs a protein to function, it sometimes uses molecule-sized fishing poles to "catch" one and "cast" it across the cell membrane, reports a research team of Purdue University biologists.... ...Using high-resolution X-ray crystallography, a team including William A. Cramer has determined the structure and surprising behavior of a protein receptor complex, or "ga...Purdue team solves structure of West Nile virus
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University biologists have determined the structure of the West Nile virus, a development that could greatly augment our understanding of the virus' life cycle.... ...Using cryoelectron microscopy and advanced imaging techniques, the Purdue team has determined the orientation of the major surface proteins in a West Nile viral particle. Because these proteins are inst...Purdue researchers solve decades-old corn, sorghum problem
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A team of Purdue University researchers has recently uncovered the genetic mechanism that prevents certain crop plants from growing tall - a finding that has future crop production applications since some grains produce greater yields if plants are kept short.... ...Guri Johal, assistant professor of botany and plant pathology, and his colleagues have identified the process...Purdue biologists' spotlight solves mysteries of photosynthesis, metabolism
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A complete molecular-scale picture of how plants convert sunlight to chemical energy has been obtained at Purdue University, offering potential new insights into animal metabolism as well. ... ...Using advanced imaging techniques, a team of Purdue biologists has determined the structure of the cytochrome, a protein complex that governs photosynthesis in a blue-green bacteri...Fly bites plant, but plants can bite back, Purdue scientists find
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Hessian fly changes wheat growth by injecting poisons into the plants, but a newly discovered resistance gene that can kill the insect may add a new defensive weapon for the grain crop.... ...Using the new gene in combination with other genes is expected to extend resistance time to the most economically damaging insect of wheat by as much as six times. Scientists from...Purdue biologists receive nearly $18 million to study infectious diseases
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - As part of a major U.S. presidential initiative to combat bioterrorism, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a pair of grants to Purdue University researchers to help the group study viruses thought to have potential as biological weapons.... ...While the two grants are to support research projects that are independent of one another, together they will allow...Purdue research plots new field in plant genomics
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - First, there was genomics, or the study of all the genes found in an organism. Then there was proteomics - the study of all the proteins produced by these genes. Now, a Purdue University researcher and his collaborators have developed a new field called "ionomics," or the study of how genes regulate all the ions in a cell.... ...This research holds the promise of leading to...Purdue researchers expose 'Docking Bay' for viral attack
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Imagine a virus and its cellular target as two spacecraft - the virus sporting a tiny docking bay that allows it to invade its victim. Purdue University researchers have taken a close-up picture of one virus' docking bay, work that could have implications for both medicine and nanotechnology.... ...Using advanced imaging techniques, an international team of biologists led b...Purdue instrument to fashion custom-made proteomics chips
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University scientists are developing an instrument that can fabricate custom-made biochips for protein analysis, offering a potentially powerful new tool for drug development and basic medical research....... The instrument makes use of a new method to remove and isolate the tangle of proteins found within cells, a process necessary to reveal protein function within...Purdue scientists discover why we're all lefties deep down
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - It may be a right-handed world, but recent Purdue University research indicates that the first building blocks of life were lefties - and suggests why, on a molecular level, all living things remain southpaws to this day.... ...In findings that may shed light on the earliest days of evolutionary history, R. Graham Cooks and a team of Purdue chemists have reported experiment...Purdue Research Park company makes melt-in-your-mouth meds
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A Purdue Research Park startup company is ready to market a new drug-delivery technology that will make it easier for people to take medicines in pill form.... ...Researchers at Akina Inc. are developing Purdue University-licensed technologies that improve the ways in which prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines and even vitamins are administered orally. The venture...Purdue developing less costly model for studying human disease
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A $1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health is helping Purdue University scientists move closer to making zebrafish the premier laboratory animal for studying human development and disease.... ...The goal of the three-year grant, which begins Aug. 1, is to create zebrafish in which a gene has been modified or permanently turned off, and the offspring inherit t...Purdue genetic discovery may aid plants and human medicine
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Findings that two mutated genes alter plant growth and development could result in improved plants and enhanced cancer treatments, according to Purdue University researchers.... ...In a paper published in Thursday's (6/26) issue of Nature, the scientists report that these abnormal, or mutant plants are able to reorient themselves in response to light and gravity more rapidl...First-ever images of developing dengue virus obtained at Purdue
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - High-quality images of a virus still forming in its cellular host shed light on how viruses reproduce, knowledge that could prove important to the development of antiviral drugs. ...... A team including Purdue University's Michael Rossmann and Richard Kuhn has solved the structure of the immature dengue virus, which is related to West Nile virus and yellow fever. Dengue is...Purdue biologists crystallize technique to expand protein research
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University scientists have managed to crystallize a particularly troublesome type of protein, an accomplishment that could overcome a 20-year hurdle in fighting a wide range of diseases. ... ...William Cramer and three other scientists have tackled a major problem confronting protein researchers - how to crystallize fat-soluble proteins in order to study them. Most p...Purdue researchers connect life's blueprints with its energy source
NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: A publication-quality graphic of a microscopic motor assembled by Peixuan Guo's team is available at .... ......WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue University research team that recently created a tiny motor out of synthetic biological molecules has found further evidence that RNA molecules can perform physical work, a discovery that could advance nanotechnology and possibly s...Purdue researchers discover basis for biological clock
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The biological clock -- timekeeper for virtually every activity within living things, from sleep patterns to respiration -- is a single protein, Purdue University researchers report. ...... The husband and wife team of D. James and Dorothy Morré has discovered this protein, which is responsible for setting the length of periods of activity and inactivity within cell...Purdue research hints that birds could spread Ebola virus
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Ebola shares a closer relationship with several bird viruses than was previously thought, bolstering the case for a common ancestor and hinting that birds might carry the deadly virus, a Purdue University research team reports. ......David Sanders and his research group have discovered that the outer protein shell of Ebola has a biochemical structure similar to several ret...Purdue works to transform Ebola virus from killer to healer
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- By redesigning the shell of Ebola, Purdue University researchers have transformed the feared virus into a benevolent workhorse for gene therapy -- and as one of the first gene bearers that can be inhaled rather than injected, it might prove valuable in the fight against lung disease. ......While replacing the infection-causing genes inside an ordinarily harmful retrovirus...Purdue, Indiana universities collaborate for better medicine
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Purdue University and Indiana University School of Medicine researchers have launched a collaboration to increase knowledge of diseases and develop better treatments for humans and animals.... ...Scientists from Purdue's schools of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine and the IU School of Medicine are initiating the Program of Comparative Medicine through a $2 million, two...Purdue scientists lead $5.9 million plant study to improve products
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Everyday products from food to chairs could be improved through research led by a Purdue University scientist and funded by a new four-year, nearly $6 million National Science Foundation grant. ... ...Nick Carpita, Purdue plant biologist, will head the investigation of the formation, development and growth of plant cell walls. The research team will include scientists from...Purdue veterinarian studies compulsive behavior in dogs
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Dogs' quirky, unexplainable repetitive behaviors can be part of an anxiety condition known as canine compulsive disorder.... ...Andrew Luescher, director of Purdue's Animal Behavior Clinic and one of about 30 board certified animal behaviorists in the country, estimates that 2 percent of the dog population has canine compulsive disorder. Dogs with the disease often display...Purdue corrals new Trojan horse to replace wayward genes in mice
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- A research team at two Midwest universities has developed a new way to genetically alter cells in living mice, offering new possibilities in the war against cancer and other diseases. ... ...Using a modified virus as a Trojan horse, a team led by Purdue University's David Sanders has found a promising system to deliver genes to diseased liver and brain cells. By placing he...Purdue creates self-generating nanotubes with 'dial-up' properties
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Nanotubes, stringy supermolecules already used to create fuel cell batteries and tiny computer circuits, could find myriad new applications ranging from disease treatment to plastics manufacturing to information storage, reports a Purdue University research team. ...... Scientists led by Purdue chemist Hicham Fenniri have learned to create multiple species of nanotubes tha...Purdue to help NASA create life-supporting ecosystem in space
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced today (Tuesday, 3/12) that Purdue University will head a center to develop "advanced life support" technologies for sustaining human colonies on Mars and elsewhere in space.... ...Purdue received a $10 million, five-year grant to lead the NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training for Advanced Life Support. Th...