Brain Protein "Rescues" Neurons From Atrophy
...otrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The researchers are postdoctoral fellow David Riddle, Assistant Profes... new studies, however, show that the neurotrophins are specifically critical to the growth and interconnections of developing cells. In the experiments rep...Bacterial Toxin Surprises Scientists
...City's Albert Einstein College of Medicine are closing in on how one such protein operates. ...e might understand more about how proteins are normally moved across and inserted into membranes," said the study's lead scientist,...Duke Researchers Discover Central Role Of Nitric Oxide In Hemoglobin Action
...e, and may ultimately change the way many diseases are treated. "We now know that nitric oxide i...n. So he and Jia worked with the Bonaventuras, who are expertson hemoglobin, designing investigations using blood from humans and rats. After a se...Dangerous Chemical Combination Presents Possible Scenario For Gulf War Illnesses
...from insect-borne diseases and nerve-gas poisoning are highly toxic whenused in combination, researchers ...mentalHealth. The researchers said their findings are similar to those reported in Scotlandlast month and by an Israeli team last year. Adding to those f......mitters such as dopamine, serotonin and adrenaline are chemicalmessengers that neurons release to their n...ain elements: receptors andtransporters. Receptors are the molecular "locks" on nerve cellsthat receive a neurotransmitter "key," causing a neuron to firea...Enzyme's "Magic" May Hold Key to Anticancer and Antimicrobial Drugs
... "Since the two chains in our model are intertwined, it is essential for them to untwist if they are to separate.... Although it is difficult at the moment to see how these processes oc...New Cancer Switch Discovered By Duke Medical Center Pharmacologists
...at would kill normal cells. Reporting the findings are assistant professor of pharmacology Ann Marie Pend... within the dividing cell, bits of two chromosomes are snipped off and rejoined to one another. In the process, a piece of the gene called BCR is restitche...Key to Triplet Repeat Brain Diseases Open Door For New Way To Understand, Treat Genetic Diseases"
...ion, the tighter they bind." Authors of the study are from the same team that discovered the major genel... The primary researchers involved in the discovery are Duke neurologistsStrittmatter, James Burke and Jeffery Vance. Other collaborators includeJan Enghild...Researchers Pinpoint Site For Petit Mal Seizures In Brain
...BAb receptor in the brain. These receptor proteins are found in cells throughout the body, and respond to... known neurotransmitter molecules. GABAb receptors are thought to act as a brake on nerve cell activity, Hosford said. But their exact function in the brai...Tumor Suppressor Gene Located In Liver Cancer Cells
...and Angus T. De Souza and Terry C. Orton of Zeneca are co-authors. Funding for the project came from the ...at humans have in case one copy malfunctions, mice are more likely to lose complete function of this gene, the researchers said. If further studies show t...New 'Twist' In Proteins Offers Possible Route To Improved Antibiotics
...ndings in the Nov. 10 issue of thejournal Science, are Christian Raetz, chairman and professor in the Duk...pes, or spiralhelices, the known examples of which are "right-handed." Thatis, when viewed end on, the helix spirals away in a clockwise direction. ...Second Breast Cancer Gene Located
...f the journal Nature. The principal investigators are P. AndrewFutreal of Duke University Medical Center...overy. "This finding means that we really are narrowing in on this dreadedcancer," said Barbara Rimer, chairman of the National Cancer AdvisoryBoa...Duke Geologists Explore Alternative Way To Measure Ice Age Sea Bottom Temperatures
...tists suggest that what foraminifera oxygen ratios are really measuring is a combination of ocean tempera... is a location where deep sea circulation patterns are thought to shift markedly between glacial and interglacial periods. The ostracod in the samples were......t is difficult. The amounts of radiation produced are minimal, and even small measurement errors can lea... that less material is required for analysis. "We are able to select pure limestone crystals," said Ku, thus reducing the risk of a sample's being acciden...Computer Program For Quicker, More Detailed Mapping
...cluding new informationas it is gathered. Our maps are now much more accurate because we can mapeverythin...Alto is close to San Francisco,Paris and Frankfurt are both in Europe, and Johannesburg and Nairobi areon the same continent. Gene mappers use short, dist...Duke Researchers Discover Candidate Susceptibility Gene For Autoimmune Disease
...arsaid. "We were studying factors in the body that are influenced byinsulin, which regulates sugar levels... a good handle on what TTP is doing,although there are hints it is involved in gene regulation," Blackshearsaid. "Our next step will be to determine if it ...Heat-loving Microbe Repairs Its DNA With Light
...rius cells with UVradiation, whose effects on DNA are precisely known. As expected,the vast majority of ...kes tosurvive in geothermal habitats. For example, are we to infer thatUV radiation is a significant threat to survival in these high-temperature environme...Children Become Gorillas In VR Zoo
...ought of Georgia Tech as our design partner,and we are extremely impressed with the scholarly approach ta...hesilverback's actual responses." Zoo researchers are impressed with the final outcome, which wasn'teasy to achieve. Unlike monkeys, apes are not extremel...From Corn Rootworms To Art, Cornell's Reactor Is At The Core
... branching off in different directions. Around it are three or four tiny white marks, maybe 1/4-inch long -- the objects of her attention. These are living corn rootworms in soil, caught in the act of searching for the plant root. "Here you can see ...Duke Researchers Show "Editing" Can Fix Faulty Genes In New Approach To Gene Therapy
...participantin editing genetic messages before they are translated into protein. The editing approach to gene therapy ignores the defectivegenes, which are encoded in DNA and stored in the chromosomes, in favorof focusing on the specific genetic RNA messag...